How To Spot An AI-Generated CV

Receiving an AI-generated CV during the recruitment process is becoming an increasingly common occurrence.

As AI platforms and tools become more widely known, readily available and utilised, candidates are inevitably looking to take advantage of the new technology to aid them in their job search. This is understandably a concern for organisations that want to receive CVs that accurately reflect candidates’ experience and expertise.

With our society becoming progressively reliant on AI as a personal and professional tool, being able to spot CVs created by AI will become central to the recruitment process.

What is an AI-generated CV?

An AI-generated CV is a CV that has been created by an AI platform, such as Chat GPT. Whilst a candidate may ask an AI platform to correct their spelling and grammar or enhance their language slightly, others request AI platforms to create fictious CVs from scratch. It is this type of CV that is completely fake and not reflective of the candidate’s experience that we will be referring to as an ‘AI-generated CV’.

For employers, these are the CVs that are causing an increasing amount of concern.

How does AI create CVs?

AI platforms are built through machine learning. They use complex programming to analyse large data sets to find patterns and replicate them to produce text that looks like human writing. They pull from a number of data sets, which include published CVs and CV templates, in order to generate realistic CVs based on the information inputted by the user.

Why would a candidate use AI for generating a CV?

A CV tends to be the first impression a candidate can give an organisation and it’s often the basis of whether the candidate will be offered an interview or not. This can create a lot of pressure on the candidate to ensure their CV is as attractive as possible. There are several reasons why a candidate would choose to use AI when writing their CV.

• To hit the exact job criteria

A candidate may ask an AI platform to generate a CV exactly suited to the job description they are applying for. The candidate may want to increase the chance of their CV being noticed and advanced to the interview stage, so they use AI to write a CV that shows that they have the right skill set and experiences that the company wants. However, this will not be an accurate reflection of the candidate’s experience.

• To appear more experienced

If a candidate is concerned that they don’t have the right experience at the level the company wants, they may ask the platform to create a CV for the job role. The platform may then write a CV that includes lots of buzz words, jargon and accomplishments that the candidate did not achieve. When the company then goes to interview the candidate and finds out that they do not have this experience, the organisation will need to go back and approach other candidates, thus prolonging the recruitment process and increasing costs.

• To get through ATS barriers

Many organisations use AI word-matching tools, such as an ATS (applicant tracking system) to search through CVs and identify candidates who would be a great fit based on a set of initial parameters. This could make a candidate worry that they have not optimised their CV enough, so they ask an AI tool to make sure specific keywords are used and that the CV is ATS friendly.

This may not raise too many issues if the candidate checks to make sure that any changes are accurate regarding their experience and certain skills, and that keywords have not just been added to their CV for the sake of it. However, again, if certain points are added to the CV that don’t accurately reflect the candidate, this is a problem for employers as they may not be able to distinguish what is real or not.

• To save time (for them!)

A candidate may feel like writing a CV is a waste of time or they cannot be bothered to spend time on making a CV tailored to the role they are applying for, so they ask the platform to create a CV for them. They may be applying for lots of jobs, so they do not feel they have the time or inclination to curate an accurate CV for each job they apply for.

How to spot an AI-generated CV

As AI becomes an efficient tool for creating CVs, certain elements and common characteristics of AI-generated CVs are becoming clear. Hiring managers and recruiters must become well-versed in how to spot these characteristics in order to identify these AI-generated CVs. Otherwise, they risk wasting time interviewing unsuitable individuals or making bad hiring decisions.

• Generic wording

The main way to identify CVs created by AI is through the abundance of generic and empty phrases. This might include paragraphs that sound impressive but mean nothing, with no specific references to experiences, projects, metrics, and skills. This is often because the AI tool does not have enough information about the individual’s experience, so it generates general “things a x professional has done” content.

• Odd language

If a CV has been created by AI, not a human, some sentences may sound strange. As the tool has pulled together and combined lots of different CVs and sets of data into one, the CV might not actually make sense. There might be certain projects or skills that don’t match the jobs or the sector they were based in. For example, the AI tool might have pulled information from a CV that had a similar job title but completely different skills to the one the candidate said they had in another section of their CV.

• Americanised spelling

For UK businesses, this can be one of the clearest ways to identify an AI-generated CV. Of course, organisations should check the professional isn’t from overseas first – however, American spelling and American slang can be clear indications that AI has created a CV. An occasional “Z” instead of an “S” here and there may not be an issue, but if there is consistent Americanised spelling, it might be an indication that the content was pulled from an AI platform.

• Inconsistencies

AI platforms are not always smart enough to check if their creation makes logical sense. This can include saying the candidate worked full time at Company A between 2011-2016, whilst also working at Company B 2012-2014 and Company C between 2013-2018. These types of inconsistencies can show that the candidate couldn’t have written this information, and it is clearly AI-generated because no candidate, even if attempting to lie on a CV, would include that level of illogical statements.

• Fake companies

The platform will often make up company names to make an AI-generated CV sound real. This can be quickly solved by a quick Google search or a look on Company House to see if the company ever existed. If the CV is full of fake organisations, that is a clear indication it was not only created by an AI tool but likely all the experience and skills are all fake as well and unreflective of the candidate in question.

Are AI-generated CVs a concern for businesses?

Clear signs of a CV entirely written by AI can and should be treated as a concern. If an AI-generated CV is a work of fiction with experiences and skills pulled from thin air, it can have serious consequences for the organisation. The businesses would be wasting their time on meeting with a candidate who at interview turns out to be unsuited to the role. More worryingly, if the candidate does pass the interview stages and they are hired, the candidate will likely be unable to undertake certain tasks, which for particular industries could be a security risk.

If a business is worried about not being able to spot CVs generated by AI, they may like to consider using a recruitment agency to help screen candidates for them. Recruiters have significant exposure to AI-generated CVs on a daily basis and will always screen a candidate with a phone call to check they have the right skills and experience before sending them to an organisation to put forward for interview.

If you are looking to hire an IT professional for your business, VIQU is an award-winning IT recruitment agency, who have lots of experience screening candidates, verifying details, and spotting AI-generated CVs. For tailored help and assistance, contact us here.