What is âAI slopâ?
AI slop is the applications, resumes, and cover letters that are clearly written or blasted out by AI tools. This includes one-click apply and mass-apply services.
Last week, I read a LinkedIn article about all the AI slop recruiters have to dig through just to find a few decent candidates per role. AI tools are making it harder for recruiters to spot quality candidates because theyâre limited to swapping keywords instead of actually tailoring resumes to fit each job. They also mass-apply to roles on behalf of job seekers using generic resumes that donât speak to the actual company or position.
For example: youâre a job seeker hooked on one-click apply or you use a service that âtailorsâ your resume and sends it out to hundreds of jobs for you.
Whatâs the problem? One-click apply doesnât tailor your resume to each role. Youâre sending one general resume to roles you might be qualified for, but if youâre not matching keywords and showing clear context for how you fit the requirements, itâs tough for the ATS and recruiters to see youâre a match.
The same issue comes up with AI mass-apply tools. They might claim to tailor your resume, but theyâre usually just swapping keywords and role titles. They canât add context, metrics, or examples of your experience that speak directly to what the role is looking for. Without that level of detail, you could be the perfect candidate but still get overlooked because your resume doesnât make it obvious.
If youâre going to use AI tools to apply and tailor your resume, you need to use them right. Tailoring your resume doesnât stop at keyword swaps. You still have to manually adjust your skills, experience, and metrics, then use AI to polish how youâre presenting yourself. AI doesnât have the context of your work history unless you give it that information first. Annoying and time consuming? Yes, but itâs better than landing in a pile of AI slop.
Take this newsletter as an example. I wrote the whole thing in my voice first, using what I know as a recruiter to share advice on using AI in your job search. Then I ran it through ChatGPT to clean up grammar and improve flow while keeping my tone and message. I still did the work. AI just made it better.
To put myself in a vulnerable position, below is the original version of this newsletter before I ran it through ChatGPT. You can see exactly what I mean about using AI to improve your applications and resume, not to completely create and send them for you.
Original without AI
What is âAI slopâ?
AI slop are applications, resumes and cover letters that were clearly written or sent by AI tools. This includes one-click apply and mass-apply tools.
Last week, I read a LinkedIn article about all the AI slop recruiters have to get through just to find a few decent candidates per role posting. AI tools are making it harder on recruiters to review quality candidates due to their limitations on tailoring resumes outside of just keywords and mass-applying to roles on behalf of job seekers with generic resumes that donât actually speak to each individual role or company.
For example: Youâre a job seeker addicted to the âone-click applyâ tool or use a service that âtailorsâ your resume and sends it to hundreds of roles for you.
Whatâs the problem? âOne-click applyâ doesnât tailor your resume to the role youâre applying to. Youâre sending your one general resume off to roles that you may be qualified for, but if youâre not matching keywords and providing context as to how youâre fit for the requirements that specific role is looking for, itâs difficult for the ATS and even recruiters to tell.
This same issue aligns with AI mass-apply tools which claim to tailor your resume for you. These tools do tailor your resume, but are very limited in how much tailoring they can do. Normally, these tools will swap keywords and role titles that are specific to the roles theyâre applying to for you. However, theyâre unable to provide context, metrics, and experience in your resume that are specific to the roles theyâre applying to. Without the ability to properly align your resume to each role, you still may fall short in your candidacy. So again, while you may actually be qualified, thereâs no way to tell if your resume doesnât exactly state how.
If youâre going to use AI tools to apply to roles and tailor your resume, you need to use them correctly. Tailoring your application and resume doesnât stop at keyword matching, you must also manually tailor your skills, experience and provide metrics then use AI to improve how youâre presenting yourself as a candidate. AI doesnât have context on your history as a worker, so it canât properly tailor your applications and resume without you providing that information first. Annoying and time consuming? Yes, but itâs better than ending up in a bucket with the rest of the AI slop coming through.
Take this newsletter for exampleâI wrote this entire newsletter in my tone first, provided the knowledge and context I have as a recruiter to give you advice on how to properly use AI on the job market. Then, I gave this newsletter to ChatGPT to improve it by correcting grammar issues, enhancing flow and clarity, but to still keep my tone and overall message. I still had to do the work while AI just made adjustments.
Looking for jobs? Check out our hiring partners latest job postings on the Black Tech Pipeline job board here!
If recruiters canât find decent candidates for the role because someone used AI for an unnecessary cover letter then they clearly need help doing their job. Employers use AI to help with filtering through candidates, amongst other things, but we draw the line at job seekers?? Slop is using a filtration system for resumes and having job seekers answer 500 questions while adding a cover letter. Slop is asking for a resume then making you detail your work experience on the next page. If the person is qualified then it doesnât take a rocket scientist to figure that out.
very educational as usual