AI won’t kill off the CV because it was already gone - Euan Cameron

There has been much discussion on whether generative AI means the end of the CV. In truth, the CV’s demise began long before Chat GPT.

CVs are an opportunity to polish the truth, and are regularly filled with content that is far from it. Research conducted by Resume Lab this year found more than 93 per cent of people know somebody who has lied on their CV. Generative AI makes this possible at scale.

Candidates can now automate, customise, and tailor hundreds of applications right down to the word, and even the recruiter. It means any employer requesting a CV or cover letter in a job application is asking to be misled.

However, it’s about more than trust.

Euan Cameron, Willo Co-Founder

The speed and ease at which applications can be produced mean employers will almost certainly receive a flood of applications placing unmanageable strain on already stretched talent acquisition teams.

With the average cost of a bad hire estimated to be three times higher than the salary the role was advertised for, it’s easy to see how costly this will become unless action is taken.

It has been suggested that AI technology could redress the balance in favour of employers by automating the screening of early-stage interviews – including video. This is not the way to go. It was also suggested AI can remove human bias from the hiring process. I disagree.AI is only as effective as the data programmed into it. If the programmer contains biases, then they will be reflected throughout. Human involvement may not be perfect in managing bias, but it’s the best solution we have at present.

Placing decisions as fundamental to success as hiring solely in the hands of artificial intelligence is like asking a bot to devise your business strategy. You simply wouldn’t do it.

More than half of recruiters are in favour of ditching the CV

Technology – including AI and video interviewing – can make the process more efficient, but it can’t replace human judgement. That’s why humans must be in the loop.

The most effective talent acquisition operations maintain human involvement at every stage, and it is essential for making the right decisions. If you want to hire effectively, you have to invest human hours, and those teams must have the appropriate tools to do so.

To continue this as AI develops, however, they will have to flip the traditional hiring process perpetuated by the CV on its head.

For the vast majority of positions, experience should no longer be the main indicator of suitability. Potential, competencies, adaptability, and personality are far stronger indicators of a candidate’s likelihood of success.

In this new age of AI, employers must hire not just for roles that exist now, but roles necessary in the future. How can you gauge suitability for a role that doesn’t exist yet based on experience?

Instead, tools and technologies have been developed that measure a candidate's potential to develop into a new role; how they may fit into an organisation’s culture; and crucially, that do not rely solely on where they have worked or what they already know. Armed with that information talent acquisition teams and managers can make informed and effective decisions.

Research suggests more than half of recruiters are already in favour of dispensing with the CV. At a time when asynchronous working has opened job markets to candidates from almost anywhere, employers that remain loyal to experience-based hiring will become as redundant as the CV they covet.

​Euan Cameron, Willo Co-Founder