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Welcome to Issue #211 of Jobseeking is Hard!

Happy Wednesday!

Someone recently reached out to me on LinkedIn to ask about my resume services. He wanted to know what I could offer that he couldn't get by uploading his resume to AI and asking it to review it. After more than 20 years in recruiting, I have some thoughts about how much you should trust that assessment.

That's what I want to talk about this week.

This week we’re talking about:

• Why using AI to write your resume is making it harder for recruiters to see what makes you worth interviewing

• The best (worst?) job posting of the week

• The meme of the week

And for Premium subscribers I’m:

• Debunking a recruiter's LinkedIn rant about why jobseekers aren't getting callbacks

• Answering a Premium subscriber’s question about using AI tools to automatically apply to hundreds of jobs. I’ll explain why companies are pushing back against them and how they could hurt your chances of getting interviews.

Let’s get to it!

AI DOESN'T KNOW WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT

I keep having the same conversations with jobseekers who are convinced AI is preventing them from getting interviews. They think applicant tracking systems are automatically rejecting their resumes. They’re worried that recruiters are using algorithms to screen people out. They think that companies are using AI tools that decide they're not qualified before a recruiter ever sees their application.

And I understand the concern.

Companies are using more technology in hiring, and jobseekers have very little visibility into how their applications are being evaluated. You have no control over those scenarios. But there's another way AI might be hurting your chances that I don't think people are paying nearly enough attention to.

They're using it to write their resumes.

Last week, I participated in a webinar with Nexford University called Inside Hiring: The New Rules of Getting Hired in 2026. Nicole Darling, Nexford's Head of Career Success, and I talked about what hiring looks like right now and what jobseekers need to understand about getting interviews. One of the things I discussed was how much time people are spending using AI to improve their resumes without necessarily understanding what recruiters are actually looking for.

And it's something I keep encountering in my own work.

Someone recently contacted me on LinkedIn to ask why they should pay for my services when they could simply upload their resume to AI and ask how it compared to other candidates in the market.

Fair question. In theory, if you can get a detailed resume assessment in a few seconds, why wouldn't you?

But what exactly is AI assessing?

You give it your resume and a job description. It compares the two, identifies the skills and qualifications mentioned in the posting, suggests keywords to incorporate, and rewrites your experience to sound more aligned with what the company is looking for.

And the result probably looks pretty good.

But AI hasn't figured out what makes you a strong candidate. It's figured out how to make your resume look more like the job description. Just like everyone else that’s asking AI to do the same thing.

Let's say you're an operations leader applying for Director-level positions. You upload your resume, paste in a job posting, and ask ChatGPT to improve it. Suddenly your summary is emphasizing strategic leadership, operational excellence, cross-functional collaboration, and driving business results.

Those are all things the employer is looking for, so the resume must be better, right?

Except there are probably 100s of other candidates applying for the same position with similar qualifications. Many of them are also using AI, feeding it the same job description, and getting back resumes filled with the same language.

Now the company has 100s of strategic leaders who drive operational excellence.

If I’m the recruiter, how does that help me decide you're worth interviewing?

When I'm recruiting for a position, I'm not simply checking whether someone's resume contains the responsibilities and qualifications listed in the job description. I'm trying to figure out who has the experience to do the job successfully and why one candidate might be a better fit than another.

If I'm reviewing 50 candidates who have similar titles, years of experience, and responsibilities, how do I know who to interview? Where are the differentiators?

Maybe one of them inherited a struggling operation and revamped it. The other has spent most of their career maintaining an already successful department. Both might be qualified for the job, but depending on what the hiring manager needs, those are very different backgrounds.

That's the kind of distinction recruiters are looking for. Specificity, not generality. In this market, meeting all of the qualifications and including all of the keywords is just the bare minimum. It takes more than that to land an interview. And it's something AI easily misses when you're asking it to rewrite your resume around a job posting. It doesn't know what made your work particularly impressive unless you explain it. It doesn't know whether the results you achieved were considered successful, or whether your responsibilities were significantly greater than someone else with the same title.

It also doesn't know which of those details would matter most to the recruiter evaluating you for a particular position. When people use it primarily to match their resumes to job descriptions, they're often skipping the part where they figure out what actually makes their experience valuable.

And that's where I think people are wasting time.

They'll spend hours asking AI to improve their bullet points, incorporate more keywords, adjust the summary, and evaluate how closely their resume matches a particular job posting. The feedback gets more positive and eventually the tool tells them they've got a strong resume.

But what has actually improved? Is the resume easier to read? Probably. Do the keywords match up better? Yes. And, don’t get me wrong, those things can help. But if it still doesn't explain what makes that person's experience different from everyone else's, the recruiter is left trying to figure it out.

The person who contacted me on LinkedIn was a developer, so I asked him a question. Why would someone pay him to build software when they could just ask AI to write the code?

He understood my point.

When someone hires me to review or rewrite their resume, I'm not just looking for ways to improve the wording. I'm evaluating their experience from a recruiter's perspective and trying to identify what would actually make someone want to interview them.

Sometimes that means uncovering accomplishments they've overlooked. Other times it's recognizing that they've been operating at a much higher level than their resume suggests.

I've worked with plenty of people who had impressive backgrounds but weren't communicating what made them valuable.

AI can help you write a better resume. But if you don't understand what makes you a stronger candidate than the other people applying for the same job, you're still missing a pretty important part of the equation.

And that's exactly the kind of thing I help people figure out.

If you're wondering whether your resume is actually communicating your value, here's how I can help.

Have a topic you want me to cover in an upcoming issue? Reply or email [email protected] and tell me what you want to know!

BEST (WORST?) JOB POST

OF THE WEEK

Here’s the job post that got the most people talking on my Instagram this week!

is this remote work or a reality show???

If you come across an irritating job posting, email it to the newsletter or DM me on Instagram and I’ll add it to the list to post!

MEME OF THE WEEK

This meme got more reactions on my Threads than anything else I posted this week.

PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER QUESTION

“I've been seeing ads for AI tools that automatically apply to hundreds of jobs for you. I've been unemployed for about five months and honestly, I'm getting tired of spending hours applying to jobs and barely hearing anything back. I'm tempted to try one, but I'm wondering if recruiters can tell when someone uses these services. Could it actually hurt my chances, or is it worth trying just to get more applications out there?”

Scroll down to the Premium Section below for my answer!

Most people assume an index fund spreads their money across 500 companies. But a few tech giants carry a big chunk of it, so a hit to AI lands in your 401(k). Here are 10 stocks to help protect it. Get the Free Report.

Jobseekers, have a great rest of your week, and good luck with those applications!

-Adam

PS!! If you're enjoying the newsletter, let people know! Forward it, post it on social, tag me, whatever...the bigger the discussion, the better! The idea is to help as many people as possible!

About Adam- Recognized as a leading voice on hiring and workplace trends, Adam has been recruiting and providing career advice since 2003, developing high-trust relationships based on honesty with companies and jobseekers. A highly sought-after speaker, he has appeared in numerous outlets, including Bloomberg News, Business Insider, LinkedIn, and CNNMoney. You can find out more about Adam's resume and coaching services here.

AFFILIATES

NOTE: As an affiliate to these services, we will receive compensation if you purchase products or services through the links provided.

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