Nearly half of job seekers us AI to polish their resumes

The rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools has nearly half of job seekers utilizing such tools to help improve their resumes according to a new survey from Canva.

Canva partnered with Sago to survey 5,000 hiring managers and 5,000 job seekers from the U.S., United Kingdom, India, Germany, Spain, France, Mexico and Brazil to assess the latest trends influencing the job searching and hiring process. The survey found that about 45% of job seekers have used generative AI to build, update or improve their resumes. That figure was highest in India (74%) and Brazil (50%) while it was lowest in France (33%) and Spain (34%).

The survey also showed that hiring managers are receptive to the use of AI by candidates looking to make their resumes more creative. It found that 90% of hiring manager respondents said it’s acceptable to use generative AI in application materials, with 46% saying it should be used minimally to augment an applicant’s ideas and content, and 44% saying it can be used to create any content.

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“For job seekers to understand that overwhelmingly hiring managers feel that it is acceptable to use AI for some parts of your materials, job seekers should take some confidence in that and continue to use it as a sort of great jumping off point,” Amy Schultz, global head of talent acquisition at Canva, told FOX Business. 

“We know that job seeking can be really hard, it can be really daunting, so if there’s something that can make you feel better about that experience, then I think that folks should lean into that,” she added.

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An overwhelming majority of hiring managers surveyed said it’s acceptable to use AI in drafting job application materials. (iStock / iStock)

Of those applicants who used AI on their resume, about 56% said they were “very satisfied” with their resume appearance compared to 33% of non-users, while 91% of those using AI for their resume said they had the right tools they needed, compared to just 64% of non-AI users.

Those who haven’t yet used generative AI did express an interest in doing so to update their resume or creating a new version of it in the future, with 81% saying that they would do so in the future.

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Generative AI tools can help job seekers make their resumes and applications more visual, as well as getting ideas for content. ((Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images) / Getty Images)

A 67% majority of hiring managers responded that they can tell if an applicant has used generative AI all or most of the time, and Schultz noted that applicants should take steps to verify the output of AI tools to ensure there aren’t any surprises when it comes time for an interview.

“I think you should always proof what you’re getting back from whatever generative AI tool that you’re using and ensure that it reflects your tone of voice, your kind of experience, and that when it comes to an interview that you’re ready to speak to that,” Schultz said. 

The survey also found that 71% of recruiters believe that text-only resumes to become obsolete in the next five years, and 57% of hiring managers prefer resumes with visual elements as opposed to all-text resumes. Schultz noted that Canva’s AI-powered Magic Write tool was used 5 million times in resume template designs last year, so job seekers are looking for an edge to help their application stand out.

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“On average, a recruiter is spending probably about 7.4 seconds visually looking at a resume before deciding whether that’s a resume that they want to spend more time on or move forward with,” Schultz said. “So if you’re able to grab the attention of a recruiter in those 7 to 8 seconds through using logos or even doing some research on the company’s corporate colors that they use and then using those colors in your template.” 

“You can even get a sense from looking at company websites around the font style they use, the tone of voice – there’s so much information out there that candidates just by spending 5 or 10 minutes doing some quick research and then personalizing the cover letter or their resume to either reflect the company or the industry, that can go such a long way,” she added.