Dear Jonathan, are students ready for the realities of technology-driven recruitment?

Dear Jonathan,

What is your opinion on the use of technology in "online" job applications, and whether you believe this may be an overly democratising systemisation of talent, that results in students feeling overly pressurised to fit the exact requirements on each job description?

I fear this approach, being made by largely all companies across all sectors, is denying employers the right to discretion and "giving someone a go" so they can learn and lean into the role.

As Oxford graduates, how well-prepared are we for the real challenges of this modern, technology-driven vetting process, which continues to occur across the job market?

- 2nd year undergraduate, Humanities

Teaching, learning, and even (given it’s the summer term) examining at university are all based on having time to make your case, explain your position, and get feedback through detailed discussion. It’s quite the opposite in applying for jobs: many students have experienced the almost instantaneous rejection from an online system, the complete lack of feedback, and depersonalisation of the whole process.

It is perhaps understandable that larger organisations are employing automated tools (yes, including AI but it has been happening for many years) to cope with the higher numbers of applicants. It’s not unusual to hear of students making 150 applications for example – which is superficially easy to do now.

Using technology for assessment would be welcome if it really did always level the playing field for all applicants; however, there have been several studies that show inbuilt bias (e.g., the Stanford Algorithmic Monocultures study of 4 million applications that found significant racial disparities in the systems used by many recruiters). These systems are driven by matching your attributes to the job description and, as you imply, don’t appear to have discretion or ability that humans have to spot something unwritten.

AI can be useful for your research, especially if you feel you don’t have the inside track, or social networks for specific roles. When it comes to the application, employers do want to hear the real you. Given you will meet a live interviewer at some point, how can students be better prepared to first pass the vetting process and reach the live interview? Or to put it another way, how can you game the system?

Tech-driven vetting will look for close or exact matches to the keywords in job descriptions; the algorithm may filter out those with “equivalent” experience or qualifications in favour of those with the exact ones asked for. So, focus your attention where you can match most (if not all) the criteria – and write your application accordingly. Pay attention to the desirable criteria also as they become more important as a way for the vetting to filter people.

Read some current job ads for roles that interest you and spot which experiences you are missing so you can match the requirements: if you’re returning to university in the autumn, find ways next year to gain the experiences you’ll need to pass that vetting. The summer vacation also offers the time to build any “missing” experiences or skills.

Based on our latest survey of employers, students in general would do well to focus on being able to demonstrate teamwork, commercial and societal awareness, AI/digital skills, and flexibility.

 Jonathan Black - Director, Oxford University Careers Service

  Read more guidance on: 

• Use of AI in Job Applications and Assessments
• Demonstrate You Fit the Job Criteria
• Develop Your Employability Skills

About the Dear Jonathan column

For six years, the Oxford University Careers Service Director Jonathan Black, wrote a fortnightly column for the Financial Times answering readers’ careers questions - you can still find it here.

Now, the “Dear Jonathan" column has come to Oxford.

If you are an Oxford University student, send in your career question to dear.jonathan@careers.ox.ac.uk and each week of term, he will answer one of the questions in this feature. We’ll anonymise the author (but please tell us whatever is relevant) so you can be sure that readers won’t know it’s you.