Don’t get bot hurt. Get bot even.

AI can write your résumé, tailor your cover letter, and even grill you with mock interview questions.

But it can’t explain why you left that one job after “creative differences.” (The universal code for ‘it’s complicated.’)

Hiring bots are out there — scanning, scoring, sorting. The trick isn’t to outsmart them. It’s to team up.

Your résumé’s new wingbot

AI can beat writer’s block and organize your résumé faster than a Sunday night panic session.

The best résumés sound like real humans who’ve done real things, not lab-grown applicants fluent in buzzwords.

Cover letters that sound human

Don’t let a bot butter up a hiring manager with “To whom it may concern.”

Use AI to shape your thoughts — not to write your love letter to the company. Drop the corporate clichés.

Add one vivid line about why you’re genuinely interested. That’s what cuts through the AI sludge recruiters wade through daily.

Sure, you can ask ChatGPT to run a mock interview. But the point isn’t to memorize answers. It’s to practice storytelling.

AI can help you spot gaps or tighten your examples. But the human part is where you add emotion, humor and the occasional awkward pause.

Bot N’ Forth: The Recruiter’s Reality Check

For our very first Bot N’ Forth, we turned the mic to Ben, a veteran HR professional who runs the Utah Jobs Hiring Facebook group.

He’s screened more résumés than your favorite job board’s algorithm.

He’s seen it all — the overpolished AI drafts, the suspiciously flawless cover letters and the candidates who clearly never read what their bot wrote.

Enough theory — let’s hear it straight from the hiring side.

Bot Hurt: Can you tell when a résumé’s been written by AI? 

Ben: Usually. They tend to sound overpolished with lots of buzzwords and zero specifics. Real humans use uneven phrasing and real examples, and that’s what makes a résumé credible. In addition, some of the more popular AI tools use the same format. Seeing 100 résumés in the same format is a red flag.

BH: So do AI-generated résumés make you roll your eyes? 

Ben: Only when it’s obvious the applicant didn’t even read it. Using AI to improve clarity or formatting is fine. Letting it invent your career story isn’t.

BH: What’s the right way to use AI in the job search? 

Ben: Use it like a coach, not a ghostwriter. Ask it for bullet point structure, action verbs or ways to tailor your résumé to a posting. Most importantly, make sure it still sounds like you. Just like in real life, a coach is there to guide you but you are the one responsible to take action and make it uniquely yours.

BH: Are companies really using AI to screen applicants? 

Ben: I’m sure some are using it. I don’t think it is as common as the general public believes. Also there are still legal questions that need to be addressed before most companies are comfortable with AI screening and automatically rejecting applications. [Editor’s note: See “Bot Talk” below.]

AI also helps recruiters source applicants. For example, a recruiter can input a job description and AI can source various résumé boards like LinkedIn for candidates that match. The AI may even draft a message to the prospect informing them about the job opportunity.

Almost all companies parse résumés so their applicant tracking systems can search for keywords. That’s why your résumé should be ATS-compliant and packed with relevant keywords. But humans still make the final determination.

BH: One line of advice for job seekers using AI? 

Ben: AI can polish your words, but only you can tell your story. Keep the human edge. That’s what we hire for.

🤖 💡 Final bot thought

Most recruiters aren’t anti-AI — they’re anti-copy-paste.

Use the tech to sharpen, not replace. Because if your résumé sounds like everyone else’s, even the best bot can’t get you past the first filter.

🤖 💬 Bot Talk: When the bots do the hiring

There’s a new HR drama, and this time the recruiter’s a robot. Job seeker Derek Mobley says he applied to more than 100 jobs through companies using Workday’s AI hiring software — and got ghosted faster than you can say “upload résumé.”

He’s suing, saying Workday’s algorithms quietly weed out older applicants, people with disabilities and minorities before a human ever sees their name.

Workday’s defense: We just make the software. But a federal judge isn’t buying the ‘we’re just the platform’ line. The case is moving forward as a class action, according to Reuters and HR Dive.

If Mobley wins, it could rewrite how every employer uses AI to screen résumés, forcing bias audits and maybe even giving some of those instant rejections a second look.

Think: the first big test of what happens when bias hides in the code.

🚀 Coming up next week …

Don’t get bot hurt. Get bot even.