Who Am I Impressing- A qualitative study assessing AI-enabled recruitment's impact on graduating students' job applications

Sammanfattning: With the growing importance of AI screening tools in recruitment and selection, an important consideration becomes how job applicants adapt to this change. Previous research has produced insights on why applicants present themselves in certain ways and how these applicant presentations are perceived by a human recruiter. However, there is a deficit in research that focuses on how applicants adjust the impression that they make towards an AI recruiter. Additionally, whether the applicant actually knows if they are impressing a human or AI has been questioned. Our study therefore asked the question: How do applicants' assessments of AI use in recruitment inform the adjustments they make to their job applications? Through a qualitative research approach, data was gathered from 24 job-seeking university students. A motivational and legal perspective were applied to understand how applicants' assessments of AI affected how they adjusted their application documents. Our analysis concluded that in the absence of effective AI transparency, applicants' experiences determined their beliefs which took a paramount role in whether they assumed AI use in the screening process. Further, given that AI use was assumed, the applicant's motivation to adjust informed both whether and how they adjust. Due to limited AI transparency and motivation to adjust, the final application adjustments made were modest, if existent. Our study contributes to the gap in literature at the intersection of applicant self-presentation, AI use in screening, and AI transparency. It further contributes to AI developers and recruiters considering the use and disclosure of AI recruitment tools in terms of greater understanding regarding the impact on how applicants present themselves accordingly.