The AI-powered candidate isn’t coming. They’re already here. Jobseekers are using tools like ChatGPT to refine their CVs, draft cover letters, and prep for interviews with unprecedented speed and scale. This reality challenges long-held assumptions about what a strong candidate looks like.

In an environment where AI can manufacture polish, the ability to spot real potential fast, is becoming a premium skill. We need to reframe not just our tools, but our mindset. Traditional filters like education, job titles, and years of experience are losing their edge. The question is no longer “Who looks good on paper?” It’s “Who can actually do the work, and how quickly can we find them?”

Beyond the Optimised CV
Candidates today are strategic, efficient, and tech-enabled. Tools like JobScan, Huntr, and Teal help them reverse-engineer job specs. Platforms like VMock and Yoodli offer real-time feedback on how they interview. LinkedIn Learning allows for rapid, targeted upskilling.

This is a level of optimisation candidates could only dream about a few years ago. Over 50% of jobseekers now use AI to enhance their CVs and applications (Onrec, 2024). Soon, AI agents will be identifying roles, applying automatically, and responding to recruiters autonomously. Everyone is getting better at writing InMails. Everyone sounds great on paper. And that’s exactly the problem.

If presentation can be manufactured, it loses its value as a signal. The real challenge now is separating performance from presentation, substance from style.

The CV Isn’t Dead. But It’s Becoming Cover Letter 2.0
The CV is no longer the source of truth. It’s merely an advertisement for the potential ability of an individual, think of it as cover letter 2.0. Thanks to AI, candidates can tailor it perfectly for each application. But that doesn’t mean we ignore it. We just need to stop treating it as the best predictor of success.

Shiny doesn’t mean strong. Our reliance on proxies like logos, job titles, or perfectly phrased bullets is increasingly unreliable. I don’t think for one second Candidates aren’t trying to mislead, they’re just playing the game with smarter tools. And we, as recruiters, are doing the same.

Rethink the Front End: Depth Over Volume
Organisations can’t keep hiring more recruiters just to deal with more applications. That’s not sustainable. Instead, we need to rewire the front of the funnel, prioritising better targeting, faster validation, and smarter segmentation. For example:

• Use conversational AI to capture intent and alignment in real time.
• Shift to lightweight assessments like simulations or problem-solving tasks, much earlier in the process
• Build living talent pools based on readiness, with validated profiles

A better question isn’t “Who applied?” but “Who’s actually ready to engage?”

Think of talent pools in tiers:

• Apply Ready: candidates showing interest and meeting base criteria.
• Shortlist Ready: candidates who’ve shown capability or clear intent.
• Hire Ready: people you could place tomorrow, with minimal friction.

This moves us from maintenance mode to momentum.

Fair Play: AI for Recruiters and Candidates
Let’s not punish candidates for using the same tools we applaud in sourcing teams. We celebrate efficiency, automation, and tech-enabled outreach on our end. So why would we view it as corner-cutting on theirs?

We’re not in an arms race, we’re in a mirrored ecosystem. If recruiters use AI to scale, candidates should be able to do the same. This isn’t about stopping AI, it’s about building fair processes that hold up regardless of it.

That means hiring processes that are:

• Collaborative with AI, not combative.
• Designed with bias mitigation and inclusive practices in mind.
• Built to validate potential, not just presentation.

Shifting Mindsets Across the Hiring Community
What is required is a complete top to bottom rethink of hiring culture. To make this work, we need to help hiring managers and talent leaders reframe what “good” looks like. That means challenging assumptions, moving away from surface-level signals, and putting more weight on proof of capability.

Education, enablement, and shared language will be key. Because AI might be new, but the goal isn’t: find people who can do the job and thrive in the context. The tools have changed. The principles haven’t.

Final Reflection
AI has rewritten the candidate playbook. The advantage isn’t in spotting polish, it’s in surfacing capability. The organisations that adapt will build fairer, faster, and more precise hiring processes. Those that don’t will get buried in volume.

We have a choice: treat this as disruption, or use it as an opportunity to reimagine how we hire. I have real hope that this escalating challenge will build fairer more equitable hiring processes that open new talent pipelines based on the quality of what individuals can do regardless of background. Regardless this period stand to be one of the most exciting and revolutionary periods in the last 20 years