How do employers use AI in recruitment processes?

Artificial intelligence is quickly changing the world of recruitment. More and more, people are using AI for job application support. However, one aspect of AI in recruitment is still a mystery: how exactly employers use it.

You don’t need to look far on TikTok or YouTube to find tips for tech-proofing your CV and ‘tricking’ employer software to help you get noticed. However, much of this advice is rife with misinformation, misunderstanding and even a bit of scaremongering.

We’re here to set the record straight on what’s myth and what’s really going on with AI in recruitment, so you can understand what’s happening on the other side of that ‘Apply’ button once and for all.

We'll cover:

• Misinformation and trusting your sources
• Common myths about AI in recruitment
• What is ATS?
• Do ATSs use AI?
• AI vs. automation
• Do employers use AI detectors?
• When do employers use AI?

Look no further than a simple Google search to find conflicting information about how employers use AI.

In this image, Google's AI overview gives one answer, and the first result from Reddit gives another. So, who can you trust, and why should you believe them?

At Bright Network, we're partnered with over 300+ of the UK's top graduate employers in a wide range of industries and sectors.

To put together this article, we pulled information directly from our clients on what technology they are (and aren't) using to hire student and graduate talent. Our guidance is based on conversations with real talent teams who hire people every day.

We also asked our Senior Talent Partner, Shanice Hicks-Coffey, to weigh in and check that everything we've found is true. Shanice has hired for hundreds of roles in her career and leads on recruitment at Bright Network, and we're happy to say we've got her seal of approval.

Finally, we spoke to our tech team, who confirmed that what we've found is true from a technological perspective.

When you're looking for advice and information online, don't take everything at face value. Make sure your sources have the experience to back up what they say, and aren't just scaremongering for the sake of clicks.

The reality is that most UK employers are not using AI to screen candidates, at least as of 2025.

Bright Network’s Platform Partnerships Director, Paul, works with top graduate employer partners and global recruitment companies on a day-to-day basis. Based on his conversations with clients, he says:

It may be that within a few years, it’ll be standard practice for employers to use AI for screening. For the moment, however, that’s just not the case.

Many artificial intelligence models are indeed biased, considering they are trained on existing data that might have been affected by human biases.

However, employers are well aware of this serious limitation to using AI, and that’s one of the reasons that artificial intelligence is not being used for screening yet.

This statement is too sweeping to be true; all employers aren’t aligned in anything, let alone in AI usage and processes.

Some employers are adopting AI tools a lot more readily than others, but you won’t always know which ones.

ATS stands for Applicant Tracking System. It is specially designed software that's used for managing hiring processes and tracking candidates.

When you apply for a job, often your information will automatically upload to an ATS, where it can be reviewed by the relevant hiring managers in a streamlined way.

Many applications are reviewed anonymously to ensure processes are fair. An ATS might hide your name or gender so that an employer can review your answers as objectively as possible.

It’s important to note that ATSs are platforms designed to help hiring teams make decisions as fairly and efficiently as possible, but they do not replace the human decision-making process.

The ATS doesn’t hire you – the people using the ATS do.

Yes, many ATSs use artificial intelligence to function more efficiently. However, AI isn't involved in decision-making about who gets rejected or accepted.

For example, AI might summarise data into trends about application answers or demographics. Some ATSs might have AI-supported writing tools built in to help hiring managers and HR staff write emails more easily. AI scheduling tools might also be involved to help find interview times that work for candidates and employers.

These AI features can help hiring teams work more effectively, but they do not replace humans at any point in the process.

Perhaps you’ve read this far and you’re thinking, okay, but if employers aren’t using AI for screening, why am I getting automatically rejected from roles?

The answer here is that AI is different to automation. Automation in hiring means that a person has set up actions to be triggered by particular scenarios.

If you don't meet the practical and logistical requirements for a role, you might be automatically rejected. For example, you may be removed from the running for the following reasons:

• Your career status doesn’t meet the company’s eligibility requirements – eg. if you’re in first year and have applied for an internship only open to final-year students
• You don't have the right to work in the UK. Visa sponsorships for entry-level roles are very expensive for businesses, so they might look to automatically reject anyone who would need a visa to save on costs
• You're unable to attend the office as required. Many companies require full or partial office attendance, and if you’re unable to commute, you may be rejected

Triggered emails are messages programmed to send when the hiring manager completes a particular action, like changing a candidate's application status in an ATS.

Triggered emails save employers a lot of time. They're the difference between manually writing out messages to hundreds of individuals and simply sorting applicants into a folder on the ATS. It might be discouraging to receive an impersonal rejection email, but there will have been a human at the other end of it, making the decision.

Just because an email is templated or automated, that doesn’t mean the decision was made by AI – in fact, a lot of automation doesn't involve AI technology at all.

Some employers use AI detectors to check if you've relied heavily on AI tools in your applications. Employers in more traditional fields like law (particularly Magic Circle law firms) are more likely to use these tools to check for stock answers written by Large Language Models (LLMs).

Think of an AI detector the way you'd think of a plagiarism checker used at uni. The tool will flag up work that it suspects might have been created improperly.

Although there are plagiarism checkers at uni, you can obviously still use citations in your essays – you just have to credit your research sources correctly. It's a similar case for AI checkers. You can still use AI for support with your application, but you'll need to act responsibly. This means writing any text yourself and using AI only for research ideas or final proofreading.

AI text is known for being generic and full of filler, so tailoring your application is a great way to ensure it doesn't get flagged up by AI detectors. Make each application you send specific to you, the role you're applying for, the employer and the wider industry.

Whether an employer uses AI detection software or not, AI-written responses are easy to spot. Hiring managers will have read ChatGPT’s answers to their questions hundreds of times. That means you’ll be headed straight for rejection if you just copy and paste an answer from AI.

• Read our guide to using AI responsibly for job applications or watch our webinar on using AI to apply better
• Write your applications yourself, not using AI tools
• When completing online tests, do not use AI for the answers. Cheat detection is often built into these tools, which may track your mouse movements or how many times you leave the tab, for example. Also, tests are often about more than the correct answer – the employer will want to see your workings, too
• Always check if the employer has guidance around AI use, and follow the company's rules
• Don't write an application where your name could feasibly be swapped for anyone else's. Focus on what makes you stand out; your unique combination of background, experiences, education and skills
• Likewise, if you could substitute the company name for any other company, that means your answer is too generic

Paul, Our Platform Partnerships Director puts it this way:

“If employers are using AI in hiring, it’s for process management, not decision-making.”

Employers sometimes rely on AI to assist them in their day-to-day tasks. For example, they might use it to help them write a job advert that entices you to apply.

AI can also be used for process management, helping to schedule messages or meetings, or organising a pipeline of talent through the application funnel.

One-way interviews are often facilitated by AI. AI video tools can summarise your answers into notes and potentially even provide an overview of your performance, but humans will always make the final decisions. AI is simply a tool to help hiring teams work more efficiently.

You won’t get rejected for acting nervous, either – an AI interview is an unnatural scenario, and it’s fair to feel some jitters. However, you will get rejected if your answers are clearly not your own. Don't over-rely on AI for your interview preparation, and make sure you don't just memorise and regurgitate pre-prepared answers.

In this article, we’ve focused on the state of play in hiring right now – but if one thing is for sure, it’s that AI develops fast. It may well be that in the near future, AI is used for screening and potentially rejecting or accepting candidates.

Whatever happens, Bright Network will always work to reduce bias in hiring processes, and we’ll champion strong AI regulation to make sure that the future of recruitment is fair to everyone.

The AI landscape is rapidly changing. This article was published in May 2025.

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