Ghosting, AI, Adapting and Resilience

Let’s be honest. Looking for a job in 2025 feels… different. Not just harder, or more competitive – though it can be that too – but fundamentally more weird.

AI’s in the mix now. Remote roles are (saying they’re) everywhere and yet nowhere at the same time. Job ads disappear mid-application. And after firing off twenty tailored applications, you might still hear nothing but silence.

If you’re feeling frustrated, you’re not alone. I’ve spoken with a lot of others who are too – including people with 10, 20 years of experience behind them. It’s not just the grads or the career changers. This market is humbling everyone.

So I wanted to put together something real. A breakdown of what we’re up against right now – and what’s actually helping people get through it.

What’s Making Job Hunting So Rough Right Now

1. The AI screening wall
   Before your CV ever reaches a person, it’s likely being scanned by an algorithm. At the end of 2024 this wasn’t a thing. It was all human eyes.
   
   But companies are updating their recruitment platforms, injecting new AI tooling which does profess to accurately screen and filter ‘better and more intelligently than ever before’.
   
   These systems sort, score, and sometimes reject applications before a recruiter even sees them. You might be the perfect fit – but if your CV doesn’t speak “machine”, it might never land.
   
   Want to know what these systems actually look for? Here’s a solid explainer from JobScan on how applicant tracking systems (ATS) work.
   
   
2. Skills inflation
   It’s not just that roles are asking for more. It’s that they’re asking for different things. Prompt engineering. GenAI tools. Hybrid management. Suddenly, skills you didn’t even need last year are now marked as “essential”.
   
   The World Economic Forum predicts over 40% of core skills will shift by 2027. That’s… soon.
   
   
3. The Ghosting problem
   You can spend days crafting the perfect application. Still – nothing. No email. No call. No closure. Companies are overwhelmed with applicants, and many just don’t have the bandwidth to reply anymore.
   
   It’s not personal. But yet, it feels personal.
   
   AI tooling in this area will look to reduce the ghosting, but will also increase the auto-rejections. So your trade off with silence could be a rise in frustration from trying to get past the machines.

What’s Actually Helping (Even If You’ve Been Around the Block)

1. Write for the robots first, humans second
   Harsh? Maybe. But real. Tools like Rezi and JobScan help optimise your CV for ATS filters. Even if you’re a senior leader, this isn’t beneath you – it’s smart positioning.
   
   Pro tip: Use keywords straight from the job description. Not synonyms. Not fluff. Copy-paste the phrasing they used.
   
   
2. Build your AI muscle
   You don’t need to become an AI engineer. But knowing how to use tools like ChatGPT, Notion AI, or even Midjourney can give you an edge. Employers want to see you’re adaptable, not perfect.
   
   LinkedIn Learning has a free AI essentials course that’s actually worth the time.
   
   You’re going to find AI based questions creeping into interviews now for roles which aren’t even AI based. Companies are using the tooling on a daily basis for basic stuff too. So they’re going to want to see you’re conversant at some level. E.g. have you used Co-pilot to come up with a day plan? Or quick hack create a health and safety questionnaire for an event?
   
   
3. Treat networking like problem-solving, not schmoozing
   If “networking” makes you cringe, think of it as information-gathering. Reach out to people to learn, not just to get something. Ask for ten minutes to pick someone’s brain about what’s changing in their company or industry.
   
   A good question: “If you were in my shoes, knowing what you know now, how would you approach this market?”
   
   
4. Be findable, not just polished
   Update your LinkedIn headline. Make your bio clear, not clever. Add “Open to Work” – yes, even if you’re unsure. Use keywords you want to be found for.
   
   Also, try this: Google yourself. What did you find? Was it a drunken picture in Ibiza? Or an award for being a top performer in your field? Maybe it was a ton of thought leadership advice within your vertical market? If you were a hiring manager, would you want to talk to that person?
   
   
5. Mental health isn’t a ‘nice to have’
   This one doesn’t get said enough. Job searching messes with your sense of worth. And if you’re already tired, burnt out, or unsure, it can feel like rejection is confirming your worst fears.
   So be intentional about support. Talk to a friend, coach or therapist. Use something like Mind or BetterHelp. Take breaks without guilt. It doesn’t mean you’re slacking. It means you’re human.

If You’re Feeling Stuck, Try This

• Pick one role you’d genuinely want. Reverse-engineer your CV and cover letter just for that.
• Ask ChatGPT, Grok or whatever your preferred platform is to simulate an interview for it. Then do it again with follow-ups.
• Email or message someone who works in that company. Not to pitch yourself, but to ask what the hiring process actually looks like.
• Take a breather. Go outside. Move your body. Reset.
None of this guarantees success. But it stacks the odds back in your favour.

Final Thought: You’re Not Broken, The System Is Just… Shifting

If you’re job hunting right now, you’re not behind. You’re adapting in real time to a system that’s still learning how to work with humans. That’s not easy.

But you’re not alone in it. And with the right mix of smart tools, honest reflection, and a bit of support – you’ll find your way through.

If this helped, pass it on. Someone else out there probably needs to hear it too.

A Fork in the Recruitment Road

The AI wave isn’t just cresting. It’s cutting straight through the centre of recruitment. We’re not talking about a little efficiency here and there – this is foundational change. From how candidates are screened to how interviews are run, AI is rewriting the playbook in real time.

And the ripple effects? They’re not just operational. They’re economic, strategic, and human.

Job Seekers: Learning to Dance with the Algorithm

For job seekers, the rules have shifted. AI now screens your CV, reads your cover letter, and might even be hosting your next interview via video (ref: Joy AI) – all before a human ever gets involved. In Australia, speech recognition errors in AI-based hiring tools can reach 22 percent for non-native speakers, raising serious concerns about fairness and bias. (news.com.au)

In the UK, entry-level roles have dropped by nearly a third in the past two years. Graduates are stepping into a job market that expects AI fluency just to stay visible, yet education isn’t evolving fast enough to keep pace with changing labour market requirements. (theguardian.com)

It’s no longer enough to polish a CV. You need to understand prompt engineering, AI etiquette, and how to showcase human qualities that don’t show up in an algorithmic scan.

In addition, we’re not far off the prospect of the application process finally evolving from a CV based process, which has existed since Leonardo da Vinci first created one back in 1482.

However, the evolution has the potential to remove important human interaction points which build engagement between job seeker and future employer. As AI recruitment tools also provide data banks of historic competency question responses candidates can play back to standardised questions on things like leadership, change management, performance step-change, etc.

Saving job seekers the need to repeat responses, and instead just submit their saved and pre-scored highlight reel in response to questions pre-determined between what the AI tool suggested based on the job spec, and hiring manager approved.

In-House Talent Teams: Scaling Faster, But at What Cost?

Across industries, talent teams are shifting from manual processes to fully AI-managed pipelines. That includes sourcing, screening, shortlisting and interviewing – at a scale that was unthinkable just a few years ago.

Companies like Unilever have processed 250,000 applications in weeks, saving 50,000 hours and cutting hiring time from four months to four weeks. (en.wikipedia.org)

But as McKinsey points out, while nearly all businesses are experimenting with AI, only around 1 percent consider themselves truly “AI mature.” (mckinsey.com) Which is unsurprising, because the ecosystem is evolving a such a pace.

The tech is fast. The challenge is leadership – how to scale ethically and strategically without losing sight of the human impact.

Recruitment Agencies: Shrinking Batting Averages, Evolving Value Propositions

As more companies bring AI hiring tools in-house, agency recruiters are feeling the squeeze. If a company can assess 5,000 candidates in 24 hours with its own AI, why outsource?

That said, not all doors are closing. There’s a growing opportunity to help smaller firms and startups navigate this landscape. Agencies that pivot toward education, tooling advice, or fairness audits may end up thriving – not just surviving.

A big challenge in practice for AI in recruitment has been diversity. There’s been numerous examples of early adopters having to go back to the drawing board because their automation tooling has demonstrated a significant bias against hiring women (Amazon), or Workday’s recent ruling for a class action to move forward because of alleged AI discrimination against over-40’s.

So, handing over the keys and letting it run at scale, could remain a recipe for further legal challenges until these kinks in the systems are worked out.

But one thing’s for sure, clients no longer need CV shufflers. They need strategic partners who understand how to compete in an AI-driven labour market.

The Bigger Economic Picture: Productivity Gains, Demand Risks

Here’s the contradiction business leaders can’t ignore. AI improves hiring speed, reduces cost, and increases consistency. But it also threatens to shrink consumer demand if implemented too aggressively.

Goldman Sachs estimates that 300 million full-time jobs globally are at risk of automation. (en.wikipedia.org) The World Economic Forum expects a net loss of 14 million jobs by 2030 when you factor in gains versus losses. (weforum.org)

If people lose jobs faster than we retrain or create new ones, we create a vacuum – not just of employment, but of spending. And when consumers stop spending, even the most efficient businesses find themselves without a market.

A Call for Humane Automation

AI isn’t just changing jobs. It’s changing the structure of entire industries. The New York Post recently reported predictions of a 15-year period of social disruption as AI continues to roll out without sufficient support systems. (nypost.com)

The takeaway? We need a hybrid mindset. Automate where it makes sense. But reinvest those savings into people – retraining, mobility programmes, and AI literacy. McKinsey and other researchers have shown that AI increases demand for resilience, digital skills, and ethical reasoning – the very things humans still do best. (arxiv.org)

Final Thought: Build the Future, Don’t Burn the Foundation

This isn’t just a story about better hiring systems. It’s a story about what kind of labour market we want to build – and who gets to participate in it.

AI will help companies move faster, hire smarter and reduce cost. But if we forget to design for sustainability, we risk building systems that are lean but lifeless.

The question for leaders isn’t “How do we use AI?” It’s “How do we grow our organisations without shrinking the world around them?”

Because no matter how efficient you get, if your customers are out of work – your business is out of runway.

Should you change your job title to reflect being immediately available?

Well, yes and no…

Don’t remove your job title from your headline section. Otherwise it could reduce your visibility to recruiters.

All too often we see ‘Immediately available’ or ‘Seeking opportunities’ in place of a job title on a profile.

You need to think about what search terms the people who you want to find you would use, and ensure they are represented.

Here’s more insight into how we recruiters work, so you have the best chance of being spotted for that perfect job.

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