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MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Ron Cantiveros, with Manitoba Innovates, at their offices on Tuesday, July 21, 2026. Ron is starting a career program for Manitoba Innovates, which works with tech start-ups. For Gabby story. Free Press 2026<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking for innovative ways to \u2026 attract talent, but also verify and qualify talent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manitoba Innovates counts roughly 100 startup members, according to chief executive Paul Card. Burgeoning companies use desks and programs at the organization\u2019s downtown Winnipeg office.<\/p>\n
The entity also hosts Tech Thursdays, a popular weekly gathering for people in the tech sector.<\/p>\n
A barrier for some job seekers is a lacking social network \u2014 a hindrance in a \u201csea of AI-generated content,\u201d Card said.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s noticed tech companies increasingly leaning on word-of-mouth hires.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen in the market that job seekers are struggling in finding roles,\u201d Cantiveros said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the same time, with employers \u2014 when they see 1,000 resum\u00e9s and the majority of them are either duplicates or individuals from different countries \u2026 They need help.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still looking for authenticity in people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cantiveros has spent eight years as a hiring recruiter. During that time, he\u2019s come across identical resum\u00e9s minus the name attached \u2014 something he attributes to AI.<\/p>\n
The technology can make resum\u00e9-padding easy, he noted.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s asking Manitoba Innovates members what they want from a career program. Events bringing companies and workers together, such as so-called hackathons, are being considered.<\/p>\n
Manitoba Innovates will more frequently showcase companies looking to hire at Tech Thursdays, Cantiveros said. It recently spotlighted PolicyMe; the event drew roughly 120 people.<\/p>\n
A panel of hiring recruiters will answer audience questions at a Tech Thursday on July 30.<\/p>\n
Manitoba Innovates\u2019 new program could include targeted hiring fairs and career mentoring services, among other things, Cantiveros said. He expects the program to roll out this fall.<\/p>\n
ConstructionClock \u2014 a time tracking app business that\u2019s been growing \u2014 listed a job on LinkedIn last week.<\/p>\n
Within 15 minutes, LinkedIn had paused the application portal because of the volume of applications, ConstructionClock\u2019s chief executive said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important to filter because you get so many \u2014 because we live in a world where you don\u2019t have to live in the city where you work anymore,\u201d David Peters continued.<\/p>\n
The company has hired around 10 people over the past year. Two-thirds of its hires come through word of mouth, Peters estimated.<\/p>\n
\u201cStuff like organizational fit, stuff like personality, being able to gauge somebody\u2019s level of ambition \u2026 AI\u2019s not really gonna be able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Applications from the latter third \u2014 via LinkedIn or third-party headhunter \u2014 are first screened by artificial intelligence tools. AI looks for non-negotiables, such as level of education, said Nate Jackman, ConstructionClock\u2019s chief revenue officer.<\/p>\n
From there, ConstructionClock employees review resum\u00e9s and hold interviews, Jackman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cStuff like organizational fit, stuff like personality, being able to gauge somebody\u2019s level of ambition \u2026 AI\u2019s not really gonna be able to do that,\u201d Jackman added.<\/p>\n
Word of mouth is ideal because trusted sources vouch for candidates, Jackman said. ConstructionClock cares less about how a resum\u00e9 was created \u2014 using AI or not \u2014 than the quality of person on the other end, Peters added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something you have to do,\u201d Gursahib Virdi, 21, said of using AI to build a resum\u00e9.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s written his own resum\u00e9 and four to five versions of cover letters. He uploads those and the job posting he\u2019s after into Claude, an AI assistant, with a request to make a tailored application.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the difference between getting an interview and not, the electrical engineering student said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d Virdi said. \u201cWhat really matters is keywords.\u201d<\/p>\n
Resume Genius, an AI-powered resum\u00e9 creation website, found 87 per cent of hiring managers use AI while recruiting. It surveyed 1,500 U.S. hiring staffers in June and July 2026.<\/p>\n
Seventy-two per cent of respondents considered AI helpful in making recruitment more efficient. However, 82 per cent said they were concerned about applicants using AI.<\/p>\n
More than half \u2014 58 per cent \u2014 had received AI-generated applications.<\/p>\n
Ameer Hussain, 23, has used AI to tweak his resum\u00e9. Because many people are doing it, he said, resum\u00e9s generally look the same \u2014 which makes dropping off in-person more important.<\/p>\n
\u201cTalking to the guy who\u2019s in charge, that helps me. That\u2019s how I get jobs,\u201d Hussain said. \u201cCVs and stuff \u2014 the paperwork \u2014 I take help from ChatGPT. The rest of the stuff I have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always been a challenge in the hiring process, trying to understand a candidate\u2019s true skills and experience and separate fact from fiction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Using ChatGPT makes job hunting less time consuming, and it writes a better resum\u00e9, Hussain said. Still, he credits his in-person presence and his network as reasons he\u2019s employed, as of two months ago, at a mobile repair shop.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always been a challenge in the hiring process, trying to understand a candidate\u2019s true skills and experience and separate fact from fiction,\u201d said Loren Remillard, president of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAI complicates that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Artificial intelligence makes it easy to inflate qualifications, especially when the job seeker isn\u2019t uploading their own resum\u00e9 to start, Remillard said. Hiring via word of mouth isn\u2019t new, he noted, adding it\u2019s good for employers to not be over-reliant on any one form of hiring.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think AI has to be seen as bad or something that should be avoided,\u201d said Jaysa Toet, who runs HR consulting firm Lively Consulting.<\/p>\n
\u201c(The) job search is really intensive. You\u2019re spending weeks and months, potentially, of daily work,\u201d she said, adding job seekers shouldn\u2019t use AI as a \u201ccrutch\u201d but as an accessible tool.<\/p>\n
gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com<\/p>\n
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Gabrielle Pich\u00e9 Gabrielle Pich\u00e9 reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Gabrielle produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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