{"id":98179,"date":"2025-08-26T11:44:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T11:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/98179\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T11:44:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T11:44:07","slug":"ai-becoming-unavoidable-for-recruiters-and-job-seekers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/98179\/","title":{"rendered":"AI becoming unavoidable for recruiters and job seekers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

AI technology is basically unavoidable in the recruiting process, whether companies are seeking the right employees or job seekers are looking for the perfect role.GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s for resume writing or candidate screening, artificial intelligence (AI) has embedded itself into the job application process. For applicants, there\u2019s almost no way to avoid having AI rank your resume.<\/p>\n

According to a study<\/a> by Indeed , more than a quarter of Canadian hiring managers are using AI tools for recruitment, and research<\/a> from U.S.-based Career Group of Companies suggests the technology is also being used by 65 per cent of candidates. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe value of an application is going to zero, because anyone can write a really well-tailored resume using ChatGPT in under 20 seconds,\u201d says Arsham Ghahramani, co-founder and CEO of Toronto-based AI recruiting platform Ribbon. \u201cNow it doesn\u2019t really matter if you\u2019re a good applicant or a bad applicant, the output quality is exactly the same.\u201d <\/p>\n

The proliferation of AI in the resume and cover-letter writing process, and the resulting spike in applications submitted by candidates, is what inspired Mr. Ghahramani and his co-founder to create an automated interviewing solution.<\/p>\n

Candidates applying to jobs with Ribbon\u2019s 450 customers in 30 countries \u2013 including about 40 in Canada \u2013 are asked to participate in a video interview with the company\u2019s AI chatbot. The software then ranks candidates based on an employer\u2019s criteria, and provides data, videos and transcripts to help narrow down the selection. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe application process is not helpful in discerning a good or bad candidate any more, but with an interview you can get really incredible signals,\u201d Mr. Ghahramani says. \u201cWe\u2019re not making decisions; we are just surfacing information, making it easier for recruiters.\u201d <\/p>\n

Candidates applying for jobs using Ribbon are informed during the application process and at the start of interviews that they are interacting with an automated system and can opt out of the process, though Mr. Ghahramani says less than 1 per cent choose to do so. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe alternate option is usually to schedule a call with a recruiter,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s usually a few days out, it\u2019s usually [between] nine to five at an inflexible time, but if you do an AI interview, you can do it 24-7, you can do it right now, and you can get in front of a recruiter faster, so it really is beneficial for both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Ghahramani says Ribbon has undergone rigorous testing and certification<\/a> to ensure it is compliant in every jurisdiction, and suggests the technology is held to a much higher standard than human recruiters. <\/p>\n

As recruiters lean more heavily on AI to help make employment decisions, lawmakers in Canada are just starting to impose guardrails, though specific regulatory requirements remain limited and differ widely between provinces. <\/p>\n

For example, B.C. and Alberta have privacy laws that could be interpreted as applying to the use of AI in recruitment, but those laws haven\u2019t been tested in court in that context, says Erin Schachter, an attorney for Montr\u00e9al-based Ogletree Deakins.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Quebec, the law is very clear on what you\u2019re allowed to do,\u201d she says, adding the province is further along in AI regulation overall. \u201cCompanies are required to inform you of their use of AI, and it\u2019s within your rights to ask what information was used, like what parameters and data, and then request that a human reviews it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Ontario, a recent update to the Employment Standards Act<\/a> will require employers with 25 staff or more to disclose on job postings whether AI will be used in the screening process, starting on Jan. 1, 2026. <\/p>\n

Ms. Schachter, who specializes in data privacy, cybersecurity, and intellectual property law, warns that even provinces that require employers to disclose when they\u2019re using AI for recruitment don\u2019t require them to offer candidates the option to opt-out. <\/p>\n

Laws specific to AI in hiring may be few and far between in Canada, but there are still broader protections for employees regardless of who \u2013 or what \u2013 is making hiring decisions. <\/p>\n

\u201cOther rules apply, and the use of this tool might get employers into hot water under human rights, privacy or existing employment standards legislation,\u201d says Georg Reuter, partner and co-leader of the employment and human rights group at Vancouver-based Richards Buell Sutton. \u201cEmployers should certainly not be able to hide behind artificial intelligence and say, \u2018we didn\u2019t make this decision, our algorithm did, and we don\u2019t know what criteria it applied.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

Regardless of the legal implications, recruiters advise caution and transparency when using the technology for candidate screening. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf [a candidate] feels like they were discriminated against because AI was used in the hiring process, it\u2019s probably because [the employer] relied too heavily on AI and didn\u2019t do enough critical thinking,\u201d says Tara Parry, the director of permanent placement services for Robert Half Canada. \u201cIf you do rely too heavily on the system, I bet you get it wrong more often than you get it right.\u201d <\/p>\n

In 2018, for example, Amazon was forced to scrap<\/a> its AI recruiting tool, which was trained on historic hiring data that was found to introduce a bias against female candidates. A 2025 class action lawsuit<\/a> also alleges discriminatory decision making by hiring technology provider Workday\u2019s AI applicant screening tool, which is used by more than 11,000 customers around the world. <\/p>\n

Ms. Parry similarly advises candidates to use the technology strategically for tasks like generating practice interview questions and researching prospective employers, rather than taking over the entire application writing process. <\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t shy away from using it, just be thoughtful in how you\u2019re using it,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot you can learn through that system if you\u2019re using it well, rather than using it to find shortcuts; that\u2019s where we find failings on both the candidate and client side.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: AI technology is basically unavoidable in the recruiting process, whether companies are seeking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[62,276,277,49,48,43012,61],"class_list":["post-98179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ordid3813001372te","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}