Atlantic: The Job Market is Hell

Excerpt:

(The following is preceded by two paragraphs about the overall drop in available jobs, caused by a stack of factors including Trump tariff malaise)

At the same time, the process of getting a job has become a late-capitalist nightmare. Online hiring platforms have made it easier to find an opening but harder to secure one: Applicants send out thousands of AI-crafted résumés, and businesses use AI to sift through them. What Bumble and Hinge did to the dating market, contemporary human-resources practices have done to the job market. People are swiping like crazy and getting nothing back.

Every time Harris logged in to LinkedIn or Indeed, he would see scores of gigs that seemed like they might be a good fit. He would read a posting carefully, scrub his résumé, tailor an introductory note, answer the company’s screening questions, hit “Send,” hope for the best, and hear nothing in response—again and again and again.

Other job seekers described similar experiences. In suburban Virginia, a paralegal named Martine got laid off by a government contractor in April. (Like Harris, she did not want to dim her employment prospects by providing her full name.) She saw plenty of jobs being advertised at nonprofits, law firms, consultancies, and universities. She sent out dozens of applications. She even got to the second round a few times. But she never came close to being hired. “I have 10 years of experience,” she told me. “I would be happy if a person told me no at this point.”

For employers, the job market is working differently too. Businesses receive countless ill-fitting applications, along with a few good ones, for each open position. Rather than poring over the submissions by hand, they use machines. In a recent survey, chief HR officers told the Boston Consulting Group that they are using AI to write job descriptions, assess candidates, schedule introductory meetings, and evaluate applications. In some cases, firms are using chatbots to interview candidates, too. Prospective hires log in to a Zoom-like system and field questions from an avatar. Their performance is taped, and an algorithm searches for keywords and evaluates their tone.“

[quote]“Young people are using ChatGPT to write their applications; HR is using AI to read them; no one is getting hired.”

LOL!

I admit I used Gemini to pad out my application because I suck at putting bullet points into appealing prose. And I got hired, I start on 9/11! It's only for three months though, so don't get your jockstraps in a twist.

Congrats R2! Even though it’s short term.

There’s a bright, personable, high-GPA college grad in my family who is struggling to get hired and for whom this article really hits home.

Meh. The Atlantic is famous in recent years for its doom-and-gloom prognostications. I read it more for detached amusement than anything else. It used to be a great magazine but has, like its peer general-interest magazines, lost its touch.

r3 Thank you. And yes, three months is life changing for me after being unemployed for so long. It's so nice not thinking about suicide constantly, I feel like I got another lease on life. And I'll be surrounded by people from my own profession, which will motivate me to tie up some loose ends on the education front, which they assured me will then lead to further opportunities at their institution.

I just wish the new Nano Banana image model was part of Gemini two weeks ago already when I sent in my application, so I could spruce up the selfie I sent along with it. Just, you know, make the cheeks more symmetrical, nothing major. It's such a good model, I love giving random cats funny little hats with it.

Agreed R4. Its constant hysteria is ridiculous. Their writers just feed apocalyptic scenarios into ChatGPT and submit it unedited to the publisher. It’s basically unreadable. Or, as readable as laughable fever dreams can be.

R5 Congratulations! I was laid off about 5 months ago. It's not easy finding anything, even temporary gigs.

I run an AI check on my resume every so often. One of those state job centers is here in my town, so the folks there helped me honed it down even more.

All I can say is, if you're trying to get a comms or marketing job right now, best to you. I'm pivoting.

r2 how do you use Gemini for a resume?

The Atlantic has gotten unbecomingly clickbaity. The job market is fucking awful. But it's not about AI. It's about feckless greedy assholes being in power.

There's something to this. Our HR director got fired and her assistant quit. Before that, we were spending thousands a month trying to get positions filled. We'd go months and months without a single person being hired.

She got fired, he quit and we have a new person. We've filled almost every position within the past few months, even ones that had been open for many many months. Someone's fucking shit somewhere. (and, the positions we've filled have been filled with great people, really good matches)