More employers use AI in hiring, but not everyone is convinced it picks the right people. A UK survey by the job board CV-Library of 424 recruiters and employers and 1,067 candidates, reported by IT Brief UK in April 2026, found:
- 83% of recruiters use AI to speed up hiring.
- 35% say AI tools cause them to miss strong candidates, and 27% believe strong applications are filtered out before interview.
- 72% say AI struggles to judge cultural fit, and 55% say it's poor at assessing soft skills.
- On the candidate side, 53% believe AI rejected their application without a person seeing it, rising to 64% among Gen Z.
The recruiters' own advice in the report is aimed at employers: keep people involved and be open about where AI is used.
What you can do:
- Make your CV easy for software to read. A clear layout, standard headings and real text, not images. Our guide to getting past the ATS has seven checks.
- Use the job's words for the skills you genuinely have, so you're matched to the role.
- Show soft skills with evidence, not adjectives: what you did and what happened as a result.
- Reach a person too. Where you can, follow up with the recruiter or a contact at the company. It's fine to ask whether AI is used in screening.
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