AI can help you write a better resume, prepare for an interview, and identify skills you may have overlooked. But it can also cost you a job opportunity if you’re not careful.
Recruiters are navigating a new hiring environment where artificial intelligence is becoming part of nearly every step of the process. Candidates are using it to polish their resumes, tailor applications, and prepare for technical interviews. Employers are using it to identify talent and make sense of growing applicant pools.
But there’s a difference between using AI to put your best foot forward and using it to pretend you have skills you don’t actually possess.
And recruiters are starting to notice.
When Three Resumes Look Suspiciously Similar
During a recent conversation with ClearanceJobs, Chris Tousley, head of talent acquisition at Systems Planning & Analysis (SPA), shared some of the challenges his team is encountering as generative AI becomes increasingly common among job seekers.
For one opening, his team received three resumes in the same week that appeared to have been generated using AI.
“As an example, for one job this week, we had three of the exact same resume templates come through with what we perceived as generative AI output,” Tousley explained. “You could tell with some of the grammar, the syntax, the dashes.”
It’s an interesting development for candidates who have been encouraged to use AI to optimize their resumes for applicant tracking systems and recruiter searches.
The very technology designed to help candidates stand out may be making them look remarkably similar.
Of course, using a particular dash, writing in complete sentences, or having a well-organized resume doesn’t mean someone used AI. And even if they did, that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a problem.
The bigger issue is whether the resume accurately represents the person behind it.
AI tools can produce polished descriptions of accomplishments. Still, they can also exaggerate responsibilities, insert skills a candidate doesn’t have, or turn relatively straightforward work into something that sounds far more impressive than it actually was.
That might help someone get through an initial screening. But what happens when they’re asked to explain those accomplishments?
The Technical Interview Has a New Problem
Resumes aren’t the only place recruiters are encountering questionable AI use.
Virtual interviews have introduced another challenge: candidates who appear to be using chatbots to answer questions in real time.
Tousley described situations where his team suspected candidates were typing questions into AI tools during virtual interviews and waiting for the responses before answering.
The warning signs included unusual pauses when candidates were asked basic technical questions, suggesting they might be getting outside assistance rather than drawing on their own knowledge.
For cleared professionals working in cybersecurity, systems engineering, intelligence, or other technical fields, that’s a particularly concerning development.
Technical interviews are designed to determine whether a candidate understands the subject matter and can apply that knowledge. If someone is relying on a chatbot to answer foundational questions, employers have good reason to question whether that person can perform the work independently.
In the national security industry, where employees may work on sensitive programs, in secure facilities, or in environments where outside tools aren’t available, demonstrating your own expertise matters.
There’s also an important distinction between taking a moment to think through a complicated question and relying on technology to generate an answer. A pause alone isn’t proof of anything. Interviewers need to be careful not to mistake nervousness, thoughtful responses, or communication differences for dishonesty.
Still, the possibility of undisclosed AI assistance adds another layer of uncertainty to an already complicated hiring process.
The Cardinal Sins of AI in Your Job Search
AI isn’t inherently the problem. It’s how candidates use it.
For job seekers, there are several ways AI assistance can cross the line from helpful to harmful:
Submitting a resume you haven’t reviewed.
Inaccurate AI-generated accomplishments, responsibilities, or certifications can create problems long before the interview.
1. Using AI to manufacture experience.
There’s a difference between presenting transferable skills effectively and claiming technical expertise you don’t possess.
2. Letting AI erase your professional identity.
Generic descriptions and recycled templates can make it harder for recruiters to understand what actually differentiates you.
3. Using a chatbot to answer interview questions without permission.
Preparing with AI beforehand is very different from secretly relying on it during an assessment.
4. Sharing sensitive information with AI tools.
Cleared candidates should be particularly careful about entering classified, proprietary, controlled, or otherwise restricted information into public AI platforms.
These aren’t arguments against using AI. They’re reminders that candidates remain responsible for the accuracy, authenticity, and security of everything they submit.
Recruiters Are Using AI, Too
The irony is that employers aren’t abandoning AI. They’re finding new ways to incorporate it into their own hiring processes.
Tousley noted that SPA is adapting its recruiting practices to leverage AI, including searching existing candidate databases to identify individuals with relevant skills.
That’s another reason candidates need to think carefully about how they present their experience.
Recruiters increasingly need to identify qualified professionals quickly, often while sorting through substantial numbers of applications. Clear descriptions of technical skills, certifications, program experience, and career interests can make that process easier.
Tousley emphasized the importance of writing a resume for the job you want, rather than simply documenting the job you currently have.
That doesn’t mean inventing experience to match a job description. It means highlighting the skills and accomplishments that genuinely align with the next opportunity.
AI can be particularly useful here. It can help translate military experience into civilian terminology, identify transferable skills, improve organization, and suggest questions to practice before an interview.
But candidates still need to own the final product.
Your Resume Might Get You the Interview. Your Skills Still Have to Get You the Job.
There’s no question AI is changing the job search. It’s making it easier to create professional-looking applications and prepare for opportunities that might previously have felt out of reach.
But it’s also creating new challenges for recruiters trying to determine who’s genuinely qualified.
For cleared candidates, the best approach isn’t to avoid AI altogether. Use it as a tool that strengthens your professional story without replacing it.
Let AI help you communicate your experience. Let it challenge you with technical questions. Let it help you prepare for the interview.
Just make sure that when the recruiter asks the next question, you’re the one who can answer it.
