How to Recruit for Real Skills in the Age of ChatGPT

In a world where AI tools like ChatGPT are becoming commonplace in the job search process, employers face a new challenge: how to distinguish genuine candidate ability from artificially enhanced applications. We’ve listed a few ways that businesses can adapt their recruitment practices to ensure applicants have the real-world skills to succeed — not just a well-polished CV and the ability to use AI tools..

The AI Effect: Polished But Not Proven

AI-generated applications are often:

• Grammatically perfect

• Customised to job descriptions

• Packed with sector-specific buzzwords

That sounds ideal - until you realise the candidate may not actually have written any of it, and perhaps doesn't fully understand the claims it contains.

This is particularly common in:

• Writing-heavy roles (marketing, communications, content)

• Technical roles (where AI can produce sample code or portfolios)

• Customer service or HR roles (with behavioural interview answers rehearsed through AI chatbots)

What Can Employers Do?

Here are five practical, HR-friendly steps your organisation can take:

Use Skills-Based Assessments Early

Don't just rely on interviews or CVs. Introduce tasks that simulate real job requirements:

• A timed writing or analysis exercise

• A role-play or email drafting scenario

• Live problem-solving or logic-based assessmentsThese reveal actual competence - not just polish.

Introduce ‘Work Sample’ Challenges

Ask candidates to complete short, job-relevant tasks (not full projects) that show how they think, prioritise, and apply knowledge - independently.

Tip: Give them less generic tasks that AI can't easily fabricate, such as:

• "Draft a response to this customer query based on our company values"

• "Analyse this data extract and highlight one risk and one opportunity"

Ideally, these challenges will be performed under observation, either in the office, or via an online meeting with their camera switched on and their screen shared, where you can see that the candidate isn’t using AI tools, or is only using them appropriately

Layer Your Interview Questions

Move beyond the obvious:

• Ask follow-up questions that drill deeper into claimed experience

• Invite candidates to ‘teach back’ a process or explain why they made a specific decision

• Probe how they've handled ambiguity or changing priorities

This puts distance between rehearsed AI answers and authentic knowledge.

Be Transparent in Job Adverts

Set expectations in job adverts:

Shortlisted candidates will be asked to complete a task representative of the role’

This reduces friction, sets fair standards, and deters those relying solely on automated help.

Reframe AI Use as a Talking Point

Not all AI use is a red flag - it can show resourcefulness. Use interviews to ask: ‘How have you used AI tools in your job search or work, and in particular your preparation for this application? How do you see its role in your field going forwards?’

This shows who understands the tools, not just the shortcuts.

Final Thought

AI is here to stay - and it's changing the way candidates present themselves. Rather than seeing it purely as a threat to hiring integrity, businesses should view it as a reason to refocus hiring on capability, not presentation.

Smart employers won't just screen for well-worded CVs - they'll create selection processes that reveal how people really work.

For more information on this or anything other HR matter, please don’t hesitate to call us.