• An AI tool called AIDawk helps some job seekers apply to hundreds of jobs a day on LinkedIn.
• A challenging labor market has led some people to turn to AI tools for assistance.
• Some users told BI that the program added false information to their resumes

A new AI tool released in August helps some people apply for roles quickly on LinkedIn. But like many AI programsits use comes with risks.

Federico Elia, 23, created instrument, which he named AIHawk after graduating earlier this year and finding job hunting in order to software engineering role to be slow and boring, he told Business Insider.

AAIHawk automates the application process for LinkedIn easy to apply jobs — which extract information from a user’s profile to simplify the application process. After Elia set it up, she adjusted filters for preferred role level, location, and job description keywords, then uploaded her resume and let the tool run.

“It was really effective,” Elia, who is based in Italy, told Business Insider. “We sent about 1,000 applications and got a lot of interview offers.”

In August, he published his project on the code hosting platform GitHub and received a positive response. To date, AIHawk has been “starred” – or bookmarked – by more than 20,000 people worldwide, including US job seekers. There are more than 6,000 members of the AAIHawk community on the Telegram messaging service, where users critique the tool, share resume tips and track how many interviews they’ve landed.

This comes as many Americans told BI they did he struggled to find work recent. While the unemployment rate remains low compared to historical levels, job openings are the lowest level over four years, and the employment rate is the lowest was since 2014, excluding a pandemic-induced drop in 2020. White-collar workers, particularly those in the tech industry, were particularly hard hit: There was a nearly 20% drop in hiring for roles in information technology from the summer of 2018, on LinkedIn.

Faced with a challenging job market, some job seekers have turned to promising AI tools write their CVs and letters of intent and help them prepare for Interviews. Relying on artificial intelligence carries significant risks, including a resume full of mistakes and false information. Furthermore, in the rapidly evolving AI landscape, there is a lack of clarity on how employers and job platforms view candidates’ use of these tools.

When reached for comment, a LinkedIn spokesperson did not specifically answer whether using AAIHawk would violate company rules. user agreement. The platform states that “it does does not allow tert software that scrapes or automates activity on LinkedIn.”

AAIHawk is free, but users have found problems

AIHawk is one of many AI tools for job application on the market. For example, LazyApply allows users to apply for roles on multiple job platforms for a one-time fee ranging from $99 to $249.

while AI Hawk can be installed and used at no cost, BI users said that doing so requires a coding background and programming language familiarity Python.

That’s no obstacle for GitHub users like Anthony Ettinger, a 49-year-old based in Silicon Valley. In August 2023, Ettinger was laid off from his software engineering job and has struggled to find work ever since. He said unemployment had affected his finances: to make ends meet, he had to use his Roth IRAs and it started driving for Uber to help pay the bills.

As designed, AAIHawk tailored his resume to match each job description, but instead of changing some words, he occasionally added false information, including qualifications he didn’t have. To make matters worse, an earlier version of AAIHawk prevented him from seeing The CV that was submitted.

Ettinger said such issues have been improved in recent months, in part due to recommendations from him and other GitHub users. He said the tool introduces fewer errors and that users can now access resumes submitted for each job to check for accuracy.

In addition, users can now choose to submit their resume without AI modifications, allowing them to take advantage of the mass application benefits of the tool while avoiding the chance of errors.

Ettinger estimated he applied to about 500 jobs with the tool and got a few interviews. Although he has yet to find a job, he said he will continue to use AIHawk in addition to more traditional application methods.

“It’s a pretty good tool because applying to jobs is the most painstaking thing for candidates,” he said.

Using the tool may present certain risks

Tommi, who hopes to land a full-time data engineering role to complement her freelance work, he estimates he has applied for more than 1,000 jobs with AIHawk in recent weeks.

“I can basically go on autopilot to apply for a job,” the 28-year-old, who is based in Mexico City, told BI. Tommi, whose identity was verified by BI but preferred to use his first name for fear of professional repercussions, said it was a waste of time to personalize job application materials.

Tommi estimated that AAIHawk can take three to six hours to apply to 250 easy-to-apply LinkedIn positions, which he said is about the limit LinkedIn allows per day. He said he only applied for jobs using his own resume — rather than letting the tool modify it — because he was worried it might add false information.

Although Tommi hasn’t been hired yet, he said he averages about one interview and three pre-interview screenings per week. He plans to continue using AAIHawk, although he has some concerns that he may face repercussions from LinkedIn.

This concern among Tommi and other AAIHawk users surfaced in September when LinkedIn restricted Elia from using the platform. To be sure, LinkedIn did not specifically respond to a question about why Elia’s account was restricted.

AIHawk users told BI that the tool could be difficult for a platform like LinkedIn to detect because its workflow and speed mimics how people typically apply for jobs.

Alexandru Alonso, chief data and insights officer at the Society for Human Resource Management, said he believes most HR departments have limited insight into how much their applicants are using AI to create and submit their applications, in part because of limitations technological.

He said that false information on resumes and cover letters is a real concern for departments, but that there is probably less concern about tools that help people apply for jobs en masse due to some of the benefits.

“It has a positive effect in that you see a wider group of people coming to your workplace,” Alonso said.

After using AIHawk to apply for jobs — and the notoriety that came with the tool’s popularity on Github — Elia saw an increase in interest from recruiters. Instead of taking a job, he teamed up with six co-founders to launch AAIHawk.co, which he hopes to grow into a job search platform for candidates and employers.

Elia said she never encouraged people to use AIFawk to apply for jobs. The AIHawk GitHub page includes a disclaimer that the tool is intended for educational purposes only and advises users to comply with a platform’s terms and conditions.

Guilherme, a 28-year-old based in Brazil, said he applied for more than 500 jobs at AIHawk and had six interviews. Although he has yet to receive a job offer, he hopes the tool will help him reach more employers. Guilherme, whose identity was verified by BI but was asked to use a pseudonym, was fired last year.

“I’ve been struggling financially for over a year at this point,” he said.

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