Is the Resume Dying?
by Dr. Claire Brady, EdD
“For those of us in higher education, this trend isn’t just a workplace curiosity—it’s a warning.
And it’s one we should take seriously.”
In a recent Ars Technica article, “The Résumé is Dying, and AI is Holding the Smoking Gun,” Benj Edwards explores how generative AI has upended the hiring process, creating what he calls “hiring slop”—a bot vs. bot standoff where candidates use AI to generate hundreds of résumés and employers use AI to screen them. The result? An overwhelming flood of noise and a deepening disconnect between real people and real opportunities.
For those of us in higher education, this trend isn’t just a workplace curiosity—it’s a warning. And it’s one we should take seriously.
1. The Résumé Arms Race Reflects a Broken System
When LinkedIn is processing over 11,000 job applications per minute (a 45% increase in a year), it’s clear: volume has replaced intentionality. Résumés no longer signal genuine interest or qualification. They signal the ability to prompt an AI tool effectively.
Higher ed career services, alumni relations, and workforce development initiatives need to take note. Are we still preparing students for a hiring system that no longer functions as intended? And are we evaluating candidates—faculty, staff, or students—for roles using tools that are rapidly losing credibility?
2. Authenticity is the New Differentiator
If résumés are now easy to fake or flood, employers will inevitably seek signals that AI can’t easily mimic: live collaboration, problem-solving sessions, authentic writing samples, and proven outcomes. We should expect to see trial projects, portfolios, and recorded work grow in importance across sectors.
This has implications for how we teach, mentor, and assess. Do we give students enough real-world practice that can translate into portfolios? Are we building hiring systems that value authentic demonstrations over polished documents?
3. Bias and Risk Are Embedded in AI Systems
Even as AI tools proliferate in hiring, they often reproduce human biases—such as favoring traditionally white or male names. Edwards notes that the EU already classifies AI use in hiring as high-risk. It’s only a matter of time before similar scrutiny emerges in the U.S.
For higher ed leaders, this raises two urgent responsibilities:
Ensure ethical, bias-aware use of AI in institutional hiring.
Educate our students about how to navigate and question automated systems.
4. This Is the Future of Work, Now
What’s happening in hiring today is a glimpse of the broader AI-infused labor market our students will face. If we’re not preparing them for that reality, we’re failing to future-proof our mission.
As Edwards wryly concludes, we’re fast approaching a world where “robots interview other robots for jobs performed by robots.” But higher education has a chance to hold the line for humanity—by designing processes that reward depth, not just speed, and by preparing learners to show up as their full, human selves in a machine-saturated world.
It’s not just the résumé that’s dying—it’s the illusion that our current systems are still working. Let’s lead the way in building something better.
Read the full article: https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/06/the-resume-is-dying-and-ai-is-holding-the-smoking-gun/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=user%2FArsTechnica
Image created in Leonardo.ai
