Research & Insights

3/27/2024 by Josh Healan

I was researching a new client this week and, as part of that process, was reading their job descriptions for engineers and other roles. As I was working to better understand certain terms and technologies this client used I began entering full sections of their description in the Google machine. What came back was surprising, sort of.

About a year ago clients began sharing that ChatGPT was making the writing of job descriptions quick and easy. Input a job title and ChatGPT instantly spits out a detailed, well formatted description and list of job requirements. Nowadays using AI systems to write descriptions, generate interview questions, even draft recruiting messages has become the norm. Everyone is doing it these days and that’s the problem.

When searching terms from that job description I came across nine different job descriptions at nine different companies that were all exactly the same. Not just the same words, but the same sentences, paragraphs, bullet points and so on. The companies spanned from Fortune 500 down through small and medium sized businesses. I hadn’t thought about this before as I often turn to ChatGPT for ideas on all sorts of business and recruiting issues. I asked my team and they confirmed, we’re all getting exactly the same content out of ChatGPT. Not just responses, feedback, or ideas, but word for word the same content.

Here’s the issue. Recruiting is as much of a marketing job as it is anything else. Your company has a unique brand that could be part of what entices candidates to consider your jobs. It’s perfectly okay to use tools such as ChatGPT to generate ideas but any produced content should be customized for your company and your brand. If your job descriptions and other company communications don’t represent your unique brand, what differentiates you from every other employer out there?

Be authentic. Be original. Tell your brand story beginning with your job descriptions. Use ChatGPT for ideas or to punch up something you’ve written but don’t lean on AI to produce all of your content. That’s just lazy.