Over 70% of people nowadays take additional steps just to gain attention, but four-fifths of them are rejected without having engaged in a single conversation.
In a recruitment market that feels like a "black box," nine out of ten job seekers are willing to accept AI interviews.
New York, October 21, 2026 / PRNewswire / -- A new report released by the recruitment platform Greenhouse shows that candidates are falling into a "dilemma" created by AI. The survey "2026 Greenhouse Future of Hiring Candidate Report" polled over 2,800 job seekers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, and Australia, and found that job seekers are adjusting their job hunting strategies for two types of employers: those with automated systems for screening applicants, and those employers who may suspect them of using AI.
More than three-quarters of American job seekers (77%) have used AI to assist with their job hunting in the past year, but 60% of them say they have changed or are considering changing their writing style to avoid their application materials being mistaken for content generated by AI. Caught in between, candidates wish there were better ways to show employers who they are. Most people are also willing to let AI play a role in the recruitment process, even during interviews, as long as employers clearly explain how it will be used and the results are reviewed manually.
Hidden recruitment process
Job seekers put in more effort into their applications, yet often receive no response at all. Four-fifths (81%) of American candidates were rejected in the past year without even having a conversation with anyone within the company—whether it be a human or a AI—during their job application process. Nearly a third (31%) said this happened frequently or almost always; among Generation Z, this proportion rises to 38%, with them reporting being rejected without any discussion. To increase their chances of success, 71% took additional steps to attract attention, ranging from seeking referrals (almost half) to paying for resume services (27%). Getting an interview does not mean the struggle is over. Almost all candidates who have attended an interview (96%) have at least one complaint, with the most common being being stood up by employers (45%).
Greenhouse Chief Human Resources Officer Sharawn Tipton said, "This is the first time in my memory that both parties involved in the recruitment process agree that there is a problem with it. Candidates submit their applications into a 'black hole', while employers are filtering resumes that all look the same and have been AI beautified. Applications used to be the 'front door', but now they often lead to a dead end. Candidates need a truly effective system that can give them a fair chance. Adding to this the poor AI only harms them and the employers."
Defeat the robot and prove that you are human.
Job seekers try to circumvent robots while not wanting to appear like robots themselves. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of people have attempted strategies to bypass automated screening, ranging from using AI to figure out what the system is looking for (54%), to adding skills or keywords that they do not possess (40%). One-third of them even included hidden text meant specifically for AI reviewers to see. Although most people use AI in their job hunting process, 39% still rewrite their application materials to avoid being mistaken for being generated by AI, and another 21% have considered doing so as well. This proportion is significantly higher among younger groups: 63% for Generation Z, 42% for Millennials, 31% for Generation X, and 27% for Baby Boomers.
Request for further optimization, but the gap still exists.
Even with all these optimizations, the application materials still fail to address the most important questions. Nearly all job seekers (96%) hope to present themselves to employers more clearly than what is available in the application forms, and over half of them (52%) wish to demonstrate their learning and adaptability. Interviews do not always manage to bridge this gap. Although three-quarters of respondents said that their most recent face-to-face interview allowed them to showcase their abilities effectively, nine out of ten still encountered at least one issue, ranging from repeating content from their application materials to interviewers making judgments based solely on first impressions.
Candidates are willing to try another approach to getting in. Nearly half (48%) of them have participated in AI interviews over the past year, and 70% of them say that these interviews allowed them to showcase their skills well. Only 7% of them would explicitly refuse an interview led by AI; if there is no human interviewer available, candidates are 2.7 times more likely to choose to exit directly if AI interviews are the option. This open attitude depends on trust: nearly half (49%) of them want to know that their answers will be reviewed by humans, and 40% of them want to know how they will be evaluated.
Greenhouse Voice AI Leader Ophir Samson states: "AI can polish a resume or submit hundreds of applications at once, but it cannot show employers how a person thinks or learns. A structured conversation in the early stages of the recruitment process might provide such an opportunity for the right candidates. However, the prerequisite is that the candidates must understand how they are being evaluated and be aware that their answers will be reviewed by real people. Trust must be established within the process from the very beginning."
A new era of recruitment requires rules.
Candidates hope that there are clear rules regarding the use of AI in the recruitment process, both for their own benefit and that of employers. The majority are willing to seek assistance from AI in their job hunting, with 69% indicating a willingness to use AI agents, but they wish to retain control themselves: only 5% would allow AI agents to submit job applications on their behalf. Most people also believe that if an agent is submitting applications on a candidate's behalf, this should be disclosed. They have similar demands for transparency from employers: 88% prefer at least one legal requirement that forces employers to be transparent and accountable when using AI during interviews, with advance notification (55%) being the most supported option.
For to read the full report, please visit the Greenhouse website.
Investigation Methods
Greenhouse conducted a cross-market survey of over 2,800 candidates, including 1,200 job seekers from the United States, as well as respondents from the UK, Germany, Australia, and Ireland. Unless otherwise stated, all findings cited in this press release are based on responses from American respondents (n=1,200).
About Greenhouse:
Greenhouse is an orchestration-based recruitment ecosystem that brings employers and job seekers together on the same platform, helping recruitment to function more effectively in the AI era. Thousands of companies, including Anthropic, HubSpot, and NFL, use Greenhouse for their recruitment efforts, while millions of job seekers use MyGreenhouse to share their complete career stories.
Greenhouse integrates the recruitment process, including prospecting, interviewing, scheduling, and applicant tracking, into a single recruitment ecosystem. The products involved are Voice AI, Real Talent, and Dream Job. This approach is based on signals rather than applications: identifying who is a real person, who is looking for a job, and why they might be suitable for the position, with each recruitment decision being made by a human.
Greenhouse has always been recognized as a leader in the industry. Recent honors include G2's "Best of 2026", HR in the categories of Best Software Product, Global Software Company, and Highest Customer Satisfaction Product, as well as TIME's selection for Dream Job as one of the Best Inventions of 2025, HR Executive's selection for Real Talent as one of the Top Ten of 2026, and HR product. The company has also been listed in Fortune's Best Workplaces, Inc's Best Workplaces, Glassdoor's Best Workplaces, Forbes' Cloud 100, Deloitte's Crain 500, Crain's Best Workplaces in New York, and Mogul's list of Top 100 Diverse Workplaces.
