24th Jan, 2026
Saturday, 14:23
This e-journal entry may be most relevant to hiring managers and job applicants but of course not limited to them. These are just some notes from self-observations, especially in context with my habits of using and not using AI for content creation in job applications.
Recently, I observed how I would upload my CV and the job description document on ChatGPT and give it a prompt to write a personalised cover letter or a supporting statement. I would further modify it to simplify the language and then copy and edit it on my desktop to add details about myself which a CV cannot cover. This would usually include an introduction about by motivation to do the work, how and when I got inspired. Then I would read through the body of the generated text, make some changes here and there to make it sound human. Lastly, I would proceed to writing the conclusion to express my interest in the position and two line stating that “I believe I am a good fit for this role.”
This became more frequent in January as it is the month when the hiring cycle picks up pace again, after the December lull. I found double the amount of job posts relevant to my education and work experience. Somewhere along the way I saved many positions to apply to and started compensating for the job applications I could not have made in December. Ultimately, I was in the midst of a job-hunting burnout, which led to an increased use of AI for similar roles. For some of them, I did not even bother to change any text except for the names of the position and the organisation. I was truly so exhausted that I did not even bother or care to pause and edit.
The ease that AI provides does that— makes procrastination rampant. I do one application after another and think to myself, ‘I’ll write the next one myself. It’s just this one, it’s fine’. I tell myself that I just need a bit of a break but I shouldn’t “lose out” on the application and just make AI do it. And that break turns into a bunch of applications till I finally get to that “next one” I was supposed to do myself a long time ago. And the exhaustion still remains. Neither do I catch a break nor do I feel satisfied with my application submissions.
Technology sometimes makes my mind go numb because I don’t need to think everything through, I just need to think of a good prompt that will do the work. But honestly? It doesn’t do the work that I can definitely do better with a unique human value. It cannot write this article word-for-word that I am currently typing out. Typos and imperfect grammar being a part of this originality which now seems to be disappearing because all applications have a grammar check plug-in installed.
But let me also tell you this other part that I noticed about myself. Out of thirty-something saved jobs, there were ten that I unsaved because I was not even motivated to try for them. After that, there were three job applications that really had my attention, for which I did not even open any AI tool. And guess what? These three jobs were the ones that really got something fired up inside of me. Not because of the position’s criteria that had most of my checkboxes ticked, but because of their purpose and core values which aligned with what I believe in and would love to work for. I added new elements to my CV just to try creating an edge. I opened a new document and wrote my cover letters and statements from scratch. I ended up writing two pages of it — I know that is not the desired length but— I felt so good that I did not even want to shorten it. Everything seemed relevant in it, not because it was but because I had done some original work without AI-dependency and that feeling made me feel differently about the quality of my work. I wrote sentences that I know ChatGPT will have a hard time writing because it does not understand the feelings behind my identity. The strength my inner-work has given me is hard to capture in words. The ideas that I have about building a better future are not something that AI can magically retrieve from my mind.
It felt good to write without using AI. I have now even uninstalled my grammar plug-in from my desktop and only left it on for my browser to keep my professional emails in check. Call it a social experiment, but I am curious about how this is going to affect my job applications and if it even makes any difference at all now, whether you use AI or not. I mean I am not desperate for a job just YET and therefore have the privilege and time to notice these things. I wonder how many people get shortlisted for interviews, who apply to jobs with little to no digital literacy skills or access to these digital tools. What happens to people who did not receive a “good” English education and therefore use AI-tools in the hopes that it might get their application further? I do not even know what is expected in a CV or a cover letter anymore— has the criteria for evaluating job applications changed to the quality of English or AI-generated cover letter with better prompts? Or just the opposite— skill-based knowledge and applications independent of AI-use? And then I hear that some companies have started conducting AI-interviews.
As a job applicant submitting applications to different companies with different ideologies and following different protocols, I feel very confused at this time. I’m sure things will get better once some AI-ethics evolve around job processes and evaluations, but I also know it’s not happening anytime soon. It is a chaotic time in history, admitting that still feels like an understatement.
The takeaway I have from this introspection is that it is not about AI anymore. It is about human nature and our indulgences, about our ethical frameworks and how we wish to live life. The fact that I gave in to using AI mindlessly when I was exhausted and overwhelmed (which also led me to marinate in that thoughtless zone) and at the same time, being capable of writing out three full applications on my own, which truly made me feel inspired— has opened another door of my psyche to explore further. And I am probably going to dive into that rabbit hole, experiment and exercise my will power to push the boundaries of my very own human nature.
I find it very enjoyable to know different versions of myself in new capacities. And AI seems like a new shiny toy I have seen in my brother’s shelf that I want to play with, at the risk of my own safety. I just wish to know myself better when I am in a relationship with technology so that I am not blindsided again.
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