How do job seekers stand out in a sea of AI-generated resumes?

Recruiters are looking past polished CVs and turning to authentic human signals.

- Angie Tay

It’s tough out there for Singapore’s fresh graduates trying to find employment. Less than half of the fresh graduates from private education institutions found full-time jobs in 2024, according to the latest SkillsFuture Singapore survey released in April 2025.

This comes amid slowing economic growth and lower hiring demand. Against this backdrop, another trend has emerged: the mass use of artificial intelligence (AI) in resumes.

There are more applicants than ever flooding this market, with Singapore's fresh graduates prioritising job hunting in 2025.

But resumes are increasingly produced or polished by AI. More than 91 per cent of individuals leverage Al-generated suggestions, reported ResumeBoostSG, a government-backed platform designed to optimise resumes.

These applications may be word-perfect and tick all the boxes, but from recruiters’ point of view, where is the X factor jumping out in a compelling way to warrant getting the person on board?

Recruiters and employers are now looking for other indicators beyond the often AI-generated resume to find the right person for the role.

This raises a critical question: In a hiring environment where applications appear increasingly uniform, how can candidates distinguish themselves?

THE CANDIDATE'S DILEMMA

For decades, the resume has been the first checkpoint in hiring. Today, however, candidates find themselves caught in a paradox. On the one hand, they are under pressure to optimise their applications for applicant tracking systems, which means adopting keyword-heavy formats that machines can parse.

On the other hand, employers increasingly prize authenticity and “human” qualities — traits that often disappear when resumes are reduced to algorithm-friendly templates.

Generative AI tools can now draft resumes that are grammatically flawless, impeccably formatted and tailored with industry-specific jargon.