More than seventy percent of people now take extra steps just to gain attention, but four out of five are rejected without having had a single conversation.
In a hiring 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 from the hiring platform Greenhouse reveals that candidates are caught in an AI “catch-22.” The 2026 Greenhouse Future of Hiring Candidate Report surveyed over 2,800 job seekers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, and Australia, finding that candidates are adjusting their job search strategies for two targets: automated systems that screen them and employers who may suspect they used AI.
More than three-quarters of U.S. job seekers (77%) have used AI-assisted job searching in the past year, but 60% say they have already changed or are considering changing their writing style to avoid having their application materials mistaken for AI-generated content. Caught in between, candidates desire better ways to showcase who they are to employers. Most are also willing to allow AI to play a role in hiring—even including interviews—as long as employers clearly disclose how it is used and human reviewers verify the results.
Hidden hiring process
Job seekers invest more effort in applications but often receive no response at all. Four out of five (81%) U.S. candidates were rejected over the past year without speaking to anyone at the company—human or AI. Nearly one-third (31%) said this happens frequently or almost always; among Gen Z, this rises to 38%, with many reporting they are routinely rejected without any conversation. To improve their chances, 71% have taken extra steps to gain attention, ranging from seeking referrals (nearly half) to paying for resume services (27%). Landing an interview doesn’t mean the frustration ends. Almost all candidates who have interviewed (96%) have at least one complaint, with the most common being that employers “ghost” them (45%).
Greenhouse Chief Human Resources Officer Sharawn Tipton said: “For the first time in my memory, both sides of the hiring process agree that something is broken. Candidates are submitting applications into a black hole, while employers are sifting through resumes that all look the same—AI-enhanced and homogenized. Applications used to be the front door; now they’re often a dead end. Candidates need a truly effective system that gives them a fair shot. Layering on poor AI only harms both candidates and employers.”
Beat the bot and prove you're human
Job seekers try to bypass bots without appearing robotic themselves. Nearly two-thirds (62%) have attempted strategies to circumvent automated screening, ranging from using AI to determine what systems are looking for (54%) to adding skills or keywords they don’t actually possess (40%). One-third of these individuals also included hidden text specifically intended for AI reviewers. Although most people use AI in their job search, 39% rewrite their applications to avoid being mistaken for AI-generated content, and an additional 21% have considered doing so. This trend is significantly more prevalent among younger groups: 63% of Gen Z, 42% of Millennials, 31% of Gen X, and 27% of Baby Boomers.
Application optimized, but gap remains
Even with all these optimizations, the application materials still fail to answer the most important questions. Nearly all job seekers (96%) hope to present themselves more clearly to employers than what the application form allows, and more than half (52%) want to demonstrate their ability to learn and adapt. Interviews also do not always bridge this gap. Although three-quarters of respondents said their most recent in-person interview allowed them to effectively showcase their skills, nine in ten still encountered at least one issue—ranging from having to repeat information from their application materials to interviewers making judgments based solely on first impressions.
Candidates are willing to try an alternative entry method. Nearly half (48%) have participated in an AI interview within the past year, and 70% of them said it allowed them to effectively showcase their skills. Only 7% would explicitly refuse an AI-led interview; candidates are 2.7 times more likely to choose an AI interview than to opt out entirely if no human interviewer is available. This openness depends on trust: nearly half (49%) want to know that a human will review their responses, and 40% want to understand how they will be evaluated.
Ophir Samson, Head of Greenhouse Voice AI, said: “AI can polish resumes and send out hundreds of applications at once, but it cannot show employers how a person thinks or learns. A structured conversation early in the hiring process could give qualified candidates the opportunity to demonstrate this—but only if candidates understand how they are being evaluated and know that real people will review their responses. Trust must be built into the process from the very beginning.”
The new hiring era requires rules.
Candidates want clear rules governing the use of AI in hiring, both for themselves and for employers. Most are willing to use AI to assist with their job search, with 69% open to using AI agents—but they want to retain control: only 5% would allow an AI agent to submit job applications on their behalf without oversight. Most also believe that if an agent submits applications on a candidate’s behalf, this should be disclosed. They demand the same transparency from employers: 88% want at least one law requiring employers to be transparent and accountable when using AI in interviews, with the most supported requirement being advance notice (55%).
To read the full report, visit the Greenhouse website.
Investigation methodology
Greenhouse conducted a cross-market survey of over 2,800 candidates, including 1,200 job seekers in the United States, as well as respondents from the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Ireland. Unless otherwise noted, all findings cited in this press release are based on U.S. respondents (n=1,200).
About Greenhouse:
Greenhouse is an orchestrated recruitment ecosystem that brings employers and job seekers together on a single platform to help hiring operate more effectively in the AI era. Thousands of companies, including Anthropic, HubSpot, and the NFL, use Greenhouse for hiring, while millions of job seekers use MyGreenhouse to share their complete professional stories.
Greenhouse integrates sourcing, interviewing, scheduling, and applicant tracking into a unified recruitment ecosystem, featuring products such as Voice AI, Real Talent, and Dream Job. Its orchestration is built on signals rather than applications: who the real people are, who is actively job-seeking, and why they might be a good fit for the role—with every hiring decision made by a human.
Greenhouse has long been recognized as an industry leader and recently earned accolades including G2’s 2026 Best HR Software Product, Best Software Product, Global Software Company, and Highest Satisfaction Product lists, as well as TIME’s Best Inventions of 2025 for Dream Job and HR Executive’s Top 10 HR Products of 2026 for Real Talent. The company has also been named to Fortune’s Best Workplaces, Inc.’s Best Workplaces, Glassdoor’s Best Workplaces, Forbes Cloud 100, Deloitte Technology Fast 500, Crain’s New York Best Workplaces, and Mogul’s Top 100 Workplaces for Diversity and Representation.