AI Resumes Are on the Rise
Have you noticed it yet?
By now, most people have.
- The buzzwords.
- The generic phrasing.
- The vague impact statements.
- The over-formatting.
- The em-dash
They’re all signs of a slightly-too-perfect, well-optimized, ATS-friendly version of someone—the kind that looks good and sounds professional but doesn’t really seem to say anything real.
These kinds of resumes are showing up more and more and it makes sense why it’s happening. People want to put their best foot forward, and AI makes it easier to do that. It’s become a normal (and honestly helpful) way to clean things up for job candidates, but the unintended consequence is that they all end up sounding the same. And when that happens, it becomes almost impossible to get a real sense of the person behind the page.
Why Human Signals Still Matter
Reading a resume or cover letter has always depended on small, human signals—like how someone expresses themselves, the rhythm of their words, or the effort you can sense behind what they wrote. These are subtle, internal things you can feel when you’re reading something written by an actual person, and even though we don’t talk about it much, those cues matter. Words carry energy. And whether we realize it or not, we’re wired to pick up on that.
That’s why hiring has always been partly intuitive. It’s the human side of the process. But when that layer of realness disappears, everything starts to feel a little off. Not because something’s wrong, necessarily—but because something important is missing.
That missing piece is authenticity. And lately, it’s getting harder to find.
Everyone is Starting to Sound the Same
Nearly half the job market is now using AI tools like ChatGPT to ghostwrite or polish their resumes—scrubbing off some of their authenticity in the process and it’s making it a lot harder for hiring managers to tell who’s actually right for the job. Now that so many people are using the same tools in the same way, resumes don’t stand out. Everyone looks good, and everyone sounds good—but in the same way. So ironically, instead of making the hiring process easier, AI is making it harder to tell people apart.
That’s Why Hiring Feels Harder
On the surface, AI is supposed to make hiring easier because it’s faster and more efficient. But it’s actually slowing things down by removing the most basic, surface-level clues that hiring managers used to rely on to guide their decisions.
These human signals worked like a filter that made it easier to:
- Spot red flags early
- Identify strong vs. weak candidates
- Sense genuine interest and effort
- Gauge communication skills
- Intuit the potential for fit
All before they even got to the interview stage. Now, without those cues, hiring teams are left guessing—and that’s where things really start to break down.
The Human Filter is Gone
For years, hiring managers could quickly scan a resume and get a decent sense of who someone was. It wasn’t perfect, but it was efficient. They could easily spot the difference between stronger and weaker candidates and go into the interview stage with more confidence.
But that early filter is gone.
Now, thanks to automation and AI tools, most of what makes a candidate feel human has been stripped away or flattened into the same over-polished format. ATS systems let most of those through, so hiring managers are getting hit with a flood of qualified-looking applications—and no clear way to tell who’s actually worth talking to.
That’s why 76% of hiring managers say they’re overwhelmed by the volume coming in. And 56% say it’s actively slowing them down.
With so much pressure to move fast—and no real way to tell the difference between who looks good and who’s actually good—teams are wasting time and effort on the wrong people. They’re interviewing more and making later decisions with less clarity. What’s missing is the early signal—the intuitive, human layer that used to separate top performers from the rest before the interview even started. Without that filter, standout candidates are being overlooked, underperformers are slipping through, and too often, companies are hiring people who were never the right fit to begin with.
Why This is Hard to Fix Internally
That’s the real issue. What used to be a simple scan for tone, clarity, and intent now requires a completely different level of effort. Screening for character, quality and integrity now takes much deeper reading, more skillful listening and better questioning than ever before —and most teams just aren’t prepared for that kind of shift.
This is where most teams are hitting a wall. Because now the problem isn’t just about volume or inefficiency—it’s about something deeper than that. Authenticity and AI-optimization are pulling in opposite directions and most internal teams aren’t built to manage that tension. They don’t have the time, the tools, or the training to keep up with AI-driven applications—let alone develop the intuitive, people-reading skills needed to figure out who’s genuinely right for the job.
It’s too big. Too nuanced. Too much to take on alone.
And that’s exactly why more companies are calling in help. Not because they can’t handle hiring—but because they know it’s changed. And they’re adapting to that change by partnering with recruiters who are built for this moment. The ones who know how to read past the polish and actually see people for who they are.
More Companies Are Turning to Recruiting Partners
According to Linkedin and other industry reports, the use of third-party recruiters and staffing firms is on the rise. More companies than ever are outsourcing at least part of their hiring process —especially the early-stage screening—because the need for deeper candidate evaluation has simply outgrown what most internal teams can reasonably manage on their own.
Why Boutique Recruiting Stands Out
Authenticity in hiring isn’t just something we talk about at Boutique Recruiting—it’s what we were built for.
Our ability to reach candidates deeply and engage with them authentically has always been what sets us apart in a crowded industry and given our clients the edge they are after. It’s how we deliver top-performing, high-value professionals—again and again.
We don’t just fill roles. We find people who show up, stand out, and stay.
That’s exactly why we outshine every other firm when it comes to hiring with depth, clarity, and confidence. And that’s not changing anytime soon.
Our service model is built for depth. We go beyond the surface to uncover the things that truly matter—like character, integrity, and real potential. The kind of substance that separates standout talent from the rest, even if it’s hard to put into words.
And that thing that’s hard to put into words? That’s authenticity.
Here’s 3 Ways We Help You Hire For It:
1.) We Read Between the Lines
We don’t just look at what’s written on a resume, we look for what’s missing, too. Generic language that feels too perfect is easy to spot, so we play attention to specificity, personal context and if there’s any real voice behind the words.
We even go so far as asking candidates how they put their resume together, not to catch them doing anything wrong (there’s nothing wrong with using AI to polish a resume), but because it helps gauge the level of ownership they take and surface top candidates who may not be good at presenting themselves on paper, but shine through the conversation.
We also look for small mistakes. What used to be considered a deal breaker is now a small human signal that they didn’t fully rely on AI, so we bring that into the equation.
2.) We Test the Strength of the Story
We look to see if candidates own their story, understand it and are able to guide us through it without getting lost.
We listen for consistency between what’s written and how they talk about it and we pay attention to how they explain transitions, outcomes and timelines.
We also look at how the story unfolds and whether there is a natural progression that makes sense and shows consistent growth overtime.
3.) We Find Their True Character
Reading a resume and reading a person are two different things. Buzzwords might get someone to the interview, but they won’t tell you who they are. That’s why we ditch the traditional interview script and create a space for a real conversation to happen with our candidates.
We ask a variety of non-work related questions that don’t have perfect answers and pay attention to how people think, react, and respond when things aren’t rehearsed. There’s no formula for people reading, so this is the sweet spot where human intuition and expert judgement is merged to help get to the truth.
Ready to Bring Authenticity Back to Your Hiring Process?
If your team is overwhelmed by candidates who all look the same on paper, the answer isn’t more resumes—it’s sharper insight.
You don’t need more volume. You need someone who knows how to spot what really matters.
At Boutique Recruiting, that’s exactly what we do. We help you move past the polish and get to the person—because we know how to read what others miss.
In a hiring market flooded with sameness, authenticity is the edge.
Let’s help you find it. Contact Us today.
