It’s fine to use AI, but here’s how to do it smartly.
Caitlin Vander Weele is a neuroscientist and the CEO of Stellate.
Last month, I led a round of hiring at Stellate. Both were difficult positions to fill because we were looking for “unicorns.” So we approached hiring differently: by selectively distributing the job ads and focusing on short-answer responses.
Even with limited distribution, the response was overwhelming. But what surprised me most wasn’t the 350-plus highly competitive folks who applied, it was the disappointing quality of the written responses — for a communications job!
Using AI to crank out job apps is quickly becoming the norm, if it isn’t already. And I get it. Jobs are tough to find. The Labor Department just reported that employers cut 92,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate has risen to 4.4%, but this recent hiring round revealed something important about how candidates should approach securing communications jobs today.
Why communications jobs are different
A friend of mine who runs a go-to-market company recently told me she’s skeptical of candidates who don’t use AI because she wants employees to leverage tools that can boost efficiency and enhance work quality. For many jobs, that logic makes sense.
But communications roles are different. The job is quite literally writing. The art lies in voice, personality and how these characteristics are expressed in writing style. So when someone submits an application that is clearly 100% AI-generated, it becomes very difficult to evaluate what we’re actually hiring for.
Since we collected short-answer responses using a form, I easily could view them side by side. Many responses began almost identically: “I have a rare combination of scientific expertise and communications experience …”
It was immediately clear that a large portion of applicants had asked ChatGPT to generate their responses and pasted them in. The result was a strange paradox: many candidates had excellent resumes, but if their written responses were entirely AI-generated, it was impossible to decipher their communication skills. It was a sea of sameness.
Using AI without losing your voice
I’m not anti-AI. In fact, I used AI to help write this article.
It’s helpful for generating starter language, pressure-testing framing, brainstorming alternate phrasing and thinking through angles we might have missed. But we also work with highly technical scientific content, where the details matter enormously. The goal is to use AI as a tool while still bringing our expertise and combining it with our clients’ unique voices.
Ironically, some of the strongest applications acknowledged using AI, noting they used it to refine wording or proofread. That kind of transparency was perfectly fine — and much more credible than responses that read like robots.
The responses that stood out most were the ones where personality clearly came through. One applicant said one of their greatest communications skills was the ability to “make conversation with a brick wall.” That one certainly caught my attention.
Follow instructions
Another surprising issue had nothing to do with AI. It had to do with following simple directions.
We knew we’d have a large volume of applicants, and to be fair to everyone, our job posting explicitly stated that we would not schedule informational interviews. Despite that, applicants hounded me. Hundreds of LinkedIn DMs, emails and even phone calls requesting informational meetings.
Again, I get it. It’s a competitive market, and everyone is trying to get an edge, but these candidates signaled that they may struggle to follow instructions. On the other hand, some candidates engaged in ways that did stand out. A thoughtful comment on a LinkedIn post announcing the role, for example, can demonstrate interest and visibility without adding pressure to the hiring process.
Your online presence is part of the application
Another thing many candidates overlook is that your LinkedIn profile is part of your communications portfolio.
Headline: If you’re applying for communications roles, your LinkedIn headline should reflect that. If your headline says “Project Manager” or something unrelated, it signals that communications may not be your primary focus.
Content: Having a recent post discussing a communications project or industry topic can reinforce your interest in the field.
We regularly help clients clean up their social media profiles and author posts, so knowing you can do that for yourself is a plus.
For senior roles, outcomes matter
For the more senior role we posted, the applications that stood out most had one thing in common: specific outcomes. Instead of general statements like: “I’m a seasoned communications professional who can write press releases and manage media relations …” the strongest candidates shared concrete results.
For example:
- How many stories they helped secure
- Which outlets covered the work
- The impact those stories had on awareness, funding or adoption
One candidate described securing more than 500 pieces of coverage for their institution’s gene therapy programs, including placements in outlets like The New York Times, CNN and The Boston Globe. Those kinds of specifics make it much easier for hiring managers to understand both experience and impact.
Show the process
Another thing that helps candidates stand out is demonstrating that they understand the full communications pipeline. Instead of broadly describing abilities, the strongest candidates walked through a specific project:
- How the story was framed
- How the announcement was structured
- How outreach was conducted
- How coverage and reception unfolded
- How the narrative extended through social media and other surround-sound channels
That kind of detail shows both experience and strategic thinking.
In this hiring round, the most surprising statistic was how many applications we triaged because they were entirely AI-generated. It was more than 50% of submissions.
And perhaps even more disappointing is the lack of judgment it signals — to think we wouldn’t check to see if the writing was original. For a communications job.
What should you do? Show your personality. Follow instructions. Highlight your work. Back it up on your digital platforms. The worst possible outcome is sounding exactly like everyone else.
The post Applying for comms jobs in the age of AI appeared first on PR Daily.
