When I started using ChatGPT in early 2023, I knew we were headed toward an AI-application apocalypse. AI résumé writers would drive the cost of applying to near zero. Volume would explode. Recruiters would drown. Qualified candidates would get lost in the noise. Job searches would take longer. Interviews would get worse. I have students who routinely apply to over 500 internships or jobs, and hear back in the single digits.
Business Insider is the most recent publication to confirm what I saw coming, and what we’ve heard from alumni: hiring managers aren’t reading résumés anymore because they can tell so many of them are AI-generated slop.
Here’s where this leaves you as a job seeker.
The résumé may still be required to apply for a job. It’s just no longer sufficient in getting you the interview.
It’s an identifier now, not a differentiator. The document that gets you tracked in an ATS isn’t what’s getting you hired. What’s getting people hired in 2026:
- Work you can show. This is easier for engineers who can point to GitHub repos. For MBAs and other “knowledge workers” the best advice I have is to document your work and your insights on LinkedIn. Post project briefs, case competition decks and other examples of your work from writing, videos, to weekend vibe coding projects.
- People who know your name inside the company. Recruiters are bypassing application portals. They’re sourcing on LinkedIn, tapping their networks, doing cold outreach. 70% of employers now report using skills-based hiring. But before skills get evaluated, someone has to surface your name. That’s a networking problem. Network strategically into your target firms, attend industry events, participate in hackathons, look for ways to demonstrate the value you can bring to any company.
I’ve seen students spend three months blasting applications into portals and getting nothing back. I’ve also seen students get interviews in two weeks because a former classmate or network contact flagged their name internally.
If you’re in an MBA program right now or in an active job search, here’s what this means practically:
- Build something you can point to. One project beats fifty bullet points.
- Then invest in the relationships that get your name into rooms before a job is posted.
The rules of recruiting have changed. Your strategy has to change with them.