I never liked Monopoly’s Cheaters Edition, but I did always love playing the “original” Monopoly growing up and as an adult. No matter how long it takes to finish a game, it’s good clean free-enterprise fun. There are also many different types and flavors of the game, but the Cheaters Edition? The game is literally about cheating the other players and the game itself. My wife and kids, they loved it. I used to tease them about not being ethical and lacking morals, and they’d laugh at me and yell, “Roll the dice, Dad!”
Sigh. Unfortunately, cheating happens everywhere all the time, including in recruiting and hiring. I recently completed a Talent Sync podcast with my friend Leah Daniels from JobSync about candidate and employer fraud. “Cheating” and lying on resumes aren’t new things – job candidates have been doing it since the beginning of job time. In fact, many of us have “rounded up” as I’ve called it, making our skills and experiences a little more shiny than maybe what they really are.
But it’s far more than just embellishing one’s resume anymore. There’s a recent article that John Vlastelica from Recruit Toolbox wrote about candidate fraud. In it he highlights some of the AI technologies that are being used to cheat and defraud and what TA teams should be doing to combat what’s here and what’s coming.
As I researched further these systems, apps, and tools that are available today, I came across a startup called Cluely. They claim to help users “cheat” on job interviews, exams, and sales calls, and they’ve raised a $15 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz. Interestingly their job interview use case is no longer on their site, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use it for that. Right on their homepage it states: “Cluely is an undetectable AI that sees your screen, hears your calls, and feeds you answers – in real time.”
After running a candidate experience benchmark research program for over a decade, I understand how brutal the job search can be for candidates across job types, company sizes, and industries, and why they’d want to bend the rules in their favor. I’ve been there myself as well. I’m sure many of you reading this have, too. This is why employers need to benchmark their candidate experience continuously to understand what their recruiting strengths and weaknesses are and how they can make it a better candidate experience overall.
But platforms built to help candidates cheat like Cluely? Damn, that’s not helping employers at all, or karmically, the candidates. What do we do about those? We already know the cons of generative AI include helping us cheat (and use our critical thinking even less according to a new MIT study).
Employers need to understand that there are many AI tools and resources available to help job seekers “be seen” today with competitive lifts, with more on the horizon, even if that means ultimately in fraudulent ways. I’m not even talking about the serial appliers and scammers – I’m talking about the over 3.5 billion people in the global workforce today, and whatever percentage of those are currently looking for new jobs.
Cluely is just one of many applications and AI agents available today to help job seekers (good, bad, or indifferent – not all are for “gaming” your hiring process). Here’s a list of others I’ve found so far (using AI to help me research, of course):
Resume and Cover Letter Optimization
- Teal – Resume builder with role-specific keyword suggestions, LinkedIn profile sync, job tracker, and tailored resume scoring.
- Jobscan – AI keyword matching between resume and job description, ATS compatibility score, LinkedIn optimization tools.
- Rezi – AI-generated resumes and cover letters built to pass ATS filters; real-time formatting guidance.
- Zety / Resume.io – AI-powered templates with language suggestions and formatting feedback.
AI Interview Preparation
- Interview Warmup (by Google) – Simulated interviews with instant feedback on content, delivery, and filler words.
- Huru.ai – AI mock interviews for specific roles; provides feedback on speech pace, confidence, and keyword usage.
- VMock – Resume and interview prep platform used by universities; real-time AI feedback based on employer data.
- HireVue Practice – Practice modules based on actual AI video interview structures and scoring.
Full-Service AI Job Application Tools
- Loopcv – Automatically finds jobs based on preferences, generates custom resumes/cover letters, and applies on your behalf. You can review/edit before sending.
- LazyApply – Bulk apply to jobs across LinkedIn, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and more. Upload resume and set filters. Chrome extension automates job submissions.
- Sonara.ai – Autopilot job search: Finds jobs, fills out applications, and sends email alerts. Dashboard to manage interviews and responses.
- Talentprise – AI matches you to roles and automatically connects you with recruiters based on your profile and preferences. More focused on passive job matching than applying.
- Career.io – Career path planning, resume tools, job-matching engine based on skill profiles, and auto-apply.
- Simplify – AI job tracker and one-click application tool for early-career tech roles.
And these will only expand as time goes on. Some will thrive and some won’t make it (already found some of those), but the candidate realities remain the same – be seen and found by employers, and hopefully hired, or be lost forever.
Even if that means cheating. As John pointed out in his candidate fraud article referenced above, Train your recruiters to spot cheating and fraudulent behavior. This can look like robotic phrasing, perfect answers, excessive pausing, and video/audio lag or jaggedness.
But for those who aren’t cheating, most are just legitimately looking for jobs, and whether they need them or want them, it doesn’t matter, even if they’re “rounding up” as I wrote above. Either way, most will not get the ultimate job offers. Instead, most are told “thank you, but we’re not going to pursue you at this time”.
So, what really matters is how you manage your recruiting and hiring processes from pre-application to onboarding.
Do you have structured, consistent processes that are transparent and fair to all candidates (and perceived as fair to all candidates)?
And are your recruiters, hiring managers, peripheral employees, and even business leadership trained on how to screen, interview, and make offers effectively and consistently?
Do you highlight for candidates that human recruiters are reviewing their applications and resumes, not bots or AI? (Unfortunately too many candidates believe that standard online application “knockout” questions like “Do you have a high school diploma or GED?” and “Do you currently have the required certification or license (e.g., CPA, RN, CDL)?” and many others are bots and/or AI, which they are not.)
Are you consistent and timely with all your candidate communications?
Do you offer job fit and qualification status feedback to your finalists?
Do you offer career guidance and other job-seeker resources to the candidates who aren’t hired?
It’s been a rough candidate market. Unemployment may be (and seem) low, companies have cooled hiring, layoffs continue, and job application rates have increased dramatically. Current job seekers who are real job seekers (at least those who haven’t given up) will have to continue to find ways to be found and engaged by prospective employers. I can’t say I blame them either. And because the overall candidate experience still sucks for too many, it may lead to an increase in candidate cheats. Creating applications to help candidates cheat isn’t the answer.
