Artificial intelligence is reshaping the hiring process, but for many recent graduates, it is also generating new frustrations. As employers increasingly turn to automated screening tools to sort through thousands of applications, job seekers worry that qualified candidates are being filtered out before a human hiring manager ever reviews their resume. The vast majority of large companies now rely on applicant tracking systems to manage incoming applications, meaning a machine—not a recruiter—is frequently the first gatekeeper a candidate must clear.

Marist College graduate Samantha Kehler appeared on FOX Business' "Mornings with Maria," hosted by Maria Bartiromo, to discuss how AI has altered her job search and why she believes automated hiring systems have made breaking into today's labor market even harder.

"I've tried to definitely do a little bit of training," Kehler said regarding her efforts to learn AI. "It definitely helped me understand how to work the AI in your favor rather than just getting kind of a short answer from AI and really using it to not just answer my questions, but to help me with research and synthesize information faster."

While AI can assist applicants in tailoring resumes and conducting research, many companies now use applicant tracking systems to scan submissions for keywords before they ever reach a recruiter. That shift has fueled concerns among job seekers that the hiring process is becoming less personal. The trend is particularly acute for entry-level roles, where a single posting can draw hundreds or thousands of applications, increasing reliance on automated ranking to narrow the field.

"I know that AI is pretty much the one who is reading my application," Kehler said. "I don't feel like my resume and my cover letters are being read by human eyes... I know I'm just getting filtered out if I don't have a specific keyword."

Kehler added that receiving rejection emails "at two in the morning" reinforces her belief that automated systems are increasingly driving the hiring process, leaving many applicants wondering whether they ever had a genuine opportunity to make a human first impression. Lawmakers and regulators have begun responding to the growing role of AI in employment decisions: New York City's Local Law 144, which took effect in July 2023, requires employers using automated employment decision tools to conduct annual bias audits and notify candidates, while the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued guidance reminding employers that anti-discrimination laws apply to AI-driven screening as they do to traditional hiring practices.