Hiring managers now favour candidates with AI skills over those with more work experience
A survey of hiring managers found that 80 percent now place AI skills ahead of additional years of experience when deciding between candidates. The preference appears most clearly in entry-level hiring, where employers want people who can apply tools such as ChatGPT to research, analysis and content tasks from day one. Free platforms exist for basic practice, yet recruiters report that vague statements about using AI fail to move applications forward without concrete examples.
Until now, graduates with a geography, law or history degree could submit standard CVs and cover letters built around transferable skills and expect them to clear initial screens for junior roles. The new reality requires visible proof that the degree subject has been combined with AI to produce work that matches what the job actually demands, which is why applications without that evidence are disappearing before any human reads them.
Analysis
Listing AI on a CV without proof is now the fastest way to look like every other applicant who read the same headline. Take one finished university assignment, run it through ChatGPT with prompts that turn it into a client-ready report or analysis, and post the result on LinkedIn with the exact prompts and the improvement it delivered.
Citation
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