Hiring managers reveal telltale signs of AI-dependent job candidates: 'Buzzwords like 'leveraged cross-functional collaboration''

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Jun 23, 2026 1:45 PM EDT

How do you write a cover letter? 

A lot of people are likely asking themselves (and Claude) that very question. These days, companies are opting for mass layoffs, outsourcing, and other desperate measures to stay afloat in this dismal economy, leaving many able-minded and able-bodied workers looking for jobs online. However, a lot of folks have either become dependent on AI to write their emails or never learned to use the critical thinking portion of their brains in the first place, and it's making hiring managers crazy. 

How many times can a hiring manager read the exact same AI-generated cover letter before losing their minds, too? Can anyone actually write or think for themselves anymore? Well, yes, obviously there are humans who don't rely on non-human aid to write a paragraph in the "About Me" section of their job application, but that kind of job applicant is becoming scarce. Apparently, too, there are some telltale signs of corner-cutting in the hiring world that are more obvious than you'd think, making a lot of job hunters think twice before they hit enter on their latest prompt. 

As it turns out, our little human flaws and our nuances are what make us prospective employees attractive to companies. It's not a "perfect" resume or a weirdly robotic buzzword response that makes people more hirable; it's their spirit, expertise, and their innate ability to actually get the job done. But how can a hiring manager see through the artificial intelligence? By scanning for natural intelligence, of course. 

There are a few obvious buzzwords that the chronically online folks have learned to spot, but can you catch the nuances of a clanker faker in the ranks of the legitimate? Probably not as well as these hiring managers from r/AskReddit…

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