The Job Hunt Used to Feel Human

Reflections from a job seeker, then and now.

Twenty years ago, I applied for jobs by printing out my CV, folding it neatly into an envelope, and walking to the post office. Sometimes I dropped it off in person. Interviews? Always face to face. You shook someone’s hand, made eye contact, maybe even got offered coffee while waiting.

All jobs were on-site. There was no remote option, but there was also no algorithm deciding if your application ever saw human eyes. No AI scanning your tone of voice in a recorded screening. No Applicant Tracking System ghosting you after you clicked “Submit.”

It was slower. Messier. But strangely - it felt more human.

Now we have technology that can scan thousands of CVs in seconds. Software that auto-schedules interviews, pre-screens candidates, and filters “culture fit” based on word choice. We’ve automated the entire process in the name of efficiency.

And yet, for job seekers, it feels lonelier than ever.

You’re not being rejected by a person - you’re being filtered out by an algorithm. You don’t get feedback, or closure. You just… vanish from the process.

We were told technology would make our lives easier. That it would remove friction and save time. And maybe it has, for recruiters juggling hundreds of roles. But for the candidate? The job seeker who’s already exhausted, worried, and underpaid?

It feels like a system designed to keep people out, not bring people in.

I’m not against progress. I love being able to apply for roles across the world. I love tools that help candidates prepare better. But I can’t help wondering:

Why has all this advancement made job seeking worse?

Why is something so fundamental - finding a job, building a life - now stripped of the very thing that made it bearable?

Connection.

Empathy.

Humanity.

Somewhere along the way, we traded human effort for machine efficiency. And it shows.