Managing high-volume applications requires a strategic mix of technology and human intervention. Experts from AMS and Valoir share how a personalised approach elevates the early talent experience.
Applications per graduate role have doubled since 2022. According to AMS data, the average rose from 47 applications per position in 2022 to 94 by 2025.
With candidates using AI to mass-apply for dozens of roles in a single session, and employers responding with their own AI-enabled workflows, we are at an inflexion point in early careers recruiting.
"Companies need to rethink the use of this world-changing technology in their recruitment processes, recognising that it comes with enormous opportunity but also potential pitfalls," says Susan Major, Managing Director of Early Careers & Campus at AMS.
The scale of the problem
The numbers tell a clear story. Nearly 73% of candidates admit to using AI in their job searches, according to LinkedIn, and the ISE cited 140 applicants per hire last year.
AMS is already seeing this eclipsed, with one major investment banking client experiencing 230 applicants to every hire. Tools like Job Copilot allow candidates to upload their CV and let AI agents handle the application process autonomously and sometimes without the candidate even knowing the specific role they've applied to.
"This is not a problem that's going to go away," says Major. Bright Network data shows 57% of students are applying to as many jobs as they can, while an Indeed survey found 70% of 2025 job seekers using AI to find and apply for roles.
The candidate experience breakdown
This volume has created a disconnect. Employers struggle to communicate back to candidates at scale, leaving applicants demoralised by silence or rejection. "Due to the intense competition, candidates almost feel that the social contract has disappeared," says Major.
The irony is self-reinforcing: when candidates don't feel a sense of connection, they're more likely to use AI to blast out applications indiscriminately.
There's a real opportunity for organisations to stand out by prioritising human contact at key moments and by using technology to engage top talent in a more personalised way rather than simply processing volume.
AI in assessments: a new frontier
It's not only applications where AI is making inroads. Candidates are now using AI tools during virtual interviews and assessments, answering questions in real time using tools like ChatGPT, or reciting answers from offscreen devices.
Organisations need clear policies on AI usage within the hiring process, and recruiters need guidance on how to respond when those policies aren't followed.
The most forward-thinking organisations aren't banning AI outright, instead they're designing workflows that encourage its use at the right moments. Think of the calculator in a maths exam: it's a tool, not a threat.
Rethinking how candidates self-select
One promising development is using AI to help candidates make better choices before they even apply.
An AI coach can assess a candidate's skills and interests and steer them toward career paths where they're most likely to succeed, for example a candidate with a talent for numbers might be toward data-oriented roles, for instance.
"This guidance could help candidates think about where they're going to be best set up for success," says Major. "That doesn't happen a lot today, and we expect to see far greater use of AI in this pre-apply space in the near future."
Another emerging model is 'conversational apply'. This replaces static application forms with text or voice agents that engage candidates in a two-way dialogue, asking screening questions and providing real-time insight.
This approach filters out indiscriminate AI-generated applications, ensures only candidates meeting basic criteria progress, and creates a more engaging experience aligned with how Gen Z and Gen Alpha already communicate. Major expects this to become the standard upfront engagement model.
The growing importance of assessment
As AI standardises CVs and cover letters, traditional application materials are losing their ability to differentiate candidates. Assessment will become more important, not less, but it needs to evolve.
Future assessments will need to be agile, adaptive, and focused on skills aligned with organisations' strategic needs. Major expects to see a move toward real-time problem-solving, behavioural questions rooted in lived experience, and simulations that test reasoning and ethical judgement. These are capabilities that AI cannot easily replicate.
"The current job market can feel like a game or a lottery to talent entering the workforce," says Major. There's a genuine opportunity to reframe assessment—not as a mechanism for rejecting weaker candidates, but as something more immersive and celebratory, designed to find and surface the very best.
Assessment providers will need to transform accordingly. Major is already seeing disruption in this space, with newer players making significant headway using AI-underpinned, future-focused platforms.
Lessons in long-term engagement
UK employers have long relied more heavily on assessment methodology and structured video interviews to evaluate early careers candidates—opening hiring pools wider and focusing on skills over résumés.
Some UK and European employers are going further still, engaging students as young as 14 or 15 through school outreach and work readiness programmes, building relationships years before graduation.
This kind of early, sustained engagement offers a blueprint for how organisations might rethink their entire early careers strategy—investing in a pipeline rather than racing to filter an ever-growing pile of applications.
What TA leaders should do
Rebecca Wettemann, CEO of HR tech research firm Valoir, is direct: the debate about AI's role in talent acquisition is over.
"Recruiters and HR leaders should assume that all candidates are using AI today. Trying to implement a 'no AI' policy is not only unenforceable; it is unrealistic and unaligned with the realities of work today," she says.
The focus instead should be on using AI to advantage by designing assessments that measure skills and attributes AI can't replicate, and building processes that feel human and connected even at scale.
Demand for AI skills in job postings has grown steadily, and early career talent is broadly optimistic about generative AI despite concerns about entry-level opportunity.
The generation entering the workforce is not just digitally native, they're AI fluent. Organisations that recognise this and build accordingly will be best positioned to engage, evaluate, and hire the next generation of emerging talent.
The inflexion point is here. What comes next depends on how quickly employers choose to adapt.
For more insight and advice on the early talent experience join AMS for their session at this year’s ISE Student Recruitment Conference where they will discuss how to rebuild trust along with Rolls Royce, Springpod and the School Outreach Company.