Short answer
AI use in hiring is now common. In a Gartner survey of 3,290 job candidates, 39% said they used AI during the application process, and 29% of those used it to write answers to assessment questions. Among 250 Australian job seekers surveyed by Capterra, 22% had used AI to generate answers to interview questions.
Key takeaways
- About four in ten candidates use AI somewhere in the application process (Gartner, 2025).
- In Australia, 27% of job seekers have used AI on a test assignment or skills assessment, and 22% to generate interview answers (Capterra, 2024).
- 6% of candidates admitted to posing as someone else in an interview, or having someone else pose as them (Gartner, 2025).
- Most AI help in live interviews comes from tools built to stay out of a screen share (Fabric, 2026).
What share of candidates use AI when applying for jobs?
Around 39% of job candidates use AI during the application process, according to a Gartner survey of 3,290 candidates run in the fourth quarter of 2024. Most of that use is for written material such as CVs and cover letters, but almost a third of AI users applied it to assessment answers.
| Use of AI | Share of AI users |
|---|---|
| Generate text for a CV or résumé | 54% |
| Generate text for a cover letter | 50% |
| Generate text for a writing sample | 36% |
| Generate answers to assessment questions | 29% |
Using AI to polish a CV is widely accepted. Using it to answer assessment questions is different, because the assessment is meant to show what the candidate can do on their own.
How many Australian job seekers use AI in interviews and assessments?
Nearly three in four Australian job seekers (73%) use AI tools in their job search, compared with 58% globally. That figure comes from Capterra's Job Seeker AI Survey, run in July 2024 with 2,997 respondents across 12 countries, including 250 in Australia.
- 27% of Australian job seekers have used AI to complete a test assignment or skills assessment.
- 22% have used AI to generate answers to interview questions.
- 88% think it's likely that other applicants for similar jobs are using AI to embellish their applications.
The last figure matters. When candidates believe everyone else is using AI, more of them feel they have to use it just to keep up. A shared set of conditions takes that pressure off.
How often do candidates get AI help during live interviews?
In one large dataset, more than a third of interviews showed signs of AI assistance. Fabric analysed 19,368 AI-led interviews on its platform between July 2025 and January 2026 and flagged 38.5% for possible AI use. The rate was 48% for technical roles and 12% for sales roles.
The methods are the bigger story. Fabric found dedicated interview assistants accounted for 45% of flagged cases and voice mode on chatbots such as ChatGPT for another 34%. Both are designed to stay invisible in a screen share. Second screens and tab switching made up 18%, and live help from another person 3%.
Fabric sells interview-integrity software and the data comes from interviews on its own platform, so treat the rate as one signal rather than a national figure.
Is candidate identity a problem as well as AI?
Yes. In a Gartner survey of 3,000 candidates in the second quarter of 2025, 6% admitted to posing as someone else in an interview, or having someone else pose as them. Gartner also predicts that by 2028, one in four candidate profiles worldwide will be fake.
Identity misuse is common in Australia generally. The Australian Institute of Criminology found 21.9% of 10,335 online Australians surveyed had been a victim of identity crime and misuse in the previous 12 months.
“It’s getting harder for employers to evaluate candidates’ true abilities, and in some cases, their identities.”
Why does this matter for Australian employers now?
Remote work has made remote hiring normal. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that 36% of employed Australians usually worked from home in August 2025, so more first-round and technical interviews now happen by video.
Hiring managers are already feeling the effect. In a Robert Half survey of 500 Australian hiring managers, 37% said AI-generated CVs make it difficult to accurately assess candidate quality. And with Jobs and Skills Australia reporting that 41% of recruiting employers had difficulty filling a role in the December quarter of 2025, getting a hire wrong means going back to a hard search.
All figures in one place
| Figure | What it measures | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 39% | Candidates who used AI during the application process | Gartner, 4Q24 (n=3,290) |
| 29% | AI users who used it to write assessment answers | Gartner, 4Q24 |
| 6% | Candidates who admitted to posing as someone else in an interview, or having someone pose as them | Gartner, 2Q25 (n=3,000) |
| 1 in 4 | Candidate profiles predicted to be fake by 2028 | Gartner prediction |
| 73% | Australian job seekers using AI tools in their job search | Capterra, July 2024 (n=250 AU) |
| 27% | Australian job seekers who used AI on a test or skills assessment | Capterra, July 2024 |
| 22% | Australian job seekers who used AI to generate interview answers | Capterra, July 2024 |
| 38.5% | AI-led interviews flagged for possible AI use | Fabric, Jul 2025 to Jan 2026 (n=19,368) |
| 36% | Employed Australians who usually work from home | ABS, August 2025 |
| 21.9% | Online Australians affected by identity crime and misuse in the past year | AIC, 2024 survey (n=10,335) |
| 37% | Australian hiring managers who say AI-generated CVs make candidates hard to assess | Robert Half, 2026 (n=500) |
| 41% | Australian recruiting employers who had difficulty filling a role | Jobs and Skills Australia, Dec quarter 2025 |
What can employers do about it?
The most reliable step is to control the conditions rather than try to spot AI use afterwards. Software that watches a candidate's screen can't see a phone or an overlay built to hide from screen sharing, which we cover in Can software detect AI use in a remote interview?
A supervised venue gives every candidate the same room, the same equipment and an ID check before they start, while your panel still interviews remotely. Here's how a supervised interview pod works.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of job candidates use AI?
About 39% of job candidates said they used AI during the application process in a Gartner survey of 3,290 candidates (4Q24). In Australia, Capterra found 73% of job seekers use AI tools somewhere in their job search.
Do Australian candidates use AI in job interviews?
Some do. In Capterra's 2024 survey of 250 Australian job seekers, 22% had used AI to generate answers to interview questions and 27% had used it to complete a test assignment or skills assessment.
Do candidates prefer in-person interviews?
Many do. Gartner found 62% of candidates are more likely to apply for a position if the organisation requires in-person interviews (2Q25).
Do candidates trust AI to assess them fairly?
Most don't. Only 26% of job candidates trust AI will fairly evaluate them, according to Gartner's 2025 research.
Sources
- Gartner, "Gartner Survey Shows Just 26% of Job Applicants Trust AI Will Fairly Evaluate Them", 31 July 2025
- Capterra Australia, "How recruiters can identify AI use in the recruitment process", Job Seeker AI Survey, July 2024
- Fabric, "State of AI Interview Cheating in 2026: Insights from 19,368 Interviews", 14 January 2026
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, Working arrangements, August 2025
- Australian Institute of Criminology, Statistical Report 53, Cybercrime in Australia 2024
- Robert Half Australia, AI skills and generative AI hiring research, 28 April 2026
- Jobs and Skills Australia, Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey, December quarter 2025
