Success·The Interview Playbook‘Shark Tank’ star and Aussie CEO slams ‘worst job application ever’ on TikTok before telling unlucky candidate to use his brainBy Orianna Rosa RoyleBy Orianna Rosa RoyleAssociate Editor, SuccessOrianna Rosa RoyleAssociate Editor, SuccessOrianna Rosa Royle is the Success associate editor at Fortune, overseeing careers, leadership, and company culture coverage.
She was previously the senior reporter at Management Today, Britain's longest-running publication for CEOs.
SEE FULL BIO A job seeker, Benjamin, has just had his resume publicly roasted by Showpo CEO and Shark Tank Australia star Jane Lu.Don Arnold—Getty ImagesUsing ChatGPT to jazz up your resume?
Don’t forget to give it a final read-over before sending it to employers—or you could end up Benjamin, the poor job seeker who has just had his résumé publicly roasted by the high-flying fashion CEO and Shark Tank Australia star Jane Lu.
“I think I’ve just received potentially the worst job application ever,” Lu, the multimillionaire who found success after founding the fashion giant Showpo, declared on her TikTok channel.
She named and shamed the job seeker—who recently applied for a job working on her online course, The Lazy CEO—as just “Benjamin,” for ironically being lazy and not ofreading his application before hitting send.
“Hiring manager, I hope this finds you well.
I am confident that my experience in [relevant experience/skill] positions me as a strong candidate,” Lu read the application out loud, before adding, “Oh, my God… ChatGPT copy and paste.” “All they changed was their name,” Lu said, while blasting the hopeful hire’s lack of effort and showing off his unimpressive application to her nearly 109,000 ers.
To make matters worse, the candidate even forgot to delete the mpt: “Here’s a more polished and articulate version of your cover letter.” The embarrassing telltale sign he had used ChatGPT to conjur up his application was left at the very top of his to Lu.
@thelazyceo This may very well be the worst I’ve ever received… also one of the funniest 🙂↕️ # #chatgpt #fashion ♬ original sound – Jane Lu “I’m sorry Benjamin, I love ChatGPT, but you’ve got to use a little bit of this,” she while pointing to her brain.
Is it okay for CEOs to roast desperate job seekers online? The , which has racked up over 30,000 s in just two days, has received a mixed response.
Some saw its funny side and left laughing emojis in the s section, while others d their similar experiences as hiring managers.
But as one er highlighted, a real person’s application for work has been turned into a joke. “Not sure I would be making fun of someone in this way,” the user wrote.
“You don’t know their background or literacy level. Would definitely think removing this.” There’s a global unemployment crisis going on right now, thanks to AI and the pandemic’s toll on es.
Around 40 million people are currently using LinkedIn’s #OpenToWork badge, with recruiters highlighting that fessionals are literally desperate for work.
At the same time, prices remain stubbornly high—as does the bar for getting a foot in the door of employment.
One Gen Z grad with two degrees was left crying in the streets of New York earlier this year when she couldn’t even land a minimum-wage job—and the one coffee-shop job she said she was offered required her to do 18 hours of unpaid training.
It’s no wonder job seekers are now trying to outwit the tough job market by getting AI to do some of the donkey work.
The lack of effort in Benjamin’s job application may be a sign that he’s applied for countless other jobs to no avail—and has now given up on even trying. Fortune has reached out to Lu for .
CEOs are getting frustrated with candidates abusing AI Whether or not CEOs should be making fun of unlucky applicants, Lu isn’t the first to air her frustrations on social media with candidates turning to AI in their job hunts.
Earlier this month, Elon Musk’s xAI cofounder called out a cheating interviewee on X.
Greg Yang, one of 12 cofounders at Musk’s AI venture, said a “candidate tried to use Claude during the interview, but it was way too obvious.” The post inspired other employers to speak out the way savvy job seekers are abusing AI tools, including turning large language models into telempters during the interview and appearing “smart in bursts.” Riece Keck, a headhunter and the founder of MindHire, complained that it’s “turning into a real blem.” “I’ve been seeing this a lot as a recruiting firm owner,” he wrote, adding that he’s reed to “looking at where they’re looking during an interview and seeing if there’s any pause on their reply.” Fortune Global Forum returns Oct.
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