AI Job Hunting in Events — The New Reality

AI screening of resumes, and the use of AI in writing cover letters and job descriptions, have forever altered the job hunting landscape.

Most job postings get an average of 340 applicants, and only 2% ever even reach the interview stage, according to data shared by staffing software company RecruitBPM.

“This is especially painful for meeting planners, whose most valuable skills, like vendor relationships, on-site problem solving, and the ability to execute under pressure rarely survive an algorithm,” said Adam Zeiff,  founder of Career Wellness Coaching. “In some instances, your resume may never reach a human at all.”

Hundreds of experts specialize in helping candidates get seen on LinkedIn, whether that’s by creating a compelling headline or building a detailed "about" section. Planners are finding their own strategies, too — and often it’s a matter of trial and error.

“There’s no way to get past the AI, despite all the advice you read,“ said one meeting planner who has been searching for a job for the past three months. She is now trying something new: sending InMail messages to people who work in talent acquisition at the hiring company, and including short notes when she makes connection requests. “We’ll see if that makes a difference,” she said.

AI Infiltrates Cover Letters

Using Claude or ChatGPT to write a cover letter basically means you’re using AI to write something that gets read by AI — but many job seekers are doing it anyway.

Zeiff said he keeps seeing the same AI-generated phrases, such as 'orchestrated seamless end-to-end experiences,' 'curated bespoke programming,' and 'leveraged a cross-functional stakeholder alignment.' 

He suggests that planners write 80% of the content of their cover letters themselves and use AI for the other 20%. “Your voice and your specific experience running a 500-person global incentive program in Dubai, for example, is what makes you different. No AI can manufacture that.”

However, it’s likely that cover letters will eventually become obsolete. One study found that when an AI-powered cover letter writing tool was included on a large online labor platform where cover letters used to be predictors of higher interview rates, the correlation dropped by 51%. Instead of bothering with cover letters, employers started focusing on other criteria, such as workers' prior work histories.

Double Down on Personal Brand

In their attempt to be seen, candidates are turning to SEO, building their own online brands using short-form educational videos, storytelling, and thought leadership content.

“It’s no longer just about who you know, it’s about what people know you for,” said Kevin Iwamoto, founder and chief strategist at Executive Edge Strategies. “A clearly defined personal brand helps your network advocate for you more effectively because they can easily articulate your strengths and the value you bring.”

And in the end, it’s often a person’s network that fills the 85% of available positions that are never publicly advertised on job boards or company websites.

Unrealistic Expectations

A recent post on the Club Ichi chat about a job listing — presumably AI-written — for an event coordinator role went viral after members read its requirements, including “20–30 events each month across the country at a Michelin–level standard.” So many members reacted to the impossible job listing that the chat’s moderator, Liz Lathan, co-founder and chief community officer, took down her post.

“There's clearly confusion outside of the event industry on role clarity and a lack of understanding of what is being asked of event professionals,” said Lathan. “The person who wrote this — or the tool that wrote this — isn't matching what an event professional is with what they think an event professional should do.”

Even worse, some of these job descriptions that stretch for pages require just three to five years of experience. Often, they turn out to be the wish list of the hiring manager, which was then fed into AI by someone in human resources — and in some cases, companies only require 40% of the qualifications listed.

Lathan views this as a warning sign for planners to educate their C-level and human resources executives about the role of an event professional, “because they don’t understand the difference between an executive dinner, a trade show, and a pop-up booth.”