Should I Opt Out of AI Resume Screening?

You’ve perfected your resume, plus a thoughtful cover letter, and you hit “submit.” It can be downright demoralizing to then hear… nothing. While it’s easy to assume someone read your application and quietly passed on it, the reality is that in today’s job market, it’s more likely that no human saw it at all.

What’s more likely is that your resume was scanned (and then potentially rejected) by an algorithm, as more than 95% of Fortune 500 companies now use some form of AI resume screening, often known as Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). These are designed to filter applicants before a recruiter even looks at the pile: they promise efficiency, but can fall short when it comes to recognizing context or nuance.

This is why a growing number of companies are giving candidates an option that sounds refreshingly humane: the ability to opt out of AI screening and request a manual review by a human recruiter. So, should you opt out of AI resume screening? And more importantly, is it better to opt out of AI resume screening, or could that decision backfire?

What AI Resume Screening Does

AI resume screeners don’t “read” your resume in the same way a human does. Instead, they scan for keyword matches and qualifications based on the job description and historical hiring data. This can include everything from previous successful candidates to internal benchmarks for experience, or even job title phrasing.

Its main goal is to reduce the recruiter’s workload by filtering out applicants who don’t appear to meet the baseline. While this is obviously more efficient, it can also be reductive. This is why 88% of employers think they’re losing out on qualified candidates, not because of a lack of talent, but because those resumes weren’t “ATS-friendly.” 

As organizational psychology professor Joseph A. Allen explains, AI screening tools only work as well as the rules they’re given. If a resume doesn’t match the expected format or fails to surface key skills in the right language, it can be automatically rejected. This means strong candidates get filtered out before a human ever sees them.

When Opting Out Could Work in Your Favour

Choosing to opt out of AI screening could sound like a risky move, but in some cases, it’s the smartest way to ensure your application is read with a wider lens.

If you’ve followed a non-linear career path, for example, AI might have a hard time understanding your story. Maybe you took time off for caregiving, switched industries, freelanced, or returned to work after a sabbatical. These are often marks of growth and adaptability, but don’t always translate well into AI logic. A human reviewer is way more likely to be able to understand gaps in employment and appreciate complex or creative experiences.

There’s also the issue of bias. AI is often marketed as “neutral” but in reality, it can reflect the biases included in the data it’s trained on. Amazon famously scrapped its AI recruiting tool after discovering it penalized resumes that included the word “women’s,” as in “women’s chess club.” If historical data favours a certain kind of candidate, then the algorithm may continue to favour those patterns. 

Similarly, if you’re applying for a creative or human-centric role, such as communications, UX design, or coaching, AI could find it hard to evaluate your strengths. Some roles rely on EQ and empathy – which are hard to quantify. In such cases, a human reviewer would be better equipped to gauge your viability for the role as a candidate.

When Opting Out Could Work Against You

Opting out doesn’t always give you a competitive advantage. In some cases, it can put you at a disadvantage, especially if you’re applying to companies that lean significantly on automation to manage high applicant volume.

Some organizations just don’t have the resources to manually review every application. If the entire recruitment pipeline is built around AI, opting out might send your resume to a different queue or, even worse, a dead end. You won’t be punished for opting out, but you might not be prioritized either. For roles in software engineering, customer support, or digital marketing, where companies receive hundreds or even thousands of applications per role, your opt-out request could land at the bottom of a virtual pile. Technically, it would be received, but it would be unlikely to be reviewed anytime soon.

Also, human reviewers aren’t always fairer, as they bring their own biases, and can also fall into their own human traps, like scanning too quickly or moving on too fast to fully grasp a candidate’s context, especially if they’re overloaded. In this sense, opting out doesn’t guarantee a deeper or more empathetic read – it only gives the option for a different type of screening.

What Most People Don’t Know About the Process

There are some counterintuitive truths that can catch candidates off guard – the first being the assumption that a human review is always better. That isn’t necessarily true. A rushed or distracted recruiter might spend only a few seconds on your application and, because of unconscious bias or habit, default to filtering based on brand names or education rather than true potential.

Second, while AI resume screening feels impersonal, the trick is to treat it like any other system you’re adapting to. Instead of writing a resume that feels creative, you need one that is structured and aligned with the job description. Using conventional job titles, quantifying achievements, and matching language from the posting can all be important steps that help your resume get through to the next stage.

Lastly, the best way to avoid the AI filter isn’t by opting out but by going around it. Referrals are still one of the most effective hiring strategies: referred candidates are four times more likely to get hired than someone applying cold. If someone within the company can pass your resume directly to the hiring team, you’re often fast-tracked past the AI entirely.

Should You Opt Out of AI Resume Screening?

There isn’t a simple yes or no answer that’s going to work for everyone. But if your resume doesn’t fit the traditional mould, your story needs context, you’ve taken a career break, or you’re applying for a role where personal dynamics matter more than technical matching, then opting out might give you a fairer shot.

However, if you’re applying to a big firm where AI is a fundamental part of the hiring process, and you’ve taken the time to optimize your resume for AI, staying in the system could be a better move. As we’ve shown, opting out doesn’t guarantee a stronger outcome – it just changes who (or what) is making the first judgment call.

The smartest approach is to prepare for both scenarios. Create a resume that works for the algorithm and tells a compelling story. Use a concise, structured format, and include your unique strengths. If there’s a space for a cover letter or portfolio, then use that to introduce yourself with more depth. And however or whenever possible, make sure to rely on referrals and direct outreach as those are still the most surefire ways to get noticed.