Rizz. Bet. Slay. Sus. No Cap. Mid. 6-7. We’ll stop before your eyes start twitching.
Why does the “language” of youth so often earn an eye roll? Because it feels lazy. In essence, it shrinks big, nuanced ideas into a handful of overused syllables that flatten meaning and spike blood pressure.
But let’s not roast Gen Alpha too hard; at least their slang is original. The hiring world can’t even claim that.
The hiring space gets even more cliche: Supercharged. Strategic. Authentic. Ninja. Guru. Wizard. Rockstar. Jedi. Skyrocket. Propel… Sound familiar? Probably because the last job post or resume you read sounded like a Marvel trailer.
From job boards to creative briefs, we’re drowning in AI-generated word soup: a thesaurus-fueled tidal wave of buzzwords that mean nothing and say less. How did we get here? Some people would say, “Easy, ditch the AI!”
But AI didn’t kill creativity. It just handed everyone the same dictionary.
Instead of asking, “What are we really trying to say?” we hit generate and hope for something that sounds confident. And more importantly, why does it matter for creative teams trying to find real talent—or real work—in the middle of it?
Because the way we write (in job posts, resumes, even outreach) is the way we build trust. When every voice sounds the same, trust disappears. And in a market built on connection, that’s a problem.
Ultimately, this isn’t a plea to sound smart. It’s a challenge to sound real.
“Job posts were awful before AI even touched them,” said Katrina Kibben, CEO of Three Ears Media.
Kibben, who has spent years specializing, training, and writing job posts before AI did says the problem didn’t start with tech, it started with guessing.
“Most just guessed; now, AI is replicating those trends and problems into these new job posts and the resumes they generate because their training data is a sample of old information that wasn't good.”
Mike Wolford, CEO of Lex Duo and Author of The AI Recruiter and The AI Analyst, gives historical context on why:
“We’ve entered the digital Bronze Age. In the Stone Age, humans didn’t write but painted caves. Nobody remembers individuals from that time. But when we invented writing, we invented permanence. The words — the recipe for bronze — became more valuable than the bronze itself.”
AI is our new writing. It’s giving us more content, faster than any tool in history. But not more meaning.
“Before 2022, we were in the digital Stone Age: fragments of data, scattered context,” Wolford continues. “Then AI came along, and suddenly we can record everything — what people think, say, and even feel at 2:00 AM when they’re talking to ChatGPT like it’s a therapist. … The catch? We’re now drowning in information without interpretation. We’ve gained infinite words but lost specificity — and that’s why everything, from resumes to job posts, sounds the same.”
With a better idea of why everything is starting to look the same, but saying not much of anything, let’s roll into how to change that.
If you lead creative work, you already know: words shape perception. When job posts or project briefs read like they were written by AI, it signals something deeper: the process itself might be just as mechanical.
So, how do you restore clarity without ditching the efficiency tools that make your team faster?
Start with specificity. “Faster doesn't mean better; It means faster,” Kibben said. “Focus on problems that take up time and cost money, then add AI.”
The goal isn’t to work faster; it’s to communicate better. The best creative briefs and job descriptions lay out what’s real: the project’s purpose, the collaboration style, and what success actually looks like. They make it easy for someone to self-select — “yes, that’s me” or “no, not my lane.” No fluff. No guesswork.
And clarity doesn’t just help candidates. It helps your brand.
Sara Chisomaga Emezi, content marketer and digital creator, puts it bluntly:
“As someone seeking a full-time content marketing role, I’m exposed to many job descriptions, and the terms ‘Content Ninja’ and ‘Content Rockstar’ throw me off every single time. It’s giving ‘ChatGPT wrote this job description.’”
She's right. Candidates aren’t looking for clever titles; they’re looking for a clear picture of what success actually looks like.
“Somewhere along the way, we forgot the whole point of hiring: to get stuff done,” adds Steve Levy, Global Talent Acquisition and Sourcing Expert. “Yet most job descriptions don’t even say what needs to get done. Imagine if every posting included a simple section — ‘In your first 90 to 180 days, here’s what you’ll work on and how we’ll measure success.’ That’s clarity. That’s what’s missing.”
Now, let’s circle back (yes, we said it) to AI usage in this process. Using it isn’t taboo; it’s table stakes. The trick is knowing how to make it work for you instead of flattening your voice into the corporate void.
Wolford’s advice: “If you’re going to use it, teach it how to write like a human. Don’t just prompt, but train. Give it rules. Tell it to swap vague adjectives for concrete examples. If it insists on starting an email with ‘I hope this finds you well,’ hit delete and make it say ‘Greetings.’”
He adds that you should begin by feeding it your own material (your best job posts, tone guidelines, even pages from your company playbook) so it learns your voice before it ever generates a single word.
“Think of it as onboarding: AI will only ever be as good as what you train it to understand,” he explains.
The goal isn’t polish. It’s precision.
Now, let’s flip the mirror. The hiring side is smudged, sure. But the job seeker’s reflection isn’t much clearer. Time to cross over and tackle the other half of the AI-generated mess.
You may think you’ve polished your resume to perfection, having looked for the top words in your industry, meticulously checking for typos, and even running it through AI to make any “necessary changes” or simply to make it “better,” “more professional,” or “qualified for [insert job].”
Stop. Here’s the problem.
“Like with Superman, with great power comes great responsibility,” reminds Levy. “AI gives us incredible capability, but it’s also made everything sound the same. People share prompts, reuse templates, and suddenly every resume and job post looks like it came from the same overconfident 25-year-old SVP. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We’ve hit the point where dazzling with facts has been replaced by baffling with bullshit — and it shows.”
Levy reminds job seekers to remember that when every document is polished by the same AI, you don’t get differentiation; you get regression to the mean. This is the issue many companies and recruiters are seeing: Everyone sounds equally impressive and equally forgettable.
Emezi shares how she decided to challenge that pattern:
“I usually add a ‘Why Hire Me’ section to my resume, and I use that portion of the page to briefly tell my story and sell myself,” she shared. “I’m not sure it aligns with the traditional principles of resume writing, but since the traditional way hasn’t landed me my dream role, I figured it was time to see if the unconventional way would. Since then, I’ve started getting interview invites — which, to me, indicates that this approach is working.”
The lesson applies to brands, too. “Recruiters should consider doing the same,” she adds. “Share links to pages that showcase the day-to-day life of an employee working in that role, so applicants don’t just read the job description; they can see someone living it. Buffer does a great job with this. It makes the process feel more human.”
So if you’re tired of getting and sending out the same unforgettable, AI-slop, Kibben has an easy piece of advice anyone can follow when trying to keep professional platforms and documents honest.
Use it for your LinkedIn “about me” section, to create the outline of your cover letter, or to develop the outline of your value proposition statement. Of course, edit for typos, but this initial “draft” allows your voice and real ability to shine through.
AI isn’t the enemy; it’s the echo. It amplifies whatever you feed it. (Everyone from leaders to job seekers to your kid brother)
Used intentionally, it sharpens language, streamlines ideas, and exposes your blind spots. Used mindlessly, it turns every resume, job post, and outreach email into the same beige blur.
The challenge for creative leaders today isn’t whether to use AI. It’s how to keep the work human.
“We don’t need more ‘well-written’ words; we need words that feel real,” stresses Emezi, “Use your own rhythm. Drop the 'therefores' and 'furthermores.’ Speak in color, not in corporate. And most importantly, write to connect, not to impress. Because the clearer you are, the faster people see themselves in what you’re saying. And that right there? That’s a skill that only a few possess.”
Ready to stand out in a world that sounds the same? We’re here to help people and companies cut through the noise to connect the right creative minds with the roles where they’ll actually be seen and heard. Whether you’re a job seeker trying to sound human again or a leader trying to find real humans among the AI haze, we’re here to help you navigate the new hiring landscape and find the signal in all the static.