As AI floods recruitment platforms with automated applications, employers are questioning whether traditional CV-based hiring is still effective.
An Australian Financial Review article described recruitment as an “AI ouroboros”, where AI-generated job applications are screened by AI systems, overwhelming recruiters and eroding trust in resumes as meaningful indicators of capability.
According to data cited in the article, job applications have increased sharply year-on-year, while a growing majority of recruitment agencies now rely on AI to process CVs. As a result, many employers are finding that written applications no longer provide meaningful insight when a single role attracts hundreds of candidates.
Expr3ss!, an Australian-founded behavioural and temperament-based hiring platform, says the issue is not the use of AI itself, but the reliance on documents that were never designed to carry decision-making weight under high application volumes.
“CVs were never designed to predict behaviour, and that limitation becomes obvious as soon as one role attracts hundreds of applications,” said Carolyne Burns, Founder of Expr3ss!
As application volumes increase, employers are increasingly prioritising behavioural fit, self-awareness, communication style and how candidates are likely to perform in real work environments – factors that are difficult to assess from written applications alone.
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Rather than relying on CVs or cover letters as decision drivers, Expr3ss! assesses candidates using behavioural and temperament indicators that help organisations understand how individuals are likely to think, interact and adapt at work.
“You can’t AI-proof a hiring decision when the input is overwhelmed by volume,” Burns said.
As organisations enter 2026, Expr3ss! says hiring decisions will increasingly depend on shifting focus from document-led screening toward behavioural insight that remains meaningful when application volumes rise.
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