Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Seeking the Person Behind the Prompt: A Qualitative Study of the Perceived Effects on Authenticity in Cover Letters in the Age of AI

Bredén, Amanda LU and Söderlind, Gilda LU (2025) BUSN49 20251
Department of Business Administration
Abstract (Swedish)
The purpose of this thesis is to explore how employees in a tech-driven production organisation view candidates’ use of AI in the recruitment process, and how it affects the perceived authenticity in cover letters. Based in social constructionism and an abductive approach we have conducted 10 qualitative semi-structured interviews, as well as 7 follow-up interviews. The thesis builds on Weber’s Rationalization theory to explore how the increased trend of AI usage has caused a perceived lack of authenticity in cover letters. Through our empirical findings we identified two different groups within the organisation, one that did not believe that cover letters could provide any insight into a candidate’s personality, and that cover letters had... (More)
The purpose of this thesis is to explore how employees in a tech-driven production organisation view candidates’ use of AI in the recruitment process, and how it affects the perceived authenticity in cover letters. Based in social constructionism and an abductive approach we have conducted 10 qualitative semi-structured interviews, as well as 7 follow-up interviews. The thesis builds on Weber’s Rationalization theory to explore how the increased trend of AI usage has caused a perceived lack of authenticity in cover letters. Through our empirical findings we identified two different groups within the organisation, one that did not believe that cover letters could provide any insight into a candidate’s personality, and that cover letters had a limited ability to convey authenticity. The other group however considered cover letters a valuable asset in order to identify personality and thus valued authenticity in cover letters highly. Within this group there were diverging opinions on the effects of AI-generated cover letters where some felt it lost the personal touch and authenticity while others argued that it depends on how the candidate uses it. This has contributed to increase the understanding of the perceived effects of an increased use of AI in cover letters and how it ultimately causes in-person meetings to become even more crucial in determining a candidate’s authenticity and fit for the organisation. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Bredén, Amanda LU and Söderlind, Gilda LU
supervisor
organization
course
BUSN49 20251
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Authenticity, Rationalization Theory, Cover Letters, Recruitment, AI
language
English
id
9205378
date added to LUP
2025-06-30 12:46:08
date last changed
2025-06-30 12:46:08
@misc{9205378,
  abstract     = {{The purpose of this thesis is to explore how employees in a tech-driven production organisation view candidates’ use of AI in the recruitment process, and how it affects the perceived authenticity in cover letters. Based in social constructionism and an abductive approach we have conducted 10 qualitative semi-structured interviews, as well as 7 follow-up interviews. The thesis builds on Weber’s Rationalization theory to explore how the increased trend of AI usage has caused a perceived lack of authenticity in cover letters. Through our empirical findings we identified two different groups within the organisation, one that did not believe that cover letters could provide any insight into a candidate’s personality, and that cover letters had a limited ability to convey authenticity. The other group however considered cover letters a valuable asset in order to identify personality and thus valued authenticity in cover letters highly. Within this group there were diverging opinions on the effects of AI-generated cover letters where some felt it lost the personal touch and authenticity while others argued that it depends on how the candidate uses it. This has contributed to increase the understanding of the perceived effects of an increased use of AI in cover letters and how it ultimately causes in-person meetings to become even more crucial in determining a candidate’s authenticity and fit for the organisation.}},
  author       = {{Bredén, Amanda and Söderlind, Gilda}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Seeking the Person Behind the Prompt: A Qualitative Study of the Perceived Effects on Authenticity in Cover Letters in the Age of AI}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}