Survey of 396 University Students on AI Usage: About Half Use AI in Job Hunting. Approx. 30% Answered "Lost Sight of My Strengths"
A survey by Benesse i-Career's 'doda New Graduate Agent' reveals that 49.0% of job-seeking students use AI tools. While many find it beneficial, about 30% report losing self-understanding, highlighting the need for expert support in self-analysis.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 10, 2026 at 18:54
- 🔍 Collected: April 11, 2026 at 00:29 (5h 35m after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 20, 2026 at 00:53 (216h 24m after Collected)
Benesse i-Career Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, President: Naoki Kazama), a joint venture between the Benesse Corporation Group and Persol Career Co., Ltd., which operates the new graduate introduction service 'doda New Graduate Agent', has announced the results of a 'Survey on AI Utilization in University Students' Job Hunting' targeting 396 students who are currently job hunting or have job hunting experience.
Details can be viewed on the official service site of doda New Graduate Agent ( https://doda-student.jp/ ) at https://doda-student.jp/column/ai-shukatsu-survey.
Survey Commentary (doda New Graduate Agent)
This survey revealed that about 50% of students are already utilizing AI tools for their job hunting. The top usage scenarios are 'Creating Self-PR' (56.7%), 'Creating Entry Sheets (ES)' (53.6%), and 'Creating Statements of Purpose' (47.9%), centering around document creation directly linked to the recruitment selection process.
On the other hand, 28.9% of the students who utilized AI answered that they 'lost sight of themselves', and of those, 64.3% answered that they 'lost sight of what their strengths are'. It is thought that there are many cases where the opportunity for self-analysis itself is lost by creating self-PR texts with AI.
Furthermore, while the percentage of those who felt anxious about 'relying too much on AI' reached 41.2%, it was also found that 25.0% of the students answered that they 'asked AI to make corrections again' as a countermeasure while feeling anxious. This suggests that a cycle of trying to resolve anxiety using the AI itself is being born.
From the fact that 17.5% of the students have experienced interviewers perceiving their content/expressions as 'seemingly created by AI', it can be said that whether one can speak in their own words is becoming important for passing the selection, not just the text quality of the ES. The survey results highlighted the importance of support from experts in order to cultivate the power of self-understanding and verbalization while students utilize AI well.
Summary of Survey Results
[Regarding the Status of AI Utilization]
- 49.0% of all students have utilized AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) in job hunting.
- The main usage scenes for AI are 'Creating Self-PR' (56.7%), 'Creating ES' (53.6%), and 'Creating Statements of Purpose' (47.9%).
- 65.5% of students answered that utilizing AI was 'positive' (total of 'somewhat positive' + 'highly positive').
[Regarding Changes/Anxieties due to AI Utilization]
- 28.9% of students utilizing AI answered that they 'lost sight of themselves'.
- Among the students who answered they 'lost sight of it', 'lost sight of what my strengths are' (64.3%), 'lost sight of what job I really want to do' (46.4%).
- The percentage of those who felt the anxiety of 'relying too much on AI' was 41.2%, and 'feeling like I am not thinking for myself' was 36.1%.
- Only 14.9% answered that they have 'no particular anxiety'.
[Regarding the Impact on Interviews/Selection]
- 17.5% of students have experienced interviewers perceiving their content as 'seemingly created by AI'.
- When utilizing sentences generated by AI, 'This is myself...
Details can be viewed on the official service site of doda New Graduate Agent ( https://doda-student.jp/ ) at https://doda-student.jp/column/ai-shukatsu-survey.
Survey Commentary (doda New Graduate Agent)
This survey revealed that about 50% of students are already utilizing AI tools for their job hunting. The top usage scenarios are 'Creating Self-PR' (56.7%), 'Creating Entry Sheets (ES)' (53.6%), and 'Creating Statements of Purpose' (47.9%), centering around document creation directly linked to the recruitment selection process.
On the other hand, 28.9% of the students who utilized AI answered that they 'lost sight of themselves', and of those, 64.3% answered that they 'lost sight of what their strengths are'. It is thought that there are many cases where the opportunity for self-analysis itself is lost by creating self-PR texts with AI.
Furthermore, while the percentage of those who felt anxious about 'relying too much on AI' reached 41.2%, it was also found that 25.0% of the students answered that they 'asked AI to make corrections again' as a countermeasure while feeling anxious. This suggests that a cycle of trying to resolve anxiety using the AI itself is being born.
From the fact that 17.5% of the students have experienced interviewers perceiving their content/expressions as 'seemingly created by AI', it can be said that whether one can speak in their own words is becoming important for passing the selection, not just the text quality of the ES. The survey results highlighted the importance of support from experts in order to cultivate the power of self-understanding and verbalization while students utilize AI well.
Summary of Survey Results
[Regarding the Status of AI Utilization]
- 49.0% of all students have utilized AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) in job hunting.
- The main usage scenes for AI are 'Creating Self-PR' (56.7%), 'Creating ES' (53.6%), and 'Creating Statements of Purpose' (47.9%).
- 65.5% of students answered that utilizing AI was 'positive' (total of 'somewhat positive' + 'highly positive').
[Regarding Changes/Anxieties due to AI Utilization]
- 28.9% of students utilizing AI answered that they 'lost sight of themselves'.
- Among the students who answered they 'lost sight of it', 'lost sight of what my strengths are' (64.3%), 'lost sight of what job I really want to do' (46.4%).
- The percentage of those who felt the anxiety of 'relying too much on AI' was 41.2%, and 'feeling like I am not thinking for myself' was 36.1%.
- Only 14.9% answered that they have 'no particular anxiety'.
[Regarding the Impact on Interviews/Selection]
- 17.5% of students have experienced interviewers perceiving their content as 'seemingly created by AI'.
- When utilizing sentences generated by AI, 'This is myself...