We can tell it’s ChatGPT

Hey,

Welcome to Green Jobs Rising!

You may have come across roles such as customer lead, creative lead or graduate management trainee all at Greenspoon.

You may have even made an application.

A few months ago, Greenspoon went on a hiring spree, filling several positions.

After the hiring, their CEO Alexander Osinga posted on LinkedIn their experience of going over 10k applications and gave a few tips to graduates looking for jobs.

If you did not get a chance to see his post on LinkedIn, don’t worry, we got you!

He says that while Kenya is full of talent, most graduates could make their application MUCH better, because recruiters ONLY have time to hire the best, so make it easy for them to find you.

In one of his tips, he mentions the use of ChatGPT, “Stop sending generic cover letters made with ChatGPT…”

A few weeks ago my colleague Risper and I, together with our boss, were seated in the office, brainstorming ideas on how to make this newsletter even more interesting for you.

In that meeting, the issue of ChatGPT and job applications came about.

Our CEO, founder of Continent Rising, our parent company and a media organisation in Nairobi offering news for professionals in Africa’s green economy, has been hiring and interviewing for different roles for a while now.

He shared how many applications now seem identical (as if written by the same person) and how everyone is a perfect fit in all those applications.

In his inbox, he shared a CV that he actually liked and was impressed with. He had not gone through the CV to see if the candidate had an impressive background, but because of how it was presented, he was impressed enough to want to go through it.

The CV in question was in a different format from what we are used to seeing, and he felt it may, for once, have actually been written by a human.

Alexander Osinga, in his post, says,

“Stop sending generic cover letters made with ChatGPT that all have the same strange words (adept, particularly drawn, demonstrating my commitment, enhance etc) -> write your cover letter - then ask ChatGPT to roast it. Also include numbers of REAL projects you have worked on”

Hear this: OpenAI is boasting over 700 million weekly active users of its chatbot as of August 2025, up from 500 million in March.

According to the Global Digital Report by DataReportal and Meltwater, Kenya has been ranked as the world’s top ChatGPT user, with 42.1% of users aged sixteen and above actively using the tool in the past one month.

South Africa follows closely, ranking 8th worldwide with 34.3% of active users.

Imagine all these people using the tool for the same thing; job applications.

See why it’s no longer a flex?

In this age, a disadvantaged person is one who cannot unlearn and relearn.

We are not saying do not use AI, we are asking how are you using it?

Coming up soon is advice from an HR professional on how you can use AI to bag that job.

Meanwhile, how did you know you were not getting that job? Share your story with us under this video.

Stay tuned!