Could you defend that sentence?

The same reasoning appears across completely different fields, in participants' own words.

"Not when I picture the interview. They'll ask what I actually did, and then I'm explaining why the CV doesn't mean what it says."

— P18 · Cybersecurity · Q13

"It once added a load of skills to my CV I'd never claimed, like being proficient in data analysis software, and I deleted them because I'd have been caught out instantly in an interview."

— P01 · Psychology · Q13

"It'll make it sound like I transformed a society when I was just a member. I take that out. If they asked me about it, I wouldn't have anything to say."

— P04 · History · Q13

"They might. I'd be more worried about not being able to explain the answer. If they ask about my work, I need to know exactly what I've claimed."

— P20 · Business management · Q15

That answer was given to a question about whether employers can detect AI writing. He ranks defensibility above detection without being prompted to.

The catches themselves are precise:

"It said I advised senior stakeholders on regulatory risk. I help in a shop."

— P17 · Law · Q13

"It called a phishing exercise red-team experience. And monitoring became threat hunting. They sound close if you don't do the work, but they're different things."

— P18 · Cybersecurity · Q13

"It also tried to turn attendance going up into revenue, which we hadn't measured."

— P14 · Business management · Q13

"It also called the documentary award-winning which was hilarious cuz it only screened at our course showcase …"

— P12 · Film, TV and digital production · Q3

"it made my supporting statement sound really formal and business-y, I rejected most of it. It didn't sound like a caring nurse, it sounded like a manager."

— P05 · Adult nursing · Q13

"It suggested chartered accountant for my headline, as an ambition. I haven't qualified. I kept student and accounts assistant. I don't want someone reading it quickly and getting the wrong idea."

— P20 · Business management · Q13

Participants identify three conditions under which it fails, and they name them themselves.

Tiredness.

"When I'm exhausted I don't check as well. I know I should. Sometimes I just want it sent."

— P11 · Business and tourism management · Q14

Volume.

"Definitely. The first one gets checked properly. By the last one I'm just trying to get it sent."

— P19 · Business management · Q2

Familiar vocabulary. The subtlest of the three, and the one participants are least able to guard against:

"Not straight away. It was using words I recognised, so I read past it. Then I thought about them asking me how the system works and realised I'd made it sound like my responsibility."

— P16 · Business management · Q3

"I took it out, but some of the smaller stuff is harder to notice."

— P16 · Business management · Q13

And when it fails, nothing tells anyone:

"One application said I managed a regional promotion. I managed it in my store and sent feedback to the region. I noticed after submitting. I didn't get an interview, so nothing happened but I’d hate to be caught out on these types of lies I’d be mortified."

— P03 · Business and marketing, online · Q13

One exchange shows a stated practice giving way under a specific question:

"I think so. I'd have to open it. There are so many versions. I normally say I check the numbers, but now you're asking about a specific one I'm less sure."

— P19 · Business management · Q13

Some participants use AI to improve their written English. They worry that an interviewer will hear them speak differently and mistake that help for dishonesty.

"I worry that the application will sound more fluent than I am when speaking, and the interviewer will think I was dishonest. I try to keep the application to be clear, not to pretend that English is my first language."

— P08 · Criminology and law, online · Q14

P08 holds back on polishing his English because he does not want an interviewer to think he lied.

"When they meet you and your English is different, probably. But people get help with English anyway. I don't think that should mean you can't have the job."

— P11 · Business and tourism management · Q15

"I need the steps first. A big block of text is difficult with dyslexia. So I get it to pull out what they're asking for, then do one bit of my CV at a time. I listen to the changes as well."

— P09 · Business and computing · Q5

"And when it changes my English, explain why. Otherwise I just copy the sentence."

— P08 · Criminology and law, online · Q18

P08 wants to understand the changes so he can learn from them, rather than just copy the new sentence.

Accounts from participants with professional experience connect confidentiality principles to AI use, and describe recognising risks beyond simply removing a name.

"I never paste names, details of residents or an incident report into it they really drilled that into us."

— P07 · Health and care management, online · Q14

"Confidentiality. Taking a name out doesn't always make the story anonymous. I nearly typed a work example in once and then thought, no, there's too much in that."

— P15 · Business management · Q14

"I use made-up events for practice, not client logs."

— P18 · Cybersecurity · Q14

"I take the private details out first. It's not worth putting somebody's information in there for a better paragraph."

— P05 · Adult nursing · Q14

These accounts suggest a principle carrying across contexts. They arose in response to questions about concerns and risks; they do not establish that every participant learned it in the same way.