After a short post-COVID lull, recruitment practices are changing at a rapid pace, with artificial intelligence (AI) taking an even more central role. Lydia Miller, co-founder of the location-neutral recruitment firm Ivee, worries that this shift could set in motion a long-term downward spiral. She warns that candidates might start to tailor their responses to meet AI expectations rather than authentically showcasing their skills and qualities. This double whammy, she contends, leads to a “race to the bottom” in hiring.
She sees the potentially dangerous impact of AI on both job seekers and employers. Needless to say, companies are now more than ever filtering resumes through AI systems without realizing the built-in biases in these systems. As a consequence, candidates can be discriminated against without recourse because of biased algorithms. As Miller points out, the current labor market is seeing a flood of new job applicants—just as jobs become harder to find on net. The competition is increasing not only due to an increase in applicants. Many people are understandably double and even triple applying to increase their odds.
Annemie Ress, director of the talent development consultancy PurpleBeach, has the same worry about AI’s capacity in recruitment. To that, Sopwith argues that AI-driven, video-based interviews still don’t allow a company to view a candidate in full context. The technology largely removes human bias by evaluating candidates according to criteria established up front. These criteria don’t capture the most important qualities that employers are looking for.
Jim Herrington, a former marketing director for the National Park Service, offers an insider’s view into the modern-day recruitment challanges. After being laid off from his job, Juan applied to over 900 jobs. As tempting as it was, he decided against submitting any AI-generated writing with his application materials. He went through the automated phone calls that he encountered while searching for jobs, which were cold and deeply annoying as he put it.
“If a business hasn’t got the time or courtesy to speak to me themselves, then I’m just not interested.” – Jim Herrington
Herrington underscored the downfalls of AI in recruitment procedures. It’s very damaging, he asserted, because it removes that key human touch that’s the basis for real connection.
“In an interview, there would be so much that an AI just cannot experience. For me, it shows a total lack of respect to the candidate who has spent time and energy in applying.” – Jim Herrington
Miller’s apprehensions echo Herrington’s sentiments. She doesn’t like the idea of using AI to screen resumes because it instantly disqualifies a lot of the right candidates. This all occurs with no human oversight.
“This just creates a really dire state where the only way that recruiters and companies can possibly sift through these is by using AI to filter them, so a lot of people are just getting automatically rejected or ghosted from roles. That is less to do with their actual skills, because no human has seen their CV.” – Lydia Miller
Meanwhile, Natalie Jafaar, a principal consultant with Talent Solutions Group in Sydney, acknowledges both the advantages and drawbacks of integrating AI into recruitment processes. For example, she tells us that AI allows organizations to identify which candidates to focus their reviewing efforts on.
“It allows us to be able to prioritise and speak to that 10% of people that we actually want to reach.” – Natalie Jafaar
Similarly, while Jafaar values the efficiency that AI provides, Ress warns us not to put too much faith in technology.
“But I think it’s too early to place all your reliance on AI. It’s a balance between efficiency – and potentially losing out on great talent.” – Annemie Ress
Miller points out that AI’s lack of precision and potential for bias impact AI recruiting the most. Foster contends that businesses need to seriously consider how and where they use technology during the hiring process.
“Companies are filtering CVs with imperfect AI that has bias inherent in it.” – Lydia Miller
Miller’s worries about the future of recruitment echo an important call for organizations to rethink how they approach recruitment. Applicants will be incentivized to modify their applications to conform to what they perceive machines are looking for. This trend could keep them from having an opportunity to demonstrate their true potential.
Claudia Baijens, VP of product at Ivee, points out a lot of good that can come from using AI for recruitment. The company’s AI platform, Ami, has allegedly recruited more than 1,000 people, while cutting screening costs by more than two-thirds. On top of that, Ami saves human recruiters two full days per week by helping to process nearly 500,000 job applications annually.
Even advocates of AI warn against its uncritical application in hiring. Ress argues for a continued human hand on the tiller during the entire hiring process.
“A seasoned recruiter or hiring manager will always know within the first interview what to explore or not. I think AI works if you have good checks and balances throughout the process and is treated as one perspective.” – Annemie Ress
As job seekers navigate an increasingly automated recruitment landscape, they face rising pressures to adapt their applications for algorithms instead of engaging authentically with potential employers. This seismic change brings plenty of challenges, not least of which is recruitment. Are organizations really putting a value on candidates, or are they just using technology and hoping for an easy button?