Algorithm vs. Intuition? The Pros and Cons of AI in Recruitment

Algorithm vs. Intuition? The Pros and Cons of AI in Recruitment

If looking at recruitment trends in the States, Europe and Asia are anything to go by, we are on an interesting trajectory here in NZ. AI has been the talk of the market for the past 12 months at least, and for the innovative recruitment agencies and employers, AI has been a game changer. Chat GPT can whip up a good ad in seconds or provide excellent behavioural based interview questions. Our suppliers; Seek, LinkedIn and the best recruitment CRM providers are all working hard to provide us the best, most innovative tech to enable us to do our jobs faster, better and more accurately. You can screen and engage with candidates at speed, and in many cases quite accurately. It’s an ever evolving landscape, every quarter we’re getting updates of new tools and better add-ons. It’s progressive and exciting.

But… I’m not convinced all the shiny new tools are for the best.  And here is my observation.

Job seekers have also been enabled with AI to help stand out from the crowd or have the ‘perfect job’ land in their inbox. And I’m all for efficiency, don’t get me wrong. If there are faster ways to scroll the job boards and get your CVs in front of recruiters or hiring managers, AI has found it. Stats released from Seek last month show the number of people applying for jobs was up 170% on pre-covid levels, and up 42% more than 2 years ago. We and many employers are getting inundated with applications. While it may sound that “talent falling into our laps” is wonderful, it’s often not it’s all cracked up to be, and the quality is often not there. And this is the problem. What’s happening is job seekers are using AI tools to connect them with jobs. Sites like Zeil enable job seekers to easily swipe and match ads in seconds. As a result, job seekers are firing off tens or hundreds of applications, in most cases without considering the role closely, or even writing a cover letter to outline their suitability for the role in crowded market. It’s a real scattergun approach.

And the result: Recruiters and Hiring Managers are inundated with poor quality applications. Yes there are tools we can use to screen candidates by keyword without even reading the CV, but as a thorough Recruiter, there are so many nuances to uncover deeper than what is written within a CV.

My frustration is that job seekers are relinquishing their responsibility of submitting a considered application with a cover letter, in response to a position in favour of it being a numbers game. The more applications sent, the higher the hit rate chances.

So here is my take away. As a job seeker, in order to really stand out and make an impactful application, be mindful. Think about what you want in your next career move and go for that ensuring you’re applying for positions within your realm of expertise whilst tailoring your approach to showcase your suitability. Don’t just throw your CV out to everyone and anyone.

With all that said, rest assured there are some really exciting positives to come from AI in terms of the recruitment industry, however certain things AI will not replace, not anytime soon anyway. While we embrace tech, we believe that only humans can truly determine the right people for each business and their unique needs, through intuition and human connection, and that, there are no shortcuts to.

Had an interesting experience using AI in your recruitment or job seeking process? We’re keen to hear it.