A Balanced Approach to AI Recruitment

See the latest issue of Briefings at newsstands or read in our new format here.

By: Deepali Vyas

Vyas serves as global head of the FinTech, Payments and Crypto practice at Korn Ferry.

As it does in so many fields, artificial intelligence holds great promise for streamlining the complex and often slow-moving world of corporate hiring. Without doubt, it could be a game changer for a system that hasn’t evolved since the internet. But for now, well, the technology has come with a cost.

To be sure, in an era in which artificial-intelligence tools have become ubiquitous, leveraging them in the HR recruiting process helps firms sift through applications (as well as handle more routine tasks, like arranging interviews) a lot faster. For their part, job seekers can use AI to reach out to more firms in order to secure a coveted interview. What could go wrong?

For starters, as many of us have seen, AI has led to firms getting hit with an overwhelming influx of résumés, thanks to tools, like ChatGPT, which help candidates whip up cover letters and sparkling résumés in record time. All this has made it harder to sift through these AI-enhanced applications to find candidates with genuine talent and the human skills companies need. And this is no small problem, given that 92 percent of employers value soft skills.

Simply put, AI tools have democratized the ability to create compelling résumés, enabling candidates to present themselves more effectively. That’s a good thing for those who might underrepresent their capabilities. But there’s a serious downside to this advancement: so-called AI fraud, in which AI tools overstate qualifications, setting candidates up for failure in interviews. This not only disappoints candidates, but also burdens recruiters and employers with a higher volume of seemingly promising résumés. Rather than streamlining the process, as it once promised, AI has made identifying genuinely suitable candidates into a time-consuming challenge.

Initially, candidates could utilize AI for “résumé arbitrage,” which potentially gave them an edge in the hiring process. But this has also led to unwanted automation, which significantly increases résumé submissions and complicates the hiring process.

Moreover, the emergence of AI avatars in interviews has made identifying real skill sets more difficult, leading to a less authentic recruitment process. More candidates appear to be qualified, which only increases the likelihood of mis-hires and their associated expenses. Indeed, bad hires can cost a company  up to 30 percent of an individual’s first-year earnings.

It all underscores the urgent need for a balanced approach to AI in recruitment, one that focuses on authenticity and the effective assessment of candidates. Finding a balance is crucial. The limitations of programmatic AI résumé submissions have been revealed, which in turn has prompted a shift toward prioritizing quality throughout the recruitment process. For employers, this means adopting strategies that extend beyond initial AI screenings to assess the soft skills and genuine competencies of candidates. This might involve more sophisticated AI tools capable of evaluating soft skills, or a return to more traditional, human-centric methods in later stages of the recruitment process.

And there’s another tool that may help: video. Integrating video résumés into the recruitment process can foster a critical and more holistic evaluation of candidates. A thoughtful implementation will be required in order to ensure that the process remains efficient and equitable. Employers should provide clear guidelines, develop objective evaluation criteria, and ensure video résumés complement traditional methods for a comprehensive candidate evaluation. For instance, they should provide candidates with clear instructions on what their video résumés should cover—including length, content, and presentation style—to ensure consistency and relevance. Firms also need to establish objective criteria for assessing video résumés, and, of course, make sure that these videos complement, not replace, traditional résumés and other components of the application process.

In short, smart companies are going to meet the challenge of a new technology—AI—by turning to a multimodal approach focused on one goal: sifting through the noise to identify candidates who are not just qualified on paper, but who also possess the soft skills and character to excel in their roles.

Photo Credits: Mehau Kulyk/SPL/Getty Images