One of the newer tools on the scene when it comes to digital recruiting is AI and its automation capabilities.
“AI is especially useful right now for content-related tasks — like drafting job ads or writing candidate outreach messages,” says Carlos del Pozo, CEO of Team Engine, based in Boulder, Colorado. “It’s also good at summarizing information, such as pulling key qualifications from resumes to speed up screening.”
Tito Caceres, managing director of Bloom Talent Solutions, based in Miami, Florida, says AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are all great tools you should leverage, but you need to provide the right prompts and context to create effective job descriptions.
“Most modern applications and applicant tracking systems have some form of AI to make a recruiter more efficient and effective,” says Mike Voories, founder and CEO of Business Resources One, based in Brighton, Michigan. “Just make sure you’re not using AI for the sake of using AI. Embrace this fast-evolving technology when and where it makes sense, which is usually combined with the right human intelligence.”
Caceres agrees that AI is a powerful tool, but it can’t replace humans entirely.
Benefits of AI in Recruiting
Voories says the biggest benefit of combining AI with human intelligence is increased efficiency and improved effectiveness.
“I think the biggest reason AI is becoming such a big thing is because AI is speeding everything up,” Caceres says. “With hiring, that’s the goal as well, to speed up your hiring cycle dramatically and keep candidates warm and engaged.”
AI tools can help move candidates through the early stages of the recruitment process by drafting messages, summarizing candidate qualifications and organizing information, allowing your team to make decisions more efficiently.
Terry Shaffer, co-founder and CEO of Summit Lawn and Landscape, based in Grandview, Missouri, says they utilize the AI within Team Engine’s platform, which has helped them save time in their recruiting process.
Caceres says another benefit of AI is how it helps smaller teams that are running lean operate like bigger teams without having to build out a large talent acquisition team.
“AI can take your common language and turn it into comprehensive search criteria and filtering,” Voories says. “AI can help you draft ads and messages. AI can even help you create interview questions.”
AI is particularly useful for handling automated follow-up messages after designated instances.
“For example, after every single interview you have, whether it’s a video call, phone call, or just an in-person meeting, just have an automation that 10 minutes or 20 minutes after you met with this person, they automatically get a thank you,” Caceres says. “Just as something as simple as that can yield a ton of results, just in candidate engagement and your reputation as an employer.”
Caceres adds that you should sprinkle in human follow-up as well, instead of solely sending automated messages to candidates.
Drawbacks of AI in Recruiting
While AI is capable of many things, you also need to understand its limitations. It should not have the final say on who you ultimately hire.
Voories stresses that you have to own the end results of what AI produces. Don’t settle for something that is quickly created or of low quality.
“AI’s benefits are best realized when it’s combined with the right human intelligence,” Voories says. “It’s not good if your job ad reads like it was written by AI, or maybe it reads good but doesn’t accurately reflect the company, job, or opportunity. Yes, AI can help you generate great interview questions, but it’s your job to make sure the questions you ask are uniquely situationally correct. AI can create great search and filtering criteria in a database, but it’s still your job to make sure the search is targeted towards your ideal candidates.”
Del Pozo says the biggest risk of over-relying on AI and automation results in losing the human touch.
“AI should support your recruiting efforts — not replace them,” del Pozo says. “It can help you stay competitive, but it’s not a substitute for having the right culture or communicating why your company is a great place to work. That message still has to come from you.”
Caceres says that while you can use AI to create a shortlist of candidates to consider, there can be misses here and there, so it’s a good idea to check the whole pool. Shaffer says they have access to the auto-screened applicants in Team Engine’s system, and they still review these as part of the process as a backup.
“AI can’t replace judgment, cultural fits or your gut instincts,” Caceres says. “I can’t tell you how many times we have a short list of candidates, and we were screening them, and immediately we’re like this is not a good fit. On paper, yes. Person to person, no.”
Dan Klemencic, marketing manager for David J. Frank Landscape Contracting, based in Germantown, Wisconsin, says this is why they prefer not to use AI in their candidate screening.
“We prefer to hire enthusiastic, optimistic, positive people, especially when it comes to candidates with no experience or who want to switch careers,” Klemencic says. “I don’t know how AI would measure those traits, which would be more evident during an interview.”
