AI in recruitment processes

Am I advocating for using AI in recruitment processes?

I woke up during the weekend with that question, which stayed with me for a while.

And the answer is yes and no. Both at the same time. Both valid.

But where did this reflection come from?

I often participate in recruitment processes for consultancy jobs and freelancer opportunities. Eventually, I will also apply for permanent positions as this will help me challenge myself and create some connections.

The other day, I received an email informing me that my offer for a consultancy opportunity was not shortlisted.

This is already a great answer because, for many projects, the only answer is silence and ghosting.

However, the generic and poorly written answer received from the HR assistant who sent the email made me react with a short, direct, and bit of sarcastic feedback.

Unexpectedly, I got a reply from a senior manager of that organization, who expressed that due to the high volume of applications, it was not feasible for them to respond to everyone in person. Thus, they have standardized the response to the applicants who haven't been shortlisted.

Understandable. For sure.

But if the “standard response” comes across as careless for people like me who put some effort into submitting a proposal to them, something is not working there.

They missed everything.

N o t h i n g in that short reply showed that they had read anything of what I had sent across.

My partner in the proposal asked me if I thought they were using AI to write such an answer. Then, I realized that it would have been more accurate and ever personalized if they had used any AI tools to write an email after feeding it with our proposal.

I would have felt heard and understood despite the negative reply. Or the answer could be different if the proposal had been adequately read (by a person or software).

Who knows?

The senior manager thanked me for the feedback and instructed the HR department to “adjust the response we use.” But I wonder if they would properly reflect on and thoughtfully exercise this or create a new standardized email.

This HR assistant and others in similar positions could reflect on it soon and adjust their inputs, bringing humane perspectives.

If humans don’t quickly add value to a process like this one, it will be outsourced to more efficient technology.

Undoubtedly.

This could be one of the advantages that AI will bring. To limit the bias of humans. Or AI is more biased because of how it has been fed to learn.

Who knows?

if the 'standard response' comes across as careless for people like me who put some effort into submitting a proposal to them, something is not working there