Recruiters, is it AI snake oil?

For those of us who experienced the previous recruitment fads, the trend of placing AI in front of everything is all too familiar. Of course, this means we have also been around the block and have a healthy cynicism about what is real and what is not not; take this gem and must read from Matt Charney as an example.

For those who started post-fad: Yes, AI is here. Yes, it is changing things. Yes, you must learn, test, try, investigate and embrace its inevitability. But you must also avoid AI snake oil.

In the last week alone, I have seen or received:

🤖 LinkedIn promoted posts claiming their AI can automate tech hiring end to end.

🤖 Another InMaul about revolutionary AI from someone who has never recruited.

🤖 Someone shared a data breaching recording of a jobseeker unknowingly on an AI call.

🤖 A post claiming their AI will find, engage and conduct AI interviews with tech talent.

I smell AI snake oil

AI-vendor marketing claims are endless, the sales noise exhausting! Like one I saw earlier, ‘We go way beyond this by validating resumes with AI video interviews, tech screening…’ all while using smoke and mirrors to avoid providing facts about the “revolutionary” technology that supposedly automates tech hiring. ⚠️ 🐍

Recruiters, your job is to sense-check fact from fiction before it damages your or your company’s reputation. You are looking for genuine results from your peers, not snake oil unsubstantiated claims, to ensure you don’t lose the trust you need to hire great people.

But what riled me up was this flippant remark: ‘Who doesn’t want screenless hiring?’

CANDIDATES, that’s who! 🤬

Has anyone asked job seekers or passive candidates what they want? It’s not like you even need to ask them; in moments, I had all the evidence needed from Recruiting Hell. And remember, these are only the people who bother to complain!

If you are an agency recruiter treating programme managers like this, that is crazy when they could be a future client. (There were scam warnings on this one, too.)

“Cut me off.” Imagine what they think of that company and recruiter.

Then there are the comments, like these from an ‘AI interview’ post about Target; they amuse me and disturb me in equal measure.

“Demeaning and demoralising” after obeying the rules and using his head, not AI! 😢

And then…

Maybe, just maybe, they left Target on bad terms, but would you reapply to a place you left on bad terms? Would you invest the time in a HireVue interview if you knew your employee reputation was poor? Unlikely.

There could be many reasons these two were turned down but if they weren’t told a valid reason by a human, they believe it’s the AI, and likely no longer shop at Target.

Look, I get it. The 2020s have been a nightmare for most recruiters. Talent acquisition has been especially pummelled, and those of you who are working can be underfunded, undervalued, underresourced and desperate for a solution to ease the load.

But, please consider carefully what you implement because an AI interview could evoke…

Besides the ghosting, which leaves applicants feeling down or depressed. Mostly this…

Call me old, too, but recruiters play with people’s lives and livelihoods. You know the emotions involved in taking someone through a hiring process.

Humans are not products that will be willingly churned through an automatic process just because a vendor says so. If you would dislike receiving an AI call, interview, outreach, etc, look for alternatives. Automate what doesn’t ruin the candidate experience or negatively impact the bottom line, not snake oil.

Put yourselves into the candidate’s shoes – it should not be hard for recruiters in this market, but if it is, maybe you’re in the wrong profession – and only implement tech that supports a human-first process.

People deserve to be treated with kindness and respect.