Where Is AI Making a Positive Difference in Recruitment?

Enghouse Guide to AI in Customer Service Box

You only have to scroll through a handful of posts on LinkedIn to see the conversation erupting around AI’s impact on recruitment, and the frustrations being aired by job seekers and recruiters alike as the AI-powered process takes hold.

But is it all bad news? We spoke to experienced contact centre recruiters and talent specialists to find out why it isn’t all justified, and where there are clear use cases for improving the end-to-end experience for all involved.

Quickly Identifying Candidates Who Meet Basic Requirements

Perhaps the biggest advantage AI offers is its ability to deal with scale. For recruiters hiring large numbers of frontline employees, manually reviewing thousands of CVs simply isn’t practical.

AI can quickly identify candidates who meet basic requirements, dramatically reducing the workload before a human becomes involved.

This makes particular sense for high-volume, entry-level recruitment, where organizations often need to identify candidates with specific experience or qualifications before progressing them further.

Rather than replacing recruiters, therefore, AI becomes an efficient first filter that allows them to spend more time engaging with suitable candidates.

Removing Time-Consuming and Repetitive Administrative Tasks

For those on the frontline of the recruitment game, AI has removed many of the repetitive administrative tasks that previously consumed several hours every day, allowing recruiters to focus on the conversations that ultimately determine whether someone is the right fit.

Ian Lasplace, Director at Longreach Recruitment — Ian Lasplace

“I think the biggest positive that I certainly derived from AI so far is how it has sped up the very mundane administration process – with everything from screening CVs that little bit quicker, to diarizing follow-ups and scheduling interviews.

This has definitely given me more time back in my week to have more value-add conversations with candidates – instead of parking two or three hours a day for all the associated admin.” – Ian Lasplace, Director at Longreach Recruitment Ltd.

Quite simply, recruiters who spend less time scheduling interviews or reviewing thousands of CVs are better placed to have real conversations with potential candidates.

Giving More Valuable Feedback to Candidates

And it’s not just about making space for better conversations. AI can also be used to counter another high-profile issue in the recruiting world: the giving of feedback!

Kerry Sudale, Founder of Sudale Search & Select — Kerry Sudale

“Often who ultimately gets hired comes down to the finest of margins, and this is where candidates really need feedback so they know exactly why they didn’t get the job and can move forward with their head held high – rather than letting self-doubt creep in.

This is where co-pilots and note-takers can really help to serve up this feedback to unsuccessful candidates; whether it’s to tell them that “they scored really highly on this technical competency, but they weren’t the best fit because of X, Y, Z…”

It gives them something qualitative to go back to and keep their spirits up – and with AI it takes next to no time to create and produce that.

As a recruiter or hiring manager, you can even plug your own feedback into AI and ask it to build a nice feedback email to support your employer brand. It’s a great time-saving way to end the process on a positive.” – Kerry Sudale, Founder of Sudale Search & Select.

Acting as an Assistant – Rather Than an Autonomous Recruiter

That being said, AI should still only ever be the starting point – as it works best as an assistant rather than an autonomous recruiter.

While AI is, of course, capable of identifying keywords and matching experience against job requirements, recruitment is rarely as straightforward as ticking boxes.

This is where judgement, context, potential, and personality all influence whether someone succeeds in a role – and these are qualities technology still struggles to assess.

Rob Dermott, Client Solutions Director, CCA Recruitment Group — Rob Dermott

“The problem starts when people are solely using AI as a decision-making tool to see who they’re going to screen, and that ducks the accountability question – especially where some recruiters are just saying “Right, we’ll use AI to screen for that role and create a shortlist, and if it’s not right, we’ve not really done anything wrong”.

Accountability is really important here, so if you’re bringing in an AI tool, you need to give serious thought to the guardrails that sit around it and use it as part of the process – not the whole process!” – Rob Dermott, Client Solutions Director, CCA Recruitment Group.

When used responsibly, AI should support recruiters by reducing administrative effort while leaving the final judgement to experienced professionals. So no one is ever left in a position where the technology alone has been left to make the final hiring decision.

★★★★★

Technology Can Help Recruiters to Work Smarter – But It Cannot Replace Curiosity, Judgement, and Empathy

Perhaps the strongest message is that recruitment has always been and will continue to be a people business. Technology can help recruiters work smarter, but it cannot replace curiosity, judgement, empathy, or the conversations that uncover someone’s true potential.

As AI continues to evolve, the contact centres that achieve the greatest success are likely to be those that embrace both – combining the speed and efficiency of AI with the experience, accountability, and human insight that great recruiters bring every day.