AI and Hiring: Dos and Don’ts for Mid-2024

AI is already shifting the hiring landscape dramatically. Several startups have seized the opportunity to build tools that help with everything from role definition to sourcing to interview workflow, data capture and analysis. 

Make no mistake, AI will utterly transform hiring, and the transformation has already begun.

I’m seeing a few areas where AI, at least with the current tools available, can make a big positive impact when correctly deployed. Here are the use cases I like best:

• Generating content in candidate-facing communications (e.g. external-facing role descriptions) that is more inspirational, more accurate and more inclusive.
• Generating ideas for standardized interview questions, particularly if LLM is trained on what kinds of questions lead to “signal” rather than “noise.” Even if your question guide is not perfect, it’s better than going in without a plan (or asking different questions of different candidates).
• Capturing and organizing interview notes—i.e., building and tagging verbatim interview transcripts. While the major platforms we’ve tested still make a lot of painful mistakes, they are getting better. If you struggle to type or otherwise take notes, an AI transcript is better than no transcript. And adding on a layer of AI analysis to flag key words and categorize information into themes can actually help keep hiring managers objective. You can only make data-driven decisions if you use the data! 

There are also some areas where AI tools are not ready for prime time, or are otherwise at risk of damaging the candidate experience:

• Interviewing chatbots. Are we headed towards a world of true AI interviewers? I believe it’s inevitable, particularly in roles where it’s all about cost-to-hire. Is the experience today one that will win the hearts of top performers in mission-critical roles? Not at all. Job changes are big, emotional, personal decisions. The human touch is important in winning over top performers. Let’s not outsource these interactions to the machines…certainly not yet.
• Making hiring decisions. AI platforms are treading into dangerous territory when they start making judgment calls on people. There is more to a decision than what an AI can interpret from interview notes. Handing the reins to AI also raises important legal and ethical questions. Until we get a handle on our frameworks, let’s keep it a human/machine partnership.
• Outreach bots. Some candidates have unleashed AI to blast their resume to countless employers, who must sift through (literally) thousands of untargeted resumes. And companies are taking the same strategy, training AIs to crawl the net and carpet-bomb texts and emails to anything that looks like a candidate. Don’t add to the noise.

At Talgo we are paying close attention to AI in this space, and are eager to play a role in the upcoming revolution. For now, we view AI as a partner in your corner, adding value to your (otherwise) human process. By 2025, who knows?

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