AI tools can speed up repetitive recruiting tasks, but decisions about people still need context, empathy and accountability. A practical look at how to combine both.
Gloria Marquez··4 min read
Photo: Jakub Żerdzicki / Unsplash
Artificial intelligence is already part of recruiting. It's used to write job postings, screen applications, summarize interviews, and even by candidates to prepare their resumes. The question is no longer whether to use it, but what to use it for, and where a person should still make the call.
Here's how I use it in my work, what I believe an AI tool can't evaluate well in a candidate, and what I think about candidates who use AI to apply.
In my day-to-day work, AI is an assistant that saves me time on two specific tasks.
I work with a wide range of tech roles, from backend to cloud, data or cybersecurity. Before starting a search, AI helps me quickly understand a technology I don't know in depth, how it relates to others, which job titles the market uses for the same role, or which skills usually go together.
It's a starting point. I always check what I find with the hiring manager, with reliable sources and with my own experience, because AI can be wrong with complete confidence.
After several interviews, AI helps me organize my notes and prepare clearer summaries for my clients. It lets me spend less time on formatting and more time thinking about the candidate.
But the evaluation is mine. The summary organizes what I observed; it doesn't decide for me.
Some aspects of a person can't be measured fairly by any tool today. In my experience, they are precisely the ones that matter most for a successful hire.
A real desire to learn, grow and contribute comes through in a conversation: in how someone talks about what they did, the questions they ask, what excites them. A resume or a text can say "proactive" and "passionate". A conversation shows you whether it's true.
A career change, a gap in a resume or an unusual path can hide a great candidate. An automated system tends to penalize anything outside the pattern, because it looks for matches with previous profiles. A person can ask "what happened here?" and discover a story of learning, resilience or reinvention that adds value instead of taking it away.
How someone will get along with a specific team, its way of working and communicating, depends on human nuances you understand by knowing both the candidate and the team. That reading is still a core part of my work as a recruiter.
Any tool used to screen people must be reviewed for bias, and there must always be a person accountable for the final decision. Candidates deserve to know how they're being evaluated and to have the chance to show what a tool can't see.
Before adopting an AI tool to screen or evaluate candidates, I recommend asking yourself these questions:
AI can make a process faster. The goal is for it to also be fairer and more human, not less.
My short answer: it depends on how they use it.
The rule I recommend is simple: use AI to express yourself better, never to be someone else. What you write has to hold up in a conversation.
Technology can give us time. What matters is using that time for what only people can do well: listen, understand and make good decisions about other people.
Read next: How to write an IT job description that attracts the right candidates.
Gloria Marquez is the founder of Talent IT Consulting, a firm specialized in recruiting technology talent. She has more than 10 years of experience in Talent Acquisition and specialized recruitment.
One of the biggest challenges in recruiting is balancing what companies expect and what candidates need. A reflection on salary, negotiation and the recruiter's role as a strategic advisor.
Read article
A clear job description saves time on both sides of the table. Here is a practical structure for tech roles that helps the right people say yes, and the wrong fit opt out early.
Read article
Technical interviews reward preparation as much as talent. Use this checklist to organize the days before your next interview, from researching the company to closing the conversation.
Read article