July 29, 2024
The Futile AI Arms Race Between Candidates and Employers
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal describes a frustrating landscape for employers and candidates. The article by Callum Borchers, titled “Landing a Job Is All About Who You Know (Again)," explains how a technological stalemate has driven companies and candidates to good old-fashioned personal referrals and networking to fill positions and find jobs.
Things used to work pretty well. Back in the 1970s, when my father worked in HR, employers advertised openings in newspapers. Candidates responded by mail with a typed resume and cover letter. Applying took time and effort, so only people who believed they were qualified did it. Companies received a manageable number of quality applications and could give them appropriate time and attention. Sure, the system was slow, but it delivered results.
Not so today. Applying for a job takes only a click, and candidates are clicking with abandon. They have inundated employers in a sea of resumes, far more than HR teams are equipped to evaluate.
As a result, employers have turned to software to screen resumes. Most resumes are never viewed by a human, and applicants almost never hear back from companies. That’s left candidates feeling like their applications go into a black hole. Frustrated by their inability to break through the digital gatekeepers, candidates are now using software to automate applications.
You can see where this is going. It’s a constantly escalating bot-on-bot war. The dysfunction would be hilarious if it weren’t so pathetic.
I’m not optimistic things will improve. Technology caused the problem, and now both sides vainly use more technology to fix it. The only winners are the software vendors.
As Borchers points out, there’s great irony in this situation. Technology has pushed employers and candidates back to relying on referrals and networking, which have been the foundation of hiring since the dawn of time.
I expect referrals and networking will continue to be the best was to hire and get hired, regardless of whatever technology comes next.
