Using AI to Find Candidates: What Works, What Fails, and What No One Tells You
AI is everywhere in recruiting. Sometimes it feels like a superpower. You find talent faster, you spend less time digging through noise, and you move from “overwhelmed” to “in control.” Other times it does something quietly risky: it removes great candidates before anyone on your team ever sees them. The difference isn’t AI. It’s how we use it, and what we let it decide. When AI is used well, it makes recruiters sharper. It takes the messiest part of hiring—the beginning—and brings structure to it. Early in a search, there’s usually too much volume and not enough signal. That’s where AI can genuinely help. It can scan huge pools quickly, surface skills that don’t show up neatly in job titles, and point you toward people who may never apply through traditional channels. In that moment, AI isn’t replacing judgment. It’s clearing the fog so a recruiter can spend time doing what actually matters: evaluating a person, not sorting a pile. The problems start when AI stops being a helper...