With more job applicants using artificial intelligence to help them find a new position, recruiters are getting more resumés and turning to AI to help with the volume. But what’s the impact of AI on the hiring process and when can the technology be used to increase efficiency without losing that human touch? Issues can […]
With more job applicants using artificial intelligence to help them find a new position, recruiters are getting more resumés and turning to AI to help with the volume.
But what’s the impact of AI on the hiring process and when can the technology be used to increase efficiency without losing that human touch? Issues can include candidates having their applications overlooked by AI tools and impersonal job interviews being done by AI systems.
Erin Campbell, chief operating officer at Altis Recruitment in Ottawa, said Altis has seen a 10.5 per cent increase in applications in 2025.
“We’re seeing a big spike in applications because a lot of the applications are AI-generated,” she told OBJ, adding that hiring managers may lean on AI to help them wade through.
“Employers are getting so many resumés and it’s probably why some of them are like, ‘We need to rely on a sort of AI …” she said.
Candidates are also using AI, she said. “We had a situation earlier today where somebody’s going through the interview process but they’re using AI for someone else to actually be the one who’s communicating and speaking. The person who’s on the video is not actually the individual who’s answering the questions,” she said, adding that this example shows the importance of conducting live interviews.
Then there are the instances where a hiring manager has used AI to screen candidates and has let a strong resumé slip through the cracks. The founder of Ottawa-based AnnAve Staffing Anne-Marie Coleman said that mistakes are bound to happen.
“When you have so much going on in the hiring practices, it’s very difficult to keep on top of that process. Whether it’s AI or it’s a human, it’s going to happen,” Coleman said.
Here are three tips from Coleman and Campbell for using AI in the hiring process.
Use AI for administrative tasks
HR professionals are using AI in many ways, from screening resumés to interviewing candidates, Campbell said.
“We’re hearing that people are using AI for more administrative tasks, so to make it easier to book interviews and take notes during interviews so that the person who’s doing the interview can focus on the individuals that they’re meeting,” she said.
Coleman said her clients — the job-seekers — are using AI for sourcing possible positions and polishing resumés.
“A lot of (clients) are (in) IT or engineers, so they aren’t necessarily strong writers but they could use some assistance. We use AI for some of that,” Coleman said.
Though AI tools exist to automate almost every aspect of the hiring process, Coleman and Campbell say companies should avoid using them for interviewing and assessing applicants.
“Getting on the phone, getting to know them and getting to know the soft skills (they have) as well as creating and establishing a relationship, I think you’ll never get that with AI,” Coleman said.
“We believe that humans are better at hiring humans. These tools can help, but ultimately it’s the relationships and real conversations that matter most,” Campbell said. “I think AI is really helpful to reduce administrative or time-consuming tasks that are taking away from the time that recruiters have to spend on that personal connection.”
Over-automating the hiring process may turn away good candidates, Campbell cautioned.
“What we’re seeing is a lot of candidates are really valuing that human connection and human relationships that they have when they’re applying for jobs. That’s exactly why we don’t want to automate everything … I think candidates are judging companies, how they are using (AI) and if it aligns with their own views and values,” Campbell said.
Coleman said using AI while interviewing can leave candidates feeling that the experience was “cold and transactional.”
Create an AI committee to assess tools before implementing
Putting together a team that researches and assesses AI tools before they’re implemented in the hiring process – or for anything else at the company – can help prevent mistakes from happening, Campbell said.
“We do a really thorough assessment on any tool that we’re considering before we leverage it. My recommendation to employers (is to) have some type of committee which has specialists from very different areas and lenses (that) have a process for assessing each AI tool around your company values, the impact (and) the risk associated with it,” she said.
Reflect on your company’s philosophy on AI
Each company will have a different appetite for its use of AI, Coleman said, which will affect its philosophy on the use of AI tools.
“The benefits of AI recruitment are increased efficiency, specifically in sourcing, but I think it can improve candidate experience to (turn around) a little bit more timely … The challenges with AI is (the loss of) that human touch, that communication,” Coleman said.
AI tools may also make biased decisions, Campbell added. “If those tools are built on biased data, they replicate that bias. That’s a big problem.”
As AI becomes a bigger topic of discussion among HR professionals, Campbell said it’s crucial for a company to have a stance on the issue.
“We had a team event earlier this week and we had one of our clients, a big organization, say they are not using AI in their own recruitment because of their philosophy and they don’t partner with vendors who use AI,” she said. “It’s asking us to speak to our philosophy around AI and it’s becoming a very common question.” 
