How To Implement AI in Recruiting Without Repelling Top Talent

The benefits of AI in recruiting are too big to ignore, but some job seekers say companies can take it too far.

Employers are increasingly interested in leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) in recruiting software to help screen, evaluate, and hire talent. At the same time, there are concerns that job seekers will react negatively to AI handling what have historically been people-driven processes.

On this front, we have good news. Capterra’s Job Seeker AI Survey of nearly 3,000 job seekers from 12 different countries reveals that 65% actually feel positive about employers using AI for recruiting purposes.*

However, with 38% of job seekers saying they are likely to turn down a job offer if a recruiting process relies too much on AI, it’s clear that recruiters must strike a careful balance with any AI implementation to keep it human centered and avoid turning off top talent.

Most job seekers are fine with recruiters using AI

The rapid growth of AI has already changed how numerous business processes are handled, from project management to customer service. And in HR, no process has been impacted more by AI than recruiting.

Whether it’s using generative AI to quickly write job descriptions and summarize resumes, implementing an AI-powered chatbot to field applicant questions and perform initial screening interviews, or leveraging AI tools to sift through, grade, and rank potential job candidates, AI is already bearing fruit across the entire recruiting workflow.

Example of AI-powered candidate matching^[1]

With 80% of recruiting technology vendors expected to embed AI capabilities into their offerings by 2027, if you don’t yet have access to AI features in your recruiting software stack, you likely will soon.^[2] 

However, while AI has been a welcome addition for recruiters trying to find and hire top talent more efficiently, the prevailing narrative is that the talent themselves dislike it. Frustrated with being shut out of job opportunities by AI, some job applicants have voiced their concerns to media outlets and even used their own AI tools to get past bots and automated filters.^[3]

If job seekers are too put off by AI, every productivity gain from implementing AI will be offset by applicants having a negative candidate experience and looking for a job elsewhere. Fortunately, our survey data reveals that fears over job seeker AI backlash are largely overblown.

Instead of feeling shut out by AI, 62% of job seekers believe they have a better chance of being hired if AI is used in recruiting and hiring processes. Job seekers are also not as concerned about AI bias and discrimination, with 70% believing AI is generally less biased than humans when evaluating job candidates.

Our data reveals that some groups are more supportive of recruiting AI than others:

• Younger job seekers (ages 43 and younger) feel more positive about recruiting AI than older ones (ages 44 and older) (70% vs. 53%). 

• Men feel more positive about recruiting AI than women (69% vs. 62%). 

• Those with at least a master’s degree or equivalent level of education (73%) are more positive about recruiting AI than those with less college education (66%) or those without any college education (57%).

That being said, we still see a clear pattern of positive sentiment toward recruiting AI among job seekers—likely driven by the growth of, and familiarity with, consumer AI tools such as ChatGPT in recent years.

Relying too much on AI can alienate promising job candidates

While most job seekers don’t hold ill will toward recruiting processes that use AI, our data indicates there can still be consequences if employers take it too far.

When asked what they would do if they felt an employer’s interview and application process relied too much on AI, job seekers say they are more likely to turn down a job offer from that employer than unlikely (38% vs. 30%).

Surprisingly, it’s the job seekers that are the most positive about recruiting AI that are more likely to withdraw their candidacy if an employer takes its usage too far—suggesting familiarity with AI leads to a lower tolerance when it’s poorly implemented:

• Younger workers are more likely to not accept a job offer than older workers (42% vs. 30%).

• Men are more likely to not accept a job offer than women (40% vs. 37%).

• Those with at least a master’s degree or equivalent level of education (50%) are more likely to not accept a job offer than those with less college education (37%) or those without any college education (32%).

While those who tend to hire younger workers or those with higher education should be the most careful with any recruiting AI implementation, the reality is every employer needs to be mindful of how AI will affect their candidate experience. Go too far, and companies risk losing a significant portion of their applicant pool.

How to maintain a great candidate experience while leveraging AI

For companies looking to dip their toes in the AI waters, recruiting represents one of the best areas to get started. Recruiting use cases for AI, such as chatbots, candidate matching, and career site optimization, represent likely wins combining high feasibility and business value.^[4]

Recruiters aren’t the only party affected by a recruiting AI implementation though. To avoid driving away top talent, here are some tips for how you can maintain a great candidate experience as you inject AI into your recruiting and hiring workflows.

1. Implement AI one process at a time (starting with the uses most palatable to applicants)

While it’s tempting with any new recruiting software to flip on every AI switch at once, you’re better off rolling out AI one process at a time. Job applicants may be understanding if they hit one AI hitch while applying or interviewing for a job, but that patience will run out if they keep having AI interactions that are error-prone or feel depersonalized. Doing a staggered roll out, you can also take notes and learn from experiences as you move from one AI implementation to the next—ensuring a faster setup with less mistakes.

When deciding which process to start with, we recommend prioritizing those that job applicants will be the most comfortable with. Out of six common recruiting processes that AI can be used for, job seekers in our survey say they are the most comfortable with AI being used to ensure equal hiring opportunity.

So, if your recruiting software has a “blind hiring mode” enabled by AI to remove identifiable candidate information, or an AI tool to detect biased language in job postings, start with that. On the other hand, while 61% of job seekers are ultimately comfortable with AI being used for screening interviews, it's risky to pick a chatbot as your first recruiting AI implementation.

2. Be transparent about where and how AI is used

Depending on where you recruit and hire employees, there may already be laws in place that require you to disclose to job applicants that you’re using AI (in some places, such as the U.S. state of Colorado, laws requiring disclosure will go into effect as soon as 2026). If you’re not sure what the law is where you operate, consult your legal counsel.

But even if you aren’t required by law to be transparent about your AI use, it’s still a good idea to do so. In our survey, 47% of job seekers say they are more likely to apply to a job if the job application clearly states when AI is used and what data is collected. Even more (58%) are more likely to apply if the application clearly states that all hiring decisions are made by humans.

Treat your AI disclosure on your careers page or in the job application itself as an opportunity to explain how AI benefits the candidate—whether it’s reducing bias in the hiring process, or simply allowing your recruiting team to fully evaluate applicants more quickly.

3. Give the option to talk to a human at any point

The more you can personalize the recruiting process to each candidate, the better experience they will have. So while some applicants may be fine interacting with an AI chatbot, it’s important to include an exit to talk to a recruiter for those that don’t prefer AI interactions. If given the option to talk to a human at any point in the application process, 60% of job seekers say they are more likely to apply to a job. 

In most chatbot platforms this won’t be a problem, as the option to reach a person is usually included in conversation mapping by default. Still, if you’re shopping for a chatbot, this is a good thing to ask about.

Don’t compromise on experience for the sake of efficiency

Offering a realistic solution to more quickly and effectively find and hire the best job candidates, recruiters have plenty of reasons to be excited about AI. That being said, not all job candidates will share this enthusiasm. To avoid alienating top talent and risking harm to their employer brand, recruiters need to be thoughtful with any recruiting AI implementation to ensure that their candidate experience is still a positive one.

Note: The applications mentioned in this article are examples to show a feature in context and are not intended as endorsements or recommendations.