The Lost Art of Human-First Recruiting
Everyone’s trying to automate recruiting these days. AI tools promise to scan resumes faster, chatbots claim to screen candidates better, and automation swears it’ll scale your hiring process to infinity. But here’s the thing: the best recruiters I know aren’t replacing phones with algorithms. They’re doing the opposite.
Think about the last time you changed jobs. Was it because a bot sent you a perfectly crafted InMail? Or was it because someone took the time to understand what really mattered to you?
The reality is that great recruiting isn’t about speed - it’s about depth. Yes, you need processes that scale. Yes, you need systems that work. But these should support human connection, not replace it.
I learned this lesson the hard way. When we first started scaling our team, we aimed for aggressive growth - 50 to 100 employees in just four months. We had all the right tools, all the right processes. But something was missing. The quality wasn’t there. The fits weren’t quite right.
So we slowed down. We started requiring phone conversations before any candidate submission. We implemented a simple rule: 75 calls a day for new recruiters. Not emails. Not LinkedIn messages. Actual conversations.
Here’s what happens when you talk to people: You learn things no profile can tell you. You understand the “why” behind their career moves. You pick up on subtle cues about what really motivates them. It’s like the difference between reading about a city and actually living there.
But this isn’t just about phone calls. It’s about approaching recruiting like a relationship rather than a transaction. Just as people have different love languages, candidates have different communication preferences. Some want detailed emails. Others need regular check-ins. The key isn’t following a rigid system - it’s adapting to what each person needs.
The irony is that this slower, more human approach actually scales better in the long run. When you build real relationships, you create networks that last. When you truly understand your industry, you make better matches faster. When you take time to learn everything about your company and its needs, you waste less time on misaligned candidates.
You can’t automate trust. You can’t scale relationships with software alone. The best recruiting happens when technology amplifies human connection rather than replacing it.
So before you invest in that next recruiting tool or automation platform, ask yourself: Am I trying to replace human interaction, or enable it? Because in the end, people still hire people. And they always will.