Recruiters, 6 Things To Leave In 2024

In time-honoured tradition, my final article of 2024 contains things I would love the talent acquisition and recruitment profession to stop doing.

Previously, I wrote the 10 things to leave in 2021, 5 more things to leave in 2022, and it looks like I was particularly irked at the end of 2023 when I wrote 'How is it possible that a profession that suffered so much in 2020 could turn around and create more misery in 2023?'

Adding to all of those, I bring you...

6 (more) things to leave in 2024!

1. Not using your brain

This year ChatGPT et al exploded in use and the blandness escalated. Though an amusing highlight was watching people trashing LinkedIn's AI articles with unedited output to get a yellow Top Voice badge; goodness knows how that will come back to haunt us.

As a recruiter, you are likely on the receiving end of ChatGPT'ed-CV-sameness but don't judge. Recruiters stare at CVs all day and struggle to create their own so it makes sense that regular job seekers use it, as annoying as that is! Also, if they weren't ghosted all the time, they wouldn't feel compelled to use AI to apply, but I digress....

Parking this to one side and ignoring the detrimental impact of LI pods, now we have this AI-generated commenting bull💩 polluting our feeds.

Can you see the problem? 🤦🏻

Who speaks like that? I feel nauseous when I read these comments because they're so inauthentic. And all of these repetitive replies are visible in the Comments section of their LinkedIn profile! Not the impression I would want to make. 😳

Most of my first-level connections have been on the receiving end of a Waalaxy message but automated or not they're my words. They're targeted, relevant, and highly personalised and sound like something I'd say. They're not InMauls. (Right, CC?)

For your reputation (brand) and career, please only use tools when your brain is engaged. Keep its use to mundane tasks, like correcting spelling and grammar, so you sound like yourself, or be more Allyn and train your AI!

2. Believing you're robot-proof

Yep, the author of The Robot-Proof Recruiter thinks you can be replaced by technology.

Just not in the way you think.

Let me be clear: most candidates don't wish to be interviewed by robots. Sure, they want transparency, clear communications, and not to be ghosted, but that doesn't mean they want to hand their careers over to technology and not interact with humans!

However, as companies implement technology that allows them to run lean teams, and when they do not replace a departing TA member or actively downsize the team, recruiters are being replaced by tech.

It is already happening.

Anyone who says otherwise is in denial.

As Korn Ferry discovered though, 'AI has solid potential, but it’s not the one-stop-shop many expected. With the right tools and expertise, AI can supercharge productivity and elevate recruitment. But today’s tech can’t handle high-level TA strategy needs, such as identifying talent gaps or interpreting non-verbal cues.'

'The right tools'!! As I said in the last newsletter, as you assess any tech:

• How will this tool save everyone's time, money and hassle?
• How will this tech improve the hiring manager and candidate experience?
• How will it encourage better hiring manager partnerships? (I argue that tech won't fix a human-connection issue and cite the unattended messages on your phone as evidence!)
• Ask your peers about their experiences - did the tool deliver the results they needed or add more steps and delays to the hiring process?
• How are the algorithms created and how are they mitigating against bias?

...'and expertise!' Engage your brain! Learn. Test them. Trust your intuition: if output seems overblown or dubious, it probably is!

3. Believing AI isn't biased

It depends on the AI, of course, but don't take my word for it. Korn Ferry's research also showed, 'Indeed, 40% of talent specialists we surveyed worry that too much AI in recruitment could make the process impersonal, causing them to miss out on top candidates. Another quarter are concerned about algorithmic bias—where biased training data leads to unfair outcomes. If mismanaged, AI can undermine the hiring process, but when used strategically and appropriately, it can add real value to the experience—for candidates, recruiters, and hiring managers.'

Get curious - for starters, buy and read The Algorithm.

...and be sure to ask ChatGPT to show you a group of CEOs. 😉

Extra brownie points: follow Allyn Bailey's videos explaining AI.

Ok, gird your loins for the final 3 things to leave in 2024!

4. Enough of the people pleasing

I've listed this one before but as it's incredibly detrimental to your mental health...

Job security is currently a joke and though it might seem wise to keep your head down processing requirements and people-pleasing, it is a surefire way to lose your job. Now I get it, who wants to be out looking for a TA job in this market 😳 but people pleasing makes you look like an administrator and worse, it costs the company time and money!

Read this article and calculate the cost of a poor intake and chasing unicorns!!

If your hiring managers won't give you the respect you deserve, buy them Reboot Hiring. It says everything that most TA pros wish they could say to their managers and company leaders. It's blunt, it's in business speak, and they will behave differently after they read it.

And if you want to win your CFO over, you must know your star hires so when they say 'TA is a cost centre' you can tell them the impact your best hires have on the bottom line.

5. Stop ghosting your peers

F*ING STOP IT!

It is bad enough that people think it is acceptable to ghost anyone - especially job seekers - but what kind of a human are you when you ghost your industry colleagues?

I genuinely don't want excuses, just stop leaving fellow recruiters DOWN and DEPRESSED.

But preferably stop leaving anyone DOWN or DEPRESSED because it could be you!

(Yes, yes, candidates ghost you too but it doesn't make you down or depressed!!!!)

6. Quit being ageist

I have never known so many exceptional TA leads to be on the market. They're experiencing pervasive ageism and the stupidity of company leaders cutting the wrong costs but as I cannot do much about that second one...

If you are seriously lucky you will grow old.

And it takes luck.

Only this past week the TA profession lost one of its leading shining lights, Ed Han. 💛✨

If you are lucky enough to grow old, you will discover at around 35 for women and 50 for men, people decide you are no longer of value because you have a few wrinkles. You suddenly no longer fit the "culture".

If you are lucky enough to grow old, you will realise that when you were young you never knew it all, even though you thought you did, and you may even realise that you made decisions from a fear of being found out or shown up.

But if you are lucky enough to grow old, you will know better than to humiliate another because you will have made countless mistakes and gained perspective and compassion.

Indeed, those old people you are not hiring could be exactly who you need.

So before you discard that Gen X, ask yourself why. If it's because they intimidate you, hire a coach, or take a punt and see what happens.

Always hire people better than yourself.

Always hire people you can learn from.

Thank me later.

#RantOver

Thank you to everyone who subscribes to this newsletter & shares each edition. 💛🙏🏻

I publish at 7.30 am UK time every other Wednesday. Subscribe & click the 🔔 on my profile to see future posts, or receive it by email by turning this feature on in your settings.

Recruiters and TA leaders:

• Order Reboot Hiring for your hiring managers and The Robot-Proof Recruiter for yourselves.
• Book a workshop or webinar and let's transform TA into strategic AI-proof hiring partners.
• Invite me to speak at your event or work with me one-on-one.
• Attend Braincamp - for Directors and Heads of People & Talent. Feb 5 in London.

Curious souls:

• Join the waitlist for my memoir, The Damage of Words. Publishing June 1st, 2025
• Subscribe to my mental health & healing newsletter, What If It's Not.

Originally posted at KatrinaCollier.com