It’s no secret that artificial intelligence (AI) is impacting nearly every professional industry, including executive search. There are many ways in which AI can be useful in the recruiting process, but the truth is, recruiting is – first and foremost – a human business. Despite all the promise and benefits of AI, it can never truly replicate the experience of working with a human recruiter. We asked our consultants for their unique perspective on “the human touch” in recruiting. Here’s what they told us:

AI can do a lot, but it can’t…

1. …form genuine emotional connections.

“AI is a great tool,” says Jordan Greer (Associate - Disaster Restoration). “But it can’t build a long-term relationship with a client or candidate. It can’t determine a candidate’s true motivations or five- and ten-year plans. We build those connections.” Getting to know someone beyond the surface and building recruiting partnerships can’t be done with data in a system; it takes human conversations and connections.

For example, Billy Doubraski (Vice President - Heavy Civil) tells us, “I ask about their families, how they entered the industry, and what role they are hoping to achieve moving forward.” It’s those authentic conversations that can lead to deeper insights and help us connect candidates with their dream jobs, and connect companies with employees who will be a long-term cultural and career fit, not just a “perfect on paper” match.

2. …contact unlisted references.

Great recruiters develop relationships both broadly in the market and deeply with candidates and clients. Those relationships have a lot of benefits, including enabling the recruiter to check unlisted references. “We’re able to check references based on all our relationships,” says Mark Sevier (Vice President - Mechanical/Electrical), “not just by calling whoever’s on a reference list."

Named references can be a great source of information on a candidate, but human recruiters will know people in the market who aren’t on a candidate’s reference list but who have interacted with them professionally throughout the years. Those unnamed references can help give a full picture of a candidate’s professional reputation, providing information that no AI system could learn from a resume or website.

3. …adapt and improvise.

Recruiting is a human process, which means it’s often messy, and things don’t always go according to plan. AI may be able to manage certain aspects of the hiring process smoothly, but when it comes to human decisions and needs, “AI cannot adapt and improvise,” says Max Gunther (Associate - General Construction). When new needs arise and quick decisions need to be made, a human recruiter will always be able to outperform AI.

For example, Greer says, “If a client reaches out about a specific need, a lot of times a candidate may instantly come to mind.” Whether or not the candidate in question has a resume prepared or is actively on the market, human recruiters can call on the relationships they’ve built to make quick suggestions and connections that AI would have missed.

4. …understand nuance.

One of AI’s major strengths is how much information it can organize and process quickly. But it lacks the ability to read nuance into information – what’s left unsaid, what can be read between the lines. In human communication, those messages are often at least as important – if not more important – than what someone actually says.

According to Jeremy Carver (Executive Vice President - General Construction), understanding nuance is all about “listening to what someone is truly looking for, what they’re truly saying.” For candidates, this might mean understanding where their motivation is and what kind of working environment they’ll thrive in. For clients, it might mean understanding their real pain points and finding the exact right person to meet their needs, stated or unstated. When AI stays on the surface, human recruiters go deeper to serve their clients and candidates more effectively.

5. …know “the whole story.”

The reality is, AI may know a lot, but it only knows what you feed it. Human recruiters know more about what matters: “Through conversations, we know the whole story,” says Sevier. For candidates, he adds, this includes “family situations, personal details, career goals, desires, etc.” For client companies, it includes power dynamics, interpersonal communication styles, short- and long-term goals, and more.

There are a wide range of uses for AI in our industry, but despite all the flashy headlines and heated debates, the truth is that AI could never replace the human connections that drive successful recruiting. As Gunther puts it, “AI cannot build relationships, form genuine emotional connections, or be a career advocate. That’s what we specialize in.”