As the world embraces AI’s efficiency, it's no surprise that automation is transforming recruitment. In fact, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, 48% of UK recruitment agencies have already adopted some form of AI technology.
Whether you’re hiring or exploring your next career move, it takes time and care. It can be a manual and time-consuming process for employers and candidates. Whilst AI can save time, it can’t replace one crucial thing: human insight.
As an IT recruitment agency, our advice remains the most valuable part of what we do. We help employers and candidates navigate the hiring journey, ensuring it’s a thoughtful but efficient process that connects people to the right opportunities.
There’s no denying that AI and automation can be powerful tools. They can streamline processes and free up time for job seekers, hiring managers, and recruitment agencies like us. But it’s how we use them that makes the difference.
Let’s explore this delicate balancing act and reveal how AI can help our humanity ultimately shine through.
The IT Jobs Market
Crimson’s 2025 Salary Survey reported that post-COVID organisations are taking a more measured approach to hiring, focusing on aligning recruitment with strategic priorities. Although some IT roles remain in demand, growth in the IT jobs market has stabilised, leaving many exceptional candidates still looking for a new role. Today, a recruiter needs to advise organisations on how to hire strategically and provide valuable feedback to candidates.
Louise Clarke, Director of Recruitment Services at Crimson, commented:
"We recognise that candidates are exhausted by automated responses, generic messaging, and radio silence. They’re looking for real conversations, honest feedback, and to be treated as more than a résumé. In our bi-monthly CIO Workshops for IT leaders, we consistently hear frustrations about submitting applications, never hearing back, or receiving only automated responses."
This is where working with a skilled recruiter can make a world of difference. Someone who takes the time to understand your goals, provides honest feedback, and supports you every step of the way. If you're navigating the job market, speak with your peers and consider partnering with a trusted, specialist IT recruiter.”
Understanding AI Applications
Talent hiring teams are often swamped with countless CVs, applications, and active job advertisements, with many in dire need of a “silver bullet” that will streamline their ability to connect individuals with the right roles.
It’s therefore no surprise that 70% of large-scale businesses use applicant tracking systems (ATSs) in their hiring processes, and today 79% of organisations have integrated AI or automation directly into their ATS.
In our view, AI applications should streamline processes without sacrificing the interpersonal value that a human recruiter provides. This still leaves employers with a range of possible ATS-compatible AI use cases, including:
· Processing high volumes of applications
· Summarising candidate strengths and weaknesses
· Minimising human biases from the selection process
· Enabling communication with applicants at scale (not just ghosting!)
· Comparing applications to job specifications
Candidates today expect a smooth, transparent application process. Crimson supports employers by managing applications efficiently while strengthening their employer brand and delivering a standout candidate experience. We use automation and AI to streamline the recruitment journey, increase communication touchpoints, and give our recruiters more time to focus on what truly matters: building relationships.
What Do Candidates Think of AI in Recruitment?
Despite limited research to the contrary, perceptions of AI in recruitment have been largely negative.
Candidates worry that their applications simply won’t be read by people - that their CV will just go around on an automated, optimisation-detecting conveyor belt until the computer picks a “winner” who was best able to optimise for relevant themes and keywords.
Others—for example, neurodiverse or disabled individuals, those with non-standard employment histories, or people who live with unique circumstances, may fear automated barriers to employment introduced by overly rigid AI filtering. And there’s the fact that, without careful input, AI can actually perpetuate and worsen hiring biases rather than eradicating them.
It all feels a bit opaque; candidates feel judged by systems they don't know, don’t understand, and can't appeal to.
Generative AI: Friend or Foe for Candidates?
Candidates are increasingly using generative AI tools to create their CVs. In fact, 36% of British jobseekers said they’d use generative AI to create their CV and cover letter, and an alarming 24% said they wouldn’t correct any of the AI’s mistakes.
Experienced recruiters are quickly learning how to spot totally AI-generated applications. Crimson’s experts concede that GenAI tools are a great way to start getting your story down on virtual paper, as long as you can adapt and refine that content into something that communicates your story in your own words.
Human Interviewers are the Best Interviewers
Interviewing applicants requires a great deal of interpersonal skill. Great interviewers are highly emotionally intelligent, with strong observational talent and well-honed hiring intuition - all skills that a computer cannot simply replace. If you want to hone your interview skills, we recommend reading our blog about best practice interview techniques.
“AI interviewers” on the other hand, solely rely on algorithmically prioritised data sets that judge answers, vocal tone, body language, and other behaviour with little scope for flexibility; and generally provide a hugely negative candidate experience if used in isolation.
Great Recruiters Bring Empathy and Nuance
Good recruiters are compassionate. After all, finding the right candidate can be an incredibly nuanced affair.
Compassionate recruiters empathetically understand career gaps, reduced hours, role changes, unusual career paths, and other circumstances in which life’s rich tapestry affects a candidate’s career trajectory.
The personal growth and learned life skills that grow out of adversity can sometimes put a candidate ahead of the rest in the eyes of a human recruiter. Yet candidate screening algorithms might take a dimmer view of career gaps or adjustments. After all, AI tools generally aim for “samey” outcomes which fit the mould dictated by their data sets and instructions.
Personal stories matter, as do the motivations behind them. The impact these circumstances had on each candidate also matters.
Relationships are at the Heart of Recruitment
Recruiters are essentially professional relationship builders. They forge trust and fellowship with hiring managers and with the candidates under their care. They become the knowledgeable “go-to” person when a hiring manager or candidate needs help in their search.
The job market is competitive, and relationships matter more than ever in times like these. At Crimson, our recruiters pride themselves on spotting potential from a CV, but we know that’s just the starting point. We believe in meaningful conversations that reveal the bigger picture, skills, motivations, and long-term goals. This kind of relationship is not possible with a computer!
Culture is for People, Not Computers
A good cultural match can make or break someone’s experience in a new role. Even the most qualified candidate can struggle if the company culture doesn’t align with their values.
Automated candidate communications commonly offer no insight into company culture, and such impersonal experiences might even turn away the best talent. We work closely with hiring managers to understand their team dynamics, values, and working style so that we can communicate that to candidates. We work just as closely with candidates to understand what kind of environment they’ll thrive in and their goals for the future. AI can’t gauge cultural fit, but we can.
AI and Bias: A Delicate Balance
When handled with care, AI technologies can help reduce bias in the hiring process, both unconscious and otherwise. For example, our experts recommend using a well-trained AI tool to help write inclusive job advertisements, neutralise gender-specific language, and make suggestions to improve gender, cultural, and ability-based inclusivity.
However, problems can arise when AI is overused in applications that assess and qualify/disqualify candidates. Without due care, attention, and careful de-biasing of relevant data sets, AI tools can enhance the risk of bias.
Using AI in the Right Way
AI is a powerful collaborator. It can process vast amounts of data, automate repetitive tasks, and free up time for relationship building. Crimson’s digital transformation team recommends you build your AI strategy and trial any user cases for automation and AI before adoption.
Successful recruiters will be those who use AI to enhance the capabilities of their human team. For example, using AI to manage data at scale, set up helpful chatbots and automated reminders, analyse fine details, and carry out pre-interview candidate screening.
At Crimson, we believe in building relationships, understanding people, and making meaningful connections. Because hiring is, and always will be, about people.
Whether you’re looking for work or looking for people, Crimson is here to help. Our IT recruitment experts combine tech-savvy processes with deep human insight to pair skilled and ambitious IT candidates with diverse, forward-thinking employers.
