Abundance is a Problem
Great hiring is, and always will be, a people business.
Recruiting in 2025 will be defined by abundance, but not the good kind. Think of it as having too many tabs open in your browser — all vying for your attention, all important, but ultimately overwhelming. We’re not just dealing with more applicants; we’re drowning in them. Every job post, whether for a data scientist or a dog walker, attracts a tsunami of resumes. Technology has made applying to jobs frictionless, which is great for candidates but a logistical nightmare for recruiters. The question isn’t whether there’s talent — it’s whether we can efficiently identify it amidst the noise.
Here’s the hard truth: more applicants don’t mean better hires. More often than not, they mean paralysis by analysis. Talent acquisition professionals must become curators of talent, not just processors of paperwork. And the solution isn’t a bigger sieve — it’s a smarter one.
AI and Automation: The Double-Edged Sword
Let’s address the elephant in the applicant tracking system: AI. The tech is here, and it’s not going anywhere. But let’s not pretend it’s a silver bullet. AI is a tool, not a strategy. It can sift through thousands of resumes in seconds, flagging keywords and ranking candidates. It’s fast, efficient, and brutally transactional. But it doesn’t know your culture, your values, or the intangibles that make someone not just a fit but a star. AI won’t tell you that the applicant with the typo on their resume is a creative genius waiting to be unleashed. That’s still your job.
The trick is to use AI as the front-line filter but not the final word. Lean into automation for the grunt work — resume parsing, scheduling, and preliminary screening — but reserve the judgment calls for humans. Machines can find needles in haystacks, but only people can recognize gold.
Redefining Metrics
Here’s a radical idea: Stop obsessing over efficiency. The race to close requisitions faster and cheaper has turned hiring into a conveyor belt. It’s time to redefine what success looks like. Instead of measuring time-to-hire, measure time-to-thrive. How quickly does a new hire make an impact? Instead of cost-per-hire, track value-per-hire. What’s the long-term ROI of your decision? Efficiency without effectiveness is just speed in the wrong direction.
Back to Basics: Relationships
Amid all the noise, the basics still matter. Relationships are your competitive advantage. In 2025, recruiters who prioritize genuine connections will win. This means fewer blanket LinkedIn messages and more tailored outreach. It means treating applicants like partners, not just profiles. Abundance can breed apathy, but empathy cuts through the clutter.
Final Thought
The future of recruiting isn’t about managing abundance; it’s about mastering discernment. Abundance will tempt us to take shortcuts, but the best recruiters will resist. They’ll embrace the paradox of technology and humanity, blending data with intuition, efficiency with empathy. The tools will change, the trends will evolve, but one thing will remain: Great hiring is, and always will be, a people business.
Brian Fink is the author of Talk Tech To Me. He takes on the stress and strain of complex technology concepts and simplifies them for the modern recruiter. Fink’s impassioned wit and humor tackle the highs and lows of technical recruiting with a unique perspective — a perspective intended to help you find, engage, and partner with professionals.
