# How To Optimize Your Recruitment Strategy | Capterra > Learn how trends in recruitment are affecting SMBs and the steps they must take to stay ahead. Source: https://www.capterra.com/resources/active-talent-sourcing-ai-conundrums-three-recruitment-trends-for-smbs --- HR BasicsHuman Resources # Active Talent Sourcing and AI Conundrums: 3 Recruiting Trends for SMBs Written by: Mike Hindley Mike HindleyAuthor Mike Hindley is a writer who specializes in technology, business and marketing. Mike’s work has appeared in several UK publications over the past decade, and... [See bio & all articles](https://www.capterra.com/resources/author/mike-hindley/) and edited by: Kathryn Todd Kathryn ToddEditor Kathryn Todd is a senior editor at Capterra. She specializes in editing data-driven research reports that cover the latest technology trends. She has almost ... [See bio & all articles](https://www.capterra.com/resources/author/kathryn-todd/) Published October 30, 2024 6 min read Table of Contents - [Targeted candidate sourcing is increasingly important](#trend-1-creative-targeted-candidate-sourcing-is-increasingly-important) - [Job seekers expect balance between AI and human interaction](#trend-2-job-seekers-expect-a-delicate-balance-between-ai-and-human-interaction) - [AI-embellished job applications are worryingly widespread](#trend-3-ai-embellished-job-applications-are-worryingly-widespread) - [Stay on top of recruiting trends to attract top talent](#stay-on-top-of-recruiting-trends-to-attract-top-talent) ## Discover how to optimize your recruitment strategy over the next 12 months. Just one employee can make a huge difference to a small business. The smaller the workforce, the greater the effect that one good (or bad) person can have on productivity, morale, and culture. In fact, it’s fair to say that recruiting and retaining the right candidates is more important in SMBs than in larger companies. But, unlike large companies, SMBs often lack dedicated HR teams and relationships with recruitment agencies. This forces them into doing more with less. Plus, the job market never stands still; technology, especially, is rapidly disrupting both hiring and job-seeking, and brands must stay on top of recruitment trends if they want to attract the best talent. In this article, we uncover the three trends that will have the biggest impact on SMB recruiters, talent sourcers, HR professionals, and hiring managers over the next 12 months. We also provide tips to help optimize recruiting strategies in a shifting landscape. **Read on to learn:** - Why SMBs can no longer afford to sit back and hope that the best candidates come to them - How to strike a balance between AI and human contact in the recruitment process - How to handle the rise in AI-enhanced job applications ## Trend #1: Creative, targeted candidate sourcing is increasingly important Gartner's 2024 Recruiting Innovations Bullseye Trends Report makes a clear point: candidates expect employers to come and find them, so employers must be both active and innovative to attract the most promising talent. [\[1\]](#sources) However, more than two-thirds (68%) of HR leaders said that their current sourcing efforts do not identify an adequate supply of critical talent. And two-thirds of HR leaders expect competition for candidates to increase in the short term. Posting job ads online and hoping that good candidates will apply is not going to cut in in the near-term future. Forward thinking brands are looking to several solutions, some backed by cutting-edge technology, to actively source talent from hitherto untapped sources. ### 4 emerging strategies for SMBs to recruit top talent To ensure you continue to recruit top talent, Gartner recommends the following: **1\. Look outside the traditional job-board ecosystem.** Online job aggregator sites have been the mainstay of recruitment for a couple of decades, but their days may be numbered. While these are fully embedded now, they are not predicted to gain in importance, and they may well lose ground to other, more active recruiting solutions listed below.  **2\. Explore how AI can surface new candidates.** Although AI technology is in the experimental phase, forward-thinking SMBs can get ahead of the pack by establishing how AI can help now and in the future. Gartner’s Recruiting Innovation Survey showed that current adoption rates for AI-enabled candidate sourcing are fairly low (ranked 14th of 18 technologies), but HR leaders place it first for future importance. **3\. Tap into talent networks.** Communities based around particular talents or characteristics are thriving—both online and offline. These skill- and diversity-focused talent networks are also vital pools for SMB recruiters, especially considering that 92% of HR leaders are looking at a skills-first approach to talent management, and 77% of recruiting executives plan to increase the resources their organization devotes to diversity recruiting over the next 12 months. **4\. Don’t underestimate the power of returning workers.** Businesses are beginning to see the value of “boomerang employees” —former workers that have left and then rejoined the company. One in ten recruiters say that the last position they filled was with a returning employee, and many firms are investing in alumni management to maintain relationships with former staffers and grow these networks. ## Trend #2: Job seekers expect a delicate balance between AI and human interaction AI is rapidly disrupting the hiring and application process for businesses of all sizes. Businesses have been quick to adopt it but should beware of over-automating their HR functions. Overall, candidates welcome AI in the recruitment process. According to Capterra’s 2024 Job Seeker AI Survey,[\*](#methodology) [65% of job seekers feel positive about employers using AI to source, evaluate, and rank candidates](https://www.capterra.com/resources/how-to-implement-ai-in-recruiting/), but over one-third (35%) feel negatively. This suggests that a large proportion would be skeptical about AI in any case, and businesses must tread very carefully when using it. Illustrating this, the same survey research reveals the limits of AI’s usefulness to the hiring process. Capterra asked respondents about how the use of AI during the application process might influence the likelihood of them applying for an opening. Examples of this include whether a hiring organization clearly states how AI is being used and what data is being collected; whether humans are making decisions or not; and whether candidates have the option of talking to a human during the hiring process. After having seen this, 38% of job seekers said they were likely to turn down a job offer specifically because their interview and application process relied too much on AI. But what exactly is ‘too much’? The same Capterra research shows that certain steps in the hiring process are more conducive to good outcomes with AI than others. For example: - 68% are comfortable when AI is deployed to ensure equal opportunities. - 65% are comfortable with AI administering skills assessments. - 65% are happy for AI to rank or evaluate candidates. For SMBs that are keen to deploy AI in recruitment, these use cases would be a good first step. For one, they are the most likely to align with candidates’ expectations about the use of AI during the hiring process. Plus, they are often included as standard features in modern [recruiting software](https://www.capterra.com/recruiting-software/) and can be turned on or off easily. Another important way to ensure that candidates are comfortable is to communicate openly and clearly about how AI will (and should) be used. This has added additional benefits of preventing fraud by candidates (see below), and may soon be a legal requirement in certain geographies. ## Trend #3: AI-embellished job applications are worryingly widespread It’s not just hiring organizations that can benefit from AI. Most job seekers say they are also using it. Capterra’s 2024 Job Seeker AI Survey[\*](#methodology) found that 58% say they have used AI tools to help with their current job search. Of these, a huge proportion have used AI in ways that may worry recruiters: 83% said they have used AI tools to help embellish or exaggerate their skills on a resume, cover letter, job application, or skills test. This figure should make SMBs stand up and take note. While they think they are hiring a talented person based on their own skills and performance, they may be getting an average worker enhanced by AI. There are degrees of concern here. Using an AI-powered grammar tool to check or refine a cover letter is common in business anyway. But using AI to provide answers during a test or interview amounts to fraud, and could have knock-on effects if a candidate continues to rely on it once hired. Today’s GenAI tools can create very convincing written answers—even computer code—but they often make mistakes. The output may be good enough to get through a stage in the hiring process, but if the candidate doesn’t know how or why the AI did what it did, they won’t be able to spot and fix the mistakes in a ‘live’ workplace scenario. How can SMBs reduce the risk of AI-powered application fraud? - **Be upfront about your expectations:** Some candidates may be genuinely unsure when it is and isn’t appropriate to use AI in your hiring process. By being clear with them at the start, you can ensure that honest applicants, at least, will rely on just their own skills. This approach won’t stop dishonest people, of course, but it will set clear boundaries. - **Prioritize visual interview methods:** Candidates can use AI during phone interviews by feeding in answers and reading back the results. If you insist on in-person or video interviews, you will be able to spot this straight away. - **Fight back with your own tech:** Anti-plagiarism tools, long used in schools and universities, have begun to include features to check for AI-generated content. They are not perfect, and most will give a percentage likelihood of a text having been created using AI, but they will help you identify convincing AI-enhanced applications. - **Double down on references:** If you can’t be sure that a candidate has the skills they claim, you can always check with someone who knows. Asking former managers or colleagues can help you build an accurate picture of an applicant and whether they displayed these skills in real-world settings in the past. ## Stay on top of recruiting trends to attract top talent SMBs are well placed to get ahead of larger firms when it comes to recruitment. They can quickly adopt technology that allows them to find, nurture, and hire great people quickly in a competitive labor market. But one of the major benefits about working for a small business is the people. By relying too much on AI, SMBs may risk sterilizing the application process, and putting off candidates who want more human interaction. Plus, handing off recruitment to AI invites candidates to start leaning on it as well. The last thing you need is to be sifting through hundreds of applications, trying to filter out the AI-generated ones from the real people. As in so many areas of technology, finding the right balance is critical. And by implementing the tips in this article, recruitment and HR professionals at SMBs can ensure that they stay at the leading edge of people management over the coming months. Discover these free resources for more original research and tips on technology-enabled recruitment: - [How To Implement AI in Recruiting Without Repelling Top Talent](https://www.capterra.com/resources/how-to-implement-ai-in-recruiting/) - [Nearly Half of Job Seekers Are Using AI To Cheat—Here’s How Recruiters Can Fight Back](https://www.capterra.com/resources/how-to-stop-job-application-ai-cheating/) - [How To Build a Successful Recruitment Plan](https://www.capterra.com/resources/recruitment-plan/) * * * **Methodology** \*Capterra’s Job Seeker AI Survey was conducted in July 2024 among 2,997 respondents in the Australia (n=250), Brazil (n=250), Canada (n=250), France (n=247), Germany (n=250), India (n=250), Italy (n=250), Japan (n=250), Mexico (n=250), Spain (n=250), the U.K. (n=250), and the U.S. (n=250). The goal of the study was to to understand the factors in AI-driven recruiting processes, and how prevalent AI tool usage is among job seekers. Respondents were screened to be actively looking for a job. Sources 1. [2024 Recruiting Innovations Bullseye Trends Report](https://www.gartner.com/document-reader/document/5128531?ref=solrAll&refval=430651578), Gartner * * * Looking for Recruiting software?Check out Capterra's list of the [best Recruiting software](https://www.capterra.com/recruiting-software/) solutions. ### Was this article helpful? * * * ## About the Authors [### Mike Hindley](https://www.capterra.com/resources/author/mike-hindley/) Mike Hindley is a writer who specializes in technology, business and marketing. Mike’s work has appeared in several UK publications over the past decade, and he is a frequent contributor to Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp. [### Kathryn Todd](https://www.capterra.com/resources/author/kathryn-todd/) Kathryn Todd is a senior editor at Capterra. She specializes in editing data-driven research reports that cover the latest technology trends. She has almost a decade of experience writing and editing content to help small businesses stay ahead of trends and find the best tech solutions for their needs. 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