What a strange year to be a writer - let alone a writer in the world of recruiting. I know I’m not the only one that made some strong predictions last year that did not come true. In fairness, there was also a big, heavy “what-if” weight of uncertainty going into this year from a political perspective.
With just 1 month left of 2025, I think we can all agree reality has been much worse than some folks expected. From the attempts to dismantle and discredit DEI to mass layoffs of federal workers and $100,000 H1B visas, the world of work is most certainly different today than it was on January 1, 2025. Better? Unless you’re a billionaire, probably not.
In all that chaos were constant headlines about the “AI transformation of recruiting.” Every HR technology vendor is boasting about AI agents, candidate matching, and “full life-cycle platforms.” The reality? A lot of new noise and signals no one knows what to do with, like AI generated resumes that make every candidate look the same and a wave of unqualified, sometimes fraudulent, candidates.
Why Didn’t AI Transform Everything in 2025?
That’s at least one of the reasons why we aren’t achieving all those AI aspirations. Recruiters are distracted. All those extra resumes don’t make life easier and force teams to be reactionary instead of experimental. The problem? AI isn’t a one problem, one answer solution like all the tools we bought in 2010 to patch together a decent candidate experience. With AI, the real opportunity is in improving the entire experience.
But most teams haven’t actually taken the time to streamline their processes or create standard operating procedures that could be automated. We’re trying to speed up broken processes instead of rethinking them and it’s working like speed does in physics. If you spin something hard enough, the broken pieces will come loose.
The biggest missing piece of all for AI adoption in recruiting? Their data set. AI can not operate correctly without data. The current state of data in talent departments is… messy. At best, most companies have large but poorly organized data with very little insight into what numbers are actually predictive of success. At worst, there’s no data at all which doesn’t help the lawyers get on board. So where do you even start? What processes and tools should be top of mind for recruiting teams going into 2026?
Where Recruiters Should Focus Energy in 2026
I don’t know for sure. No one really does. Anyone who’s making a prediction with any level of certainty is probably trying to sell you something. Look away from the sponsored trends, y’all!
If I were leading a recruiting team and thinking about 2026, here’s where I might start.
- Define what good means. Map your processes and collect baseline data. You will never know how to fix something or measure the impact of your improvement if there is no starting measurement. Start by creating clear definitions and audits that explain to anyone looking at the document, “this is what good means.”
- Build for scale. One of the reasons that old processes won’t work with AI is that the old process wasn’t built for volume. I recently worked with a client that used to get 300 applications per job. They got 3,000 for one role a month ago. No surprise to anyone here, but a system built for 300 is rarely going to function well for 3,000. You have to build for volume before you get bombarded.
- Improve the experience. Too many people are trying to use AI for decision points in the candidate experience i.e. screening or knocking people out of the application. This is a big mistake that opens a lot of doors for class action discrimination cases later. Ask Workday. Focus on improving the experience instead - things like a bot that can give an application status update or automated messages to offer more regular updates so people don’t feel like they’re getting ghosted.
- Learn how to navigate uncertainty with confidence. The only guarantee I can make for 2026? More uncertainty ahead. We just don’t know what’s coming. Use training dollars to give your recruiters confidence in uncertain situations. I call that a Bounce Back Factor and that helps people navigate change in real time. Yes, that's the name of my book. Yes, I offer that training. Yes, I have more information here.
Required Reading Before 2026: My Most Popular Posts of The Year For Recruiters and Job Seekers
Almost every week in 2025, I wrote about the trends and topics changing recruiting with free recommendations that I hoped could help all of us do better. Of all those posts, these were the most popular of this year and are required reading for recruiters going into 2026. Because I say so.
While you’re scrolling this week (especially in the US), use the time to catch up and forward these blogs to your team to start researching the projects they want to work on in 2026.
For Recruiters
- 10 People Every Recruiter Should Follow On LinkedIn
- Improve Remote Employee Engagement
- Why Sharing Gender Pronouns At Work Matters: A Quick Guide
- Candidate Communication Emails You Can’t Automate
- Hiring Manager Intake Template
- Merit Based Hiring: Executive Order Explained
- Could AI Kill The Resume?
For Job Seekers
- Job Search Success Kit
- What Happens To Your Resume After You Click “Apply”?
- The “We’re Like A Family” Red Flag
For Everyone
