MUMBAI: In an era where reliance on AI tools is growing, companies face a new hiring hurdle: AI-generated resumes. Firms struggle to select candidates from a flood of similar CVs, making soft skills more crucial than ever, according to Nicholas Kirk, CEO of recruitment firm Michael Page.
The Changing Role of Resumes
The London-based company, operating in India for over a decade, notes that recruiters now conduct more interviews because corporations mandate looking beyond CVs when shortlisting candidates. "Earlier CVs used to be unique but technology has changed that. Resumes are no longer a selling point. And that's where the importance of going really deep into a person's experience, behaviour and values. That's where soft skills come in and is more important than ever," Kirk said in an interview.
Soft Skills Matter
Kirk emphasized the increased effort required: "We might have interviewed 300 candidates to get the short-list of three. That's the hard work that goes into what we do."
Global Job Market Slowdown
The global job market has slowed due to geopolitical conflicts, with hiring processes taking longer. However, there hasn't been a mass hiring freeze or total market collapse like during the dot-com bubble burst or the 2008 financial crisis, Kirk noted. Many companies use AI as a justification for job cuts, as they need to show returns on AI investments. "Do I think there have been layoffs as a result of AI…sure they have. I just think there's plenty of others that have nothing to do with AI but business performance. Organisations are having to be more cost efficient because their businesses haven't been performing the way they should and in many cases, it is quite easy to point a finger and say it is an AI transformation," Kirk said.
Impact on India
In India, the conflict's impact is more pronounced in sectors like manufacturing. "There we have not only seen a slowdown in the hiring process but also jobs being put on hold till we see clarity because some of the jobs are senior in nature," said Nilay Khandelwal, senior MD, India and Singapore at Michael Page.
