How HR is Adapting: AI Security, Soft Skills & Changing Titles.

Bonus: The Secret Sauce of High-Response Tech Outreach

Jun 17, 2025

Welcome back to HRCircle — your weekly pulse-check on what’s really moving the HR world.

This week: HR leaders are tightening AI security protocols, Dell’s RTO mandate is stirring up office politics, and soft skills are climbing the priority list in hiring. Plus: we’re exploring how recruiters are using GenAI for interview prep and why the CHRO title may be losing relevance in 2025.

Let’s get into it 👇

🗞️ This week in HR

📑 How HR teams can boost AI security - Read More
🤖 Dell's RTO push sparks office politics, amid inconsistent enforcement - Read More
🏃🏻‍♂️ 3 in 5 employers say soft skills are more important than ever - Read More
📉 How rectruiters are using GenAI to enhance interview prep - Read More
🔍 What’s in a title? The rise and fall of Chief Human Resources Officer - Read More

🛠️ Trending Tools

eqtble - Bring your data from traditional HR sources, Finance, Sales, and more together for one-stop-shop analytics. Take advantage of seamless collaboration to make better, data-driven people decisions.
Polymer - It is a hiring platform that provides an affordable way for growing companies to get a handle on their hiring process—a seamless set of features to create custom job posts and application forms, manage incoming candidates, and document the entire journey.
Recruitee - IT is Software as a service that functions as a Talent Acquisition Platform, formerly known as an applicant tracking system.
FactorialHR - Elevate your Human Resources with Factorial's HR automation tools, freeing you to focus on people, not paperwork.
Freshteam - Manage your hiring, onboarding, time-off, employee data, and HR workflows in one place.

💡 HR Spotlight

Evolving employee expectations: What are workers willing to compromise on? 👉🏻 (Link)
Why Fair Chance Hiring Is Good for Business During Economic Uncertainty 👉🏻 (Link)
AI for HR :Winning strategies to end point solution fatigue and engage employees 👉🏻 (Link)

🤿 Deep Dive

Your ATS Is Ghosting Great Candidates—Here’s How to Fix It

I’ll be honest: I used to think our ATS was doing just fine.

We had our job posts, applications rolled in, and the system would sift through resumes like magic. The shortlist came out clean. Neat. Efficient.

Until one day, a friend of mine applied for a role we had open. She was exactly what we were looking for—startup background, scrappy as hell, great track record. She messaged me three weeks later: “Hey, just wondering if you got my application?”

I searched our ATS.

Nothing.

She never made it past the first filter.

That’s when it hit me: our ATS wasn’t screening in great candidates—it was screening them out. Quietly. Automatically. And we had no idea.

⸻

🔍 What’s Actually Going Wrong?

Most ATS platforms rely heavily on automation. But when your filters are too rigid—or just outdated—you’re not just saving time. You’re missing people. Like:

• Career switchers with non-linear resumes

• Candidates from unconventional backgrounds

• People who don’t keyword stuff their resumes like a pro

If your filters are looking for “3+ years in SaaS sales” and someone with 2.5 years and killer numbers applies, guess what? Rejected. No questions asked.

⸻

🛠️ How to Fix It Without Burning Down Your Workflow

Here’s a step-by-step playbook we’ve been using (after a few painful lessons):

1. Audit your filters quarterly

Yes, actually open your ATS settings. Look at the must-haves, keywords, auto-reject rules, etc. Ask:

• Are these still relevant?

• Are we over-prioritizing pedigree over performance?

• Would our current top hires pass through these filters?

2. Stop relying on keyword matching alone

AI and keyword scanners are helpful for volume, but not nuance. Update your job descriptions to include how success is measured, not just a laundry list of tech/tools. Then adjust your filters to focus more on intent, outcomes, and capabilities—less on buzzwords.

3. Create an “Edge Case Review” system

Set aside time (even just 30–45 minutes a week) for your recruiters to manually scan resumes that barely missed the cutoff. We label this the “gray zone” pile—where gold often lives.

4. Use inclusive language and remove nonessential filters

Things like requiring a college degree, specific titles, or exact industry experience can unintentionally gatekeep good people. If they’re not really required for success, drop them.

5. Tag and track near-misses

Build a “Not now, but strong” pipeline. If someone’s a good fit but not for this role, tag them in your ATS and revisit monthly. You’ll be shocked how many good fits reappear for future roles.

6. Benchmark your drop-off rates

Where are most people getting filtered out? If 80% of applicants don’t make it past the first step, it’s not just a quality issue—it’s likely a filtering issue. Dig into the data.

7. Train your team to read between the lines

Sometimes the best candidates aren’t the ones with the prettiest resumes. Train your recruiters to spot transferable skills, side projects, grit, and coachability—even when the resume isn’t traditional