As I met with one company’s TA leadership, it was clear that one of them was skeptical of my recommendation. The fact that again this year most candidates believed AI screening tools screened them out within minutes or hours of their application submission, which in turn fueled the belief that a human never actually reviewed their applications. And that is one of the top three things driving candidate resentment. Meaning, candidates who choose to never engage a business or a brand again based on a negative candidate experience.
My recommendation, whether a company is utilizing AI screening tools or not, was to consistently remind their candidates on their careers sites and in their candidate communications that humans are making the final hiring decisions. Not AI.
After my recommendation, one that I gave a lot last year in our 2025 CandE Benchmark final reporting to participating employers, one of the TA leaders asked me if it would ultimately make a difference.
I paused, and then said, “No, probably not much in the near term.”
The leader told me it was refreshing to hear me say that. But, I emphasized that I still recommend employers take the time to communicate the human-in-the-loop mantra. Transparency has always been a key differentiating factor in our CandE Benchmark Research year after year, and in this current “I don’t know if I’m coming or going” economic market for salaried professionals and management, consistent, timely, and truthful communication and feedback loops are critical.
It’s true that no matter what employers do or say in today’s market, it will all still be held against them and their brands when the job candidates don’t get the job offers. How much so depends on their overall experiences.
The table below shows candidate resentment rates of all job types from this year after they’ve been dispositioned by stage and if they’re still waiting on the next step. The difference is significant. It’s also clear that if a candidate is “still in the running”, their outlook is more positive as they anticipate the next step will hopefully go in their favor. However, our data does show that resentment increases when that wait is extended from weeks to months.
| 2026 Recruiting Stage | Candidate Resentment Rate |
| Dispositioned after application | 30% |
| Still waiting for next step after application | 6% |
| Dispositioned after screening | 25% |
| Still waiting for next step after screening | 10% |
| Dispositioned after interview | 29% |
| Still waiting for next step after interview | 11% |
Waiting or not, the good news is that there are still positive themes even for mostly dispositioned candidates. For example, this year again a key positive theme is that across almost every organization analyzed (so far), candidates highlight recruiters as the vital “human” face of the company’s culture:
- Candidate Updates: Those who are providing regular, transparent, and proactive updates—even during periods with no active progress to report. This, of course, minimizes stress and makes candidates feel highly valued and respected.
- Interview Prep: Some recruiters go the extra mile, such as calling candidates the night before an interview to ensure they feel prepared or offering structured prep resources like coaching various interview methods.
- Personal Phone Calls: And candidates deeply appreciate it when recruiters deliver rejections via a personal phone call rather than a cold, automated email, leaving a lasting positive impression.
No matter how cynical candidates may get in today’s market, we’ll always recommend employers and TA teams take the time to clearly communicate with their candidates, provide feedback to their candidates, and manifest the human-in-the-loop mantra. Even if that cynicism spreads to them believing that it won’t make a difference in the end.
Because we’d argue it does. Humans always make the difference as noted in 15 years of CandE Benchmark Research.
