Outside In Podcast: When Every Resume Is AI-Perfect, How Do You Find Real?

Ep. 50: When Every Resume Is AI-Perfect, How Do You Find Real?

AI can now tailor a resume to any job description in seconds, polish a writing sample to a shine, and make almost anyone look like the perfect candidate on paper. So how do you find the people who are actually right for the job? In this episode, Sydney Ayers, VP of Recruiting at IST, sits down with host Brad Burgess to explain why the answer hasn’t changed, even as the technology has: you pick up the phone and have a real conversation. Sydney shares how her team spots AI-generated applications, why skills can be taught but the drive to serve can’t, and how IST keeps AI where it belongs, at the top of the funnel, while human judgment makes every decision that counts. She digs into what she looks for beyond employment history, how she coaches site managers to recognize the right fit, and why empathy matters as much for the candidate on the other end of a brutal job market as it does for the client. It’s a candid look at hiring in a moment when technology can fake almost everything except the one thing that matters most: whether someone genuinely wants to help.

  • Episode Highlights

    Connect with: Sydney Ayers| LinkedIn 


    Learn More about:  IST Careers Page| AI, Soft Skills, and the Future of Training| Beyond Resumes: Connecting Candidates to Careers 


    Key Takeaways

    • Skills can be taught, but the drive to serve can’t. You can train someone on corporate settings or print equipment, but you can’t train the desire to go the extra mile. That’s what IST screens for first. 
    • The resume is only the starting point. Sydney looks past employment history to things like volunteer work and the programs someone chose to join, signals of what a person actually cares about. 
    • The real evaluation is a conversation. Automation and screening tools go only so far. To know if someone genuinely fits, you pick up the phone and go straight to the source. 
    • AI-tailored resumes are the new challenge. AI can match an application to any job description in seconds, which makes specialized roles harder to screen. A single field-specific question usually reveals in seconds whether someone has the real experience. 
    • AI in applications isn’t always appropriate. A candidate has to prove they can do the work themselves before AI becomes a tool they’re trusted to use well. For writing-heavy roles, that means seeing genuine, unassisted work first. 
    • Keep AI at the top of the funnel. Technology is excellent for reaching and organizing candidates at scale, but IST uses no AI to decide who advances. Every real decision stays human. 
    • Hiring managers are partners, not bystanders. Sydney’s team equips site and ops managers with the tools, training, and up-to-date employment-law guidance to recognize the right person and run the process themselves. 
    • Empathy runs both directions. In a tough job market, candidates deserve customer service too. The further someone gets in the process, the more personal the communication should be, because it’s a routine day for the recruiter and a pivotal one for the applicant. 
    • Passion is hired and cultivated. Finding motivated people matters, but so does a culture locked into service, growth, and giving back that lets that motivation thrive. 
    • Finding talent takes creativity. When the usual tools fall short, Sydney zooms out, literally mapping local businesses or seeking out niche online communities to reach people other searches miss.

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