Interview by Jonathan Kersting
Is AI making hiring faster, or simply making it harder to know who is real?
Jen Frazier of Pittsburgh-Based Prequel Solutions joins Jonathan Kersting on TechVibe to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping resumes, interviews and candidate assessments. While AI can streamline parts of the process, it can also inflate qualifications, help candidates generate interview responses in real time and cause strong applicants to be overlooked by automated screening tools. The result is a hiring landscape where human judgment, verification and a well-designed process matter more than ever.
Listeners will learn three key takeaways:
The Pittsburgh Technology Council produces TechVibe to explore Pittsburgh's technology and innovation ecosystem.
Transcript:
[00:00:00] And most people think, " Oh, this is great. It's gonna speed up our hiring process." Yep. And that's really not the case. It, it, really what it does is adds more risks into the hiring process, right?
But hiring and bringing on people to your company, there's always an element of judgment, right? Yes. So you can't remove that human judgment call.
It's Jonathan Kersting here with the Pittsburgh Technology Council, bringing you "Tech Vibe." I talk to the best people in Pittsburgh, the smartest people in Pittsburgh, and today, I don't know, I'm very excited about our conversation today 'cause we're gonna be looking around AI and hiring. I mean, of course, AI is involved with everything.
You can't escape it. It's, it's just the way things roll. But I have Jen Frazier here from Prequel Solutions, and she wrote this really cool article for "TEQ Magazine" that I thought was just so helpful for people out there who are hiring and it's a very tough market when you're trying to hire people and you just see all these resumes coming in.
You're trying to qualify people. You don't know who's real and who's not. [00:01:00] And today, we had this conversation that really is gonna talk about some of the mistakes that happen around this, really how AI is weakening these signals that we would normally get through the normal hiring process 'cause things are changing so much, looking at ways you can really assess talent out there.
Gene, you put together a lot of things for us. I'm excited to dive into it today. So thanks for hanging out with me today. Yeah. Awesome. This could be- Looking forward to it ... a ton of fun. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Before we jump into it, first off, Prequel Solutions. You guys do s- a great job out there. I look at, what our ecosystem needs in its talent, and you help companies find that talent.
Give them your little pitch for what Prequel does a- and how you've been doing this for a while. Yeah. I you are an expert- Yes ... in this, without a doubt. So- Yeah. So Prequel Solutions has been in business for over 20 years. The beginning of 2024, we bought out the rest of the equity, of the prior owners- Yeah
and really transitioned the company into a workforce solutions firm, right? So we wanted to elevate the experience. Our core focus is still recruiting and staffing and that looks like, from a [00:02:00] contract or project-type based hiring contract-to-hire, direct hire. But we've also added to our services, which is compensation benchmarking.
And we also have a, a small vertical focused on managed services as well. Very cool. So really, really trying to elevate out of just focusing on, the traditional recruiting and staffing, really elevate the experience verify, make sure that we validate candidates, and we have a whole process that we have built out.
So it's been pretty cool, and I'm excited. Yeah. First off, it's a type of service where companies just need this. It's as simple as that. I just feel like you play this role within a company that is absolutely vital. It's the people. That's what makes a company run, and getting the right people with the right skills at the right time is something that we cannot take for granted, and that's why I'm always like, "You gotta bring the pros on for this."
Especially with many of our companies I see at the Tech Council, I mean, they have an HR [00:03:00] department kind of, it's like people all chip in. Yeah. And so being able to bring in that dedicated resource to make sure you get the right, the right talent to grow is just so important. And the way you've able to bring all these different services into play really accentuates everything, so it kind of becomes turnkey, I think, in some ways.
And you have to build a reputation, right? 100%, yes. I think I mean, whatever relationship you have, whether it's in business or friends, like you have to be a good person. You have to have a good company. You have to provide a quality service, right?
Yeah. 100%. And that makes a difference All day long Simple as that. People, so important. This is why you put this article together for me. When I read this, I was like, "Jen, you gotta come into the Huntington Bank Studios and talk about this," 'cause I think when we have conversations around some of these articles, it brings it to life in so many more ways.
, And of course I have a link to the article in this podcast as well too just so people wanna go and actually read it and kind of pick up the notes on it. I think is, is really important. It's a great kind of like an accompanying piece- Yep ... to our conversation- Yeah ... that we're gonna have here today.
But, but the big thing for me was that I kept thinking that "Oh, of [00:04:00] course AI makes everything so much easier." But you're saying it doesn't really make it easier at first, that it actually, it's really diluted these traditional signals that we would get, that we would actually be able to qualify a candidate 'cause we knew AI wasn't helping them take a test.
It wasn't helping them polish their resume to say things that maybe it shouldn't be saying. Right. And so walk me through the, the, the genesis of this article 'cause obviously this is what you're seeing in your work every day, 'cause this is what you do 24/7. It, it is, yes. And so you, you see it every day.
Yeah. It's, it's really interesting because it's fascinating. I mean, you and I talked about we're old enough now to have been before technology was really a, a thing, right? Yeah. I mean, we talked about Google Maps before GPS, and so it's, it's very interesting to watch technology, how it has evolved, right?
Yes. And AI, right, has come about, what, in the past four or five years. It's really ramped up in the past couple of years. Yeah. And most people think, "Oh, this is great. It's gonna speed up our hiring process." Yep. And that's really not the [00:05:00] case. It, it, really what it does is adds more risks into the hiring process, right?
And that's what, really got my attention was the idea that it's adding these risks, which is why I'm so glad we're talking about that because I think- Yeah ... like I'm like the typical person where it's like, "I gotta hire some people. Yeah, I can sort the resumes faster. This, this is great." Yeah.
And be- and realizing that someone has things in their resume that m- maybe are kinda true but maybe screwy in the end because when you bring that person on, they don't have that skill that, at the level that they think they do. Yeah, 100%. Yeah. I mean, everybody's using AI for a resume, right?
Exactly. I mean, it's easy. You, use AI, it'll draft a resume for you. And that's great. Especially like you can have AI draft that resume based upon that job description. Right. You feed that in and say, "Hey, make this match." Right. Boom. You have it. Right. And it- And you're like, "Yeah, I'm ready to go."
Right. It speeds up on the candidate side. "Hey, I could create a resume now in two seconds"- Exactly, yeah ... versus maybe hiring somebody or like spending hours doing your own resume. Absolutely. Right? But, but the rule of thumb is don't put something in your resume that you obviously- No ... don't have [00:06:00] experience with, right?
Look at the job description and incorporate it. Right. If you actually have done it, put it in your resume, but- But don't put things- Yeah ... in your resume that you don't have experience with, right? But then on the employer side then, when you're... a lot of folks are using AI in order to sort through resumes and things like that.
That's where it c- things can go very wrong as well, too, when you're using AI as the person that's hiring. So dig into that with me a little bit. There's all these tools out there where you could like scan resumes. People apply to a job position, and you have an AI or, or some type of bot that's scanning for resumes, right?
That's the first piece, right? And good candidates could get overlooked,? So there's, there's that area. But hiring and bringing on people to your company, there's always an element of judgment, right? Yes. So you can't remove that human judgment call. I like you said that you can't remove the human judgment call, Mac.
That's so true. Right. Yes. I would say AI has, has sped up the interview process to a certain extent, but then on the [00:07:00] flip side of it is really slowed down the hiring process because- Hmm ... maybe resumes are overinflated they get into, a candidate gets into an interview, and, you could use AI to support your interviewing
I mean- I never thought about that. So if you're doing like a remote interview, you could easily have AI listening and then Oh, yeah. That's- ... suggesting responses to answers That's right. That's a, that's- Oh my goodness ... they, they have a prompt. Yes. And, it listens, and it'll tell candidates, "Hey, the interviewer asked this question- Yeah
and this is how you should respond." So there's that element that comes in? So really the shift has become, looking at what is real, right? I mean, that's what AI has introduced. Like what you're seeing and who you're interviewing, is that, is that real? Is it an authentic person? Is it a real resume?
Do they have real experience? Right, right, right. So what we really gotta talk about is the assessment side of this. I think that becomes so [00:08:00] important, being able to do the assessments so you can make sure as a human that this human is gonna do the things that you need them to be able to do. But I also know with a lot of online assessments, once again, AI can be helpful.
So how do we get around this? 'Cause I know what, assessments is one of the big things that you get that, that Prequel- Yep ... has, has really kind of built its success on. Yeah. Yeah. That's one of our processes that we've- Yeah ... put in place is assessments. Okay. But that's just one part of it, right?
When it comes to assessments, I mean, honestly candidates could leverage AI more than companies probably realize. So, my advice to companies is, is really building out a process that is more effective, that does validation and verification. And that's one of the things that we do at Prequel, right?
We validate, verify, do a full interview before even sending the candidate over. And we have a nice little interview, snippet interview, so you could actually see the candidate talking, Oh, back up. That's really cool. So as you do your [00:09:00] pre-interview, you can a- you're actually then sharing some of the better moments- Yes
or worse moments maybe, or suspect moments- Yes ... that, that you can then share with the employer- Yes ... ahead of time. That's very interesting. So it's very diligent, right? . In our process. And I recommend all companies do that, right? Whether they go with Prequel or somebody else you really need to front-load the beginning part of your interview process and really build in validation and verification- Mm-hmm
, So you're not wasting time, right? Exactly. Wait, wait, first off, you say wasting time. This is a big factor. I know, I see this with so many of our members, where they're scaling fast. They need to hire sometimes 5, 10 folks. Right. And they don't have a long runway to al- sometimes hire folks. Yep.
And so you're kind of in this dilemma of you wanna hire well, but you wanna hire fast. Yeah. And all this validation can seem oh, it's just gonna slow me down. But at the same time, it's I think you can do this in a reasonable timeframe while still guaranteeing that you get the right candidate, 'cause I think getting the wrong candidate is just worse than taking an extra couple weeks [00:10:00] or a week to, in order to go through some of this ahead of time.
A- absolutely. Yeah. And, and when I say companies need to really validate and ver- verify- candidates and build out that process because that's what clients are asking us. They're asking us for speed. Yeah. Right? But they also want confidence in who they're interviewing, that it's the real person.
So if you build out a good process, I'm not gonna give all of our processes- Of course ... out on this. But if you build it out, it actually speeds up the hiring process? And it gives us more confidence, it gives clients more confidence, and speeds up the process at the, at the end, okay. And I don't want companies to get confused with when I say you need to build out a good process and really, do due diligence and verify- ... and validate candidates. I don't want that to be confused with a complicated process or a lengthy process, because all of this could be done in three steps.
Three, three- I like hearing that. Okay ... you condense it. Yeah. So I don't that's, that's the one thing. 'Cause, a lot of [00:11:00] people think, "Oh, well I have to do all these, like-" Right ... "check the boxes and, and now I'm gonna build out six interviews, or I'm gonna build out, five steps to like getting to the right candidate."
That's just, it's too much. So you could get to authentic, real candidate much quicker if you have a good process. That's a, process is the key. Yeah. And this, this, this always brings me back to the fact as to why when you're doing something as important as hiring for your company is I just feel like you gotta bring the pros in for it.
I, to me, it's just, it's a cost of doing business and it's money well spent. Yeah. That's just how I look at it because- Yeah ... if I were running my own business, I'd be like, "Ah, I might want to bring the pros in for this." Yeah. We have over, 40 years of expertise- Yeah
Built out at, at Prequal. A very talented team that we have and it's something I don't even think about, right? I've been doing this for over 16 years now- Yeah ... and it's just second nature. I don't, I don't- It's in your blood. I don't even like talking about this stuff because I'm like- ... it, it's just- I love it.
an everyday thing for me, right? Absolutely. So. Yeah. Yeah. And, and so really, as I think [00:12:00] about all this, so the idea of being able to first get the right candidates in there, knowing that you, you can kind of skate through some of the puffery of the AI resume for lack of a better term- Yeah
then being able to then bring that candidate in and then assess them properly so you know that they have the right skills. I think as you do these things and as you say, you can do this now in a, process that's not taking forever- Right ... so you can hire quickly- Yep ... and hire accurately.
And then at the end of the day then, this is just something that saves your company money and time, 'cause time is money. And I think about the consequences of not hiring the right person and what that can mean. It could throw a whole project off, if not ruin it. I think as far as I'm concerned.
Am I correct in my assumptions here? Oh, 100- Okay. ... 100, 100%. I mean, whether you're hiring for project work, contract- Yeah ... or direct hire, I mean, it, it doesn't matter. Bringing the right person into your team and hiring the right person- You wanna get that right, because to your point, it derails projects, it [00:13:00] frustrates teams, it adds compliance issues.
There's many issues that pop up if you don't have the right candidate in the right seat. Yeah. And most importantly, it saves money, right? That's what it's all about. Time and money. Time and money. Those are the two things that I think just drive a business at the end- Yeah
of the day, and, and it also, like I always come back to people are your most important asset at any business- Yeah ... bar none, and that- 100%, and that's not gonna change, right? Ever, yes. I mean, a lot of people are afraid that AI's gonna take their job, and- Yeah ... it, it's not, so That's- and let's talk more about that as well, too.
That's something that I think , as you said before, we started this whole thing off, is that everyone's using AI. It's not going anywhere, as we know. It's only gonna proliferate more. How do you see things evolving in your industry with AI right now? Yeah. I mean, it's not going away, so you have to embrace it, right? And I think the more you dive in to AI, learn it, leverage it and get really good at it- ... I think that's the key. You have to get really good at it. And just [00:14:00] like anything else, I think it definitely gives everybody an advantage, whether you're in leadership, IT- finance, marketing. Exactly. It's gonna speed up our work. It's, yeah, it's just not gonna go anywhere. Exactly. And so- I'm embracing it with a big- Yeah ... big wet kiss because I'm just like, yeah, I mean, I, I use it for so many things. Yeah. And I just look at, like, how it can be used for good.
But I, I love the fact that we have talked about how it can also, it can also evade some things. there's, there's good and bad. Yeah. It's good and bad, so. Yeah. And it, it definitely it speeds up efficiencies. Just the resume. Take a resume, for example.
I mean, it was painstaking. A lot of people had, "Oh, I gotta do a resume. It's "Did you get your resumes on? No." So now- You can do it in about five seconds now. Right. Right. So I just... And, and most people don't wanna scam the system or they don't wanna circumvent the system, right? But, you have, there's always folks out there that- Gonna happen.
Right. It's called human nature. it's called the world we live in. Right. So- And that's what- That's what you have to protect against. That's the bad side of it, [00:15:00] right? But I think as this goes on, we're smart as humans and, you embrace it and figure out how to work with it and- You keep adapting, which I, I always- Right
just find so amazing to me- Yeah ... is, I, I always feel like the human's gonna bat last. You know what I mean? It's just, there's always, we always find a way to adapt around something and, and we tend to use it for good. Mostly. Yeah. But here it's just something that, I don't know, that goes down a whole other rabbit hole.
I'm just so glad we had this conversation just to look at some of these basic things. Yeah. And I, I think the article's a great primer as well too. I really encourage everyone, if this conversation is getting you, go into the article. You bring up some more points in there that I think- Yeah
are very salient and things that you gotta be thinking about. Yeah. Because I'm seeing so many of our member companies here at the Tech Council, they're hiring. Yeah. They, they are hiring and I love, I just, I, first of all, I just love it because I just, I love seeing the gears of- ... of capitalism working where we've got a project, we're bringing people on, we gotta bring them on in a timely fashion.
Yeah. We need the right people at the right time. Yeah. And there's great services like what Prequel has in order to [00:16:00] make that happen. Yeah. And AI is, is helping in some ways but it's also Complicating things ... complicating things Yes And so being able to recognize that it's complicating- Yeah ... I think kind of unknots it a little bit.
Yeah. So thanks for helping us unknot. Just a little bit of this, Jen. Thanks for having me. Yeah, no. Yeah. It's so much fun stuff. I really encourage everyone if you have hiring needs out there, you're not sure what moves to make, talk to Jen. Just, just give her a call. She's happy to talk to you, and you can learn so much just from a conversation.
So Jen- Yeah ... you're the best. Absolutely. Yeah. So much fun- Thank you ... having you here today in the Huntington Bank Studios. Yeah. I have learned so much. And yeah, I tell everyone, keep coming back for more content like this. We love educating people so they can build a better business and get their tech company up and running, 'cause our motto here is, "We help tech companies succeed without people, you don't go too far."
So Jen- That's right ... you're the best. Yeah. Thank you. Absolutely. And in case you forgot, this is Jonathan Kersting with the Pittsburgh Technology Council, and I cannot wait to see you on the next Tech Bod.