How many times have you heard the “recruiting is like dating” analogy? If you’ve been in the Talent world for longer than a week or two, you’ve probably lost count. But there’s a reason for the persistence of this comparison. There are obvious parallels between the two worlds: Both involve communicating with strangers, reviewing their credentials, trying to get a sense of compatibility, and finally introducing them to your wider circle.

We certainly weren’t the first ones to come up with this analogy, but we figured we’d have a little fun with it and ask some talent pros: Which dating app features would you like to see in your ATS? While the question itself may be a little silly, the answers we got give some serious insights into where the world of recruiting may be headed.

Traditional keyword searches can be a little heartbreaking

"It would probably be the matching." – Neil Frye, Global Head of Recruiting, Dropbox

For many recruiters, keyword searches can be a little heartbreaking—you may think you’ve found some great candidates, yet it turns out they’ve learned how to game the system and stuff their résumé with keywords. Or, you’ve unintentionally left qualified candidates out simply because of the way they’ve chosen to describe themselves. Entelo found, for example, that men tend to have 16% more keywords in their résumés than women, which gives them an unfair advantage when recruiters use a keyword search approach.

Companies may be turning to unconventional ways to assess candidates like escape rooms and capture the flag tournaments, but these are still in-person interactions. A ManpowerGroup study found that 26% of candidates still select in-person interviews as their top choice of ways to interact with employers.

Keep in mind that no matter how you do engage with them, candidates don’t want to feel like they’re just a number. HR Dive recently reported that personalization matters to candidates: “Employers who can make applicants feel as though they're getting personalized, one-on-one treatment will have an edge over competitors.”

For many obvious reasons, Applicant Tracking Systems do not function the same way as dating apps. But it is a fun thought experiment to explore how these technologies may overlap and influence each other.

What are some of the ways you’d like to see recruiting technology and practices evolve? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section!