HR professionals must use the tech at their fingertips to improve and evolve the recruitment process. This guide explores how AI can be utilized here.
Recruitment is a time consuming and expensive process for HR companies, filled with inefficient work practices. On average it costs $4,129 to fill a typical position in a company and takes more than forty days. There is a demand for faster processes and artificial intelligence (AI) could provide the answer.
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How To Use AI For Recruiting
AI focuses on utilizing machine learning and various pieces of automated software to speed up the recruitment process. AI can be used to find the right candidate for any position from tech jobs to roles in health organizations.
Here are some key examples of how AI technology can be incorporated into the recruitment process by HR teams.
Chatbots
Chatbots can lead to a 95% increase in leads when used as part of a recruitment strategy. This software can be used for functions that include:
- Offering feedback to candidates
- Providing updates about a candidate’s current position
- Suggestions on the next step they should take
This can improve the experience for top candidates. Research shows 58% of candidates decline final offers due to poor experiences (Source: CareerPlug). This can cause you to lose top talent. Harnessessing chatbot technology provides immediate engagement and ensures a positive first impression.
You can also adapt the bot to match the needs of your ideal target candidate by providing additional responses based on previous interactions. Overall, chatbots can automate up to 80% of recruitment activities at the top of the lead generation funnel.
Intelligent Screening Software
HR professionals will already be aware that top roles can attract thousands of applicants. Reviewing applications is the most time consuming part of the recruitment process. Intelligent screening software can automate this process. You can use it to check resumes for key information including:
- Level of performance
- Turnover rates
- Skillset
The software will determine whether a candidate moves forward based on set metrics. Intelligent screening software can also be used to access more relevant data. This can be sourced from public sources or even prior employers.
A leading tech jobs recruitment agency has reported great success in utilizing Intelligent Screen Software for high demand tech roles such as: Java developer jobs, Data engineering jobs and Devops Jobs. This Intelligent Screen Software can be integrated into an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), without negatively impacting or disrupting workflow.
Candidate Sourcing
AI software can also be used by HR teams to source the right candidates and ensure there is no delay in engagement. The tools can be used to search for various profiles across databases and job boards to fill a position.
Bots can also interact with potential candidates through different channels such as:
- SMS
If you are filling specific roles, these interactions can help determine whether a candidate is the right choice. This can help recruiters avoid choosing a candidate that will leave the business shortly after being hired. One study suggests that more than 16% of hired employees will leave a role after the first week.
AI software can help avoid a high employee turnover by identifying candidates who are not right for a company early in the recruitment process.
Interviews
Companies including Google already use AI to explore details in video interviews that may be relevant to the hiring process. Research suggests that certain facial and voice expressions reveal key personality traits. This is another type of data which can be used to determine whether a candidate is the right fit for a company. AI can also add more context to the interview process. For instance, when recruiting for tech jobs you may ask candidates to complete a skill test. This will provide evidence that a candidate has the skills required for the job as referenced on their resume.
AI software can then be used to assess the answers and responses provided in the skill test, providing more data about a candidate. It can reveal information that would be missed during a typical interview.
Eliminate Bias
AI can also be used to avoid the issue of bias during the recruitment process. Unconscious hiring bias can cause recruiters to disregard a candidate for the wrong reasons. One example is confirmation bias. A recruiter interacts with a candidate with ideas already in place. They then ask questions that are based on proving these perceived truths to be correct. Affect heuristics is another example. In this case, a recruiter will take mental shortcuts to reach a conclusion about the candidate’s ability.
Setup correctly, AI software doesn’t have any type of bias during the recruitment process. Instead a candidate will advance based on the hard data. A more basic example would be resumes. You might be swayed on whether to pick a candidate based on whether their resume has a typo. An AI will ignore information like this completely. However, it does need access to the right data sources. If a company only uses its own historical data for the AI software, then a biased output becomes more likely.
Completing Background Checks
Background checks on potential candidates are an essential part of the recruitment process. 92% of organizations are reported to use background checks. Their main purpose is to ensure that the level of risk is mitigated. However, this process is time consuming for the typical HR team.
AI can be used to speed up this process ensuring it is simple and more efficient to gather the right data. Again, this can be achieved without bias impacting which candidates move forward.
AI Is A Powerful Tool For Every Recruitment Stage
Overall AI can be used to empower and improve the recruitment process by HR professionals supporting any industry or sector. HR teams simply need to make sure that they are using these tools the right way.
Furthermore, while they can provide significant value, HR professionals should not rely solely on the results and data provided. Amazon has already stopped using an AI recruitment tool because it was found to replicate the bias apparent in human recruiting processes. As such, you need to be careful about what software you use and how you incorporate it into your established recruitment strategy.
