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How to unlock the power of AI and automation for recruitment

Artificial intelligence (AI) promises to enhance all spheres of our lives, from social interactions to business operations, especially recruitment automation. And investors believe these promises. In 2020, they invested $50 billion in the technology.

Big promises and mind-boggling investments couldn’t help but attract the close attention of businesses and organizations. And technology companies are happy to meet the interest with offers of AI-powered solutions across sectors, from market research to recruiting. More and more talent managers choose to share their workload with AI. And they claim that such cooperation is more than successful.

Let’s look at what an AI-powered automated recruiting system brings to the HR table, the myths and speculations associated with it, and the benefits recruiters unlock using this technology.

What is AI recruiting?

First things first, what is Artificial Intelligence, and how does it impact recruiting? Let’s see.

John McCarthy introduced the Artificial Intelligence concept in the middle of the 20th century. It is now defined as a computer system that performs high-complexity tasks without human involvement. The technology analyzes a vast amount of data to make correct, successful decisions. One of the key features of AI is adaptability.

Now, what is AI for recruiting? It is any technology that uses machine learning algorithms for acquiring and managing a workforce. There’s a wealth of solutions, from the simplest chatbots to platforms for full interviews conducted by AI. There’s no unanimous opinion on how and how much to embed HR automation in an HR managers’ workflow, as it heavily depends on the organization and its needs.

The main superpower of AI recruiting software is task automation. Just imagine, now managers don’t need to spend hours digging through piles of CVs and cover letters. Instead, by checking resume with AI, they can use the saved time to make themselves a cup of coffee. When they’re back with a freshly brewed cappuccino, the software has already prepared a shortlist of the most relevant candidates.

Another big advantage of AI is that it’s got an elephant’s memory (to say the least). Unlike humans, machine learning algorithms absorb every tiny detail from the applicant’s CV and their answers during the interview to prepare the most realistic report possible, which would be inaccessible with manual application processing.

3 main benefits of talent acquisition technology

Do you remember what’s the foundation of successful development? That’s right, innovation. It unleashes high performance, reduces the cost price, and reduces the number of errors. It’s what happened during the industrial revolution, and it’s what’s happening today with AI technology.

Here’s how these innovations affect how recruiters acquire talent today:

  • Attracting candidates. Long gone are the days when all a recruiting manager had to do was to find workers who met the minimum requirements. Today, management understands that the high professionalism of workers greatly contributes to the business. But the challenge is to find such employees. The easiest way is to attract them to your organization. This is done by creating a positive brand image. First, by engaging potential employees with useful and interesting content delivered on blogs, newsletters, and social media. Second, by ensuring that applicants have a smooth and encouraging experience when interacting with the company’s talent team at any time. Talent acquisition technology successfully meets both of these tasks.
  • Establishing equality and inclusivity. We have all heard about the ugly and costly lawsuits for discrimination, toxic environment, and workplace biases. It is one of the problems AI takes on. The algorithms constantly run analysis to spot discriminatory practices that might potentially result in PR turmoils and lawsuits. AI solutions also feature writing tools that identify outdated and inappropriate words and suggest the options to make messages gender-neutral and all-inclusive.
  • Screening and interviewing. It is arguably the most trying stage of the recruitment process. But AI algorithms help managers optimize it. Many solutions offer not only screening powered by machine learning but also assist with interviews. The technology picks the questions based on the requirements for the positions as well as the experience of applicants. And each answer prompts the most appropriate next question to better understand how well the candidate matches the position and the company.

There are a lot of companies, about 40% to 50%, who now use video-based interviewing. These videos go to a database and can be analyzed by AI to help determine an interviewee's mood; whether or not the candidate is telling the truth; and different things about the candidate's language, skill, and education level.

Josh Bersin, founder and principal of Bersin by Deloitte Consulting

Demystifying AI’s ability in hiring: truth and lie

AI is the new shiny thing that automatically turns heads. However, excitement is not the only emotion that this AI provokes; the other dominant feeling is fear. Just like people didn’t trust cars and electricity when they first emerged, now 49% of employees feel suspicious of—and even threatened by—machine learning algorithms. It has led to an abundance of myths and speculations regarding AI in talent acquisition in particular. Now it’s time to see which claims about AI are true and which are false.

Truth

The automation of the hiring process with Artificial Intelligence is a marriage between technology and data. AI-based solutions access information from the company’s internal and external datasets and uncover findings by running its analysis to make the correct decisions to complete tasks.

Also, this technology helps to understand the employment tendencies better and to address the changes. Such a proactive approach results in growing employees’ retention, job satisfaction, higher productivity, and increased revenues.

Lie

No, AI is not after jobs. Machine learning algorithms do not substitute for recruiters. Their main task is to help talent acquisition managers complete a series of necessary tasks automatically and quickly. Therefore, AI hiring tools are not a threat, but, on the contrary, an ally that drives better results in less time.

Nor does it overwhelm managers with a vast amount of complicated data. Again, the main idea of AI automation is to make recruiters’ lives easier. That’s why all the data is sourced and processed automatically. With Al in human resources, all the HR manager has to do is connect the data sources and work with ready-made findings to push the recruitment process further.

Three key benefits of using AI

Now that we have identified what AI in hiring is, what it does, and what it doesn’t do, let’s check some practical examples of how the technology makes the lives of hiring professionals easier.

1. Communication enhancement

AI relies on the established best practices of communication. It interacts with candidates based on professionalism only. Crafting messages using the applicants’ information makes the conversation personalized, engaging, and meaningful. It creates a great impression about the company and ensures that candidates with great skills reapply in the future.

Chatbots help employers deliver a superior employee experience by avoiding ‘blackhole syndrome,’ since chatbots serve every applicant right then, and progress them to a qualified state with minimal waiting. They also give more time back to humans who can better serve candidates strategically, which leads to a better experience overall.

Sahil Sahni, Co-founder of AI-recruiting solutions provider AllyO

2. Automation

By automating high-volume tasks, HR managers focus only on work that needs their direct attention. AI solutions handle systemizing the applications, analyzing the data to shortlist the strongest candidates, running the screening interviews, etc. The recruiter focuses more on the final stages of the process, addressing specific questions and preparing job offers. Also, eliminating routine tasks allows HR managers to focus on strategy development, improving the working environment, and increasing employees’ job satisfaction. 

3. Consistent recruiting approach

In this day and age, changing jobs is becoming more and more normalized. Companies simply cannot rely on the lifelong loyalty of their employees. Recruiters are no exception. But what happens when an HR manager leaves? They take their communication style with candidates and employees with them. As a result, it can take quite some time for new recruiters to find their way around the HR department. It is an issue especially in large companies when the elimination of one element of the process creates bottlenecks for the whole organization. AI hiring solutions prevent this issue. No matter who works with the HR tool, the hiring process remains consistent at all stages, from looking for candidates to nurturing the talent pool.

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