Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t a new phenomenon. When you talk to Siri on your iPhone and Netflix suggests movies you may like, you’re using AI. What is relatively new however, is AI in recruitment and boy am I excited about this! As an early adapter of technology, I’ll happily embrace technology that makes my life easier and more efficient. This is exactly the effect AI is expected to have will on recruitment.
How can you not get excited about that?
Like everything else in life, there’s another side to accepting AI in recruitment. We’ve all heard the hysteria about AI making us obsolete as recruiters. In fact, this very thought is starting to make some of us sweat.
Will AI replace recruiters?
Are we really going to be casualties of the AI apocalypse where recruiters will be replaced by robots? While most are promising that this won’t happen, I’ll be the lone voice saying maybe.
Now before we all rush to start polishing up our resumes to find second careers, let’s take a deep breath and think this through.
First things first, what is AI really about?
AI is about machines using data to conduct analytics and eventually make predictions. Yikes, that was a pretty heavy sentence. You get the idea though. What AI can’t do however (at least not yet), is make judgements and decisions. We still need humans for that.
The real role of AI in business is to provide support, not take over the role of humans. It wont replace human interaction, but can assist in making that interaction better. We still need humans to build relationships with candidates, coach hiring managers, help make hiring decisions and negotiate offers.
*Record screech*… I know what you’re thinking – “didn’t you just say recruiters may be replaced by AI”? I’m going somewhere with this, stay with me.
The real impact of AI in recruitment
AI will take over the repetitive, admin-heavy tasks that eat up a good portion of a recruiter’s days and allow us to become strategic talent advisors. Certain parts of the recruitment process will become automated.
AI will be used to automate resume screening and candidate matching
We’ll have Siri for recruitment like AI-equipped assistant Mya, a chatbot who communicates with candidates. Mya uses natural language processing to review candidate data and asks them relevant questions. Essentially, she does the first-level screening for recruiters.
Mya then analyzes the data that she’s collected to rank the candidates based on the job competencies you’ve given her.
Just think of the time you’ll save since you won’t have to do this manually!
But will candidates really like communicating with a chatbot? Interestingly, the answer is yes. People are used to using chatbots in other areas of their lives and their careers are no different.
Candidate experience will improve
Resumes will no longer disappear into the dreadful blackhole and responsiveness to candidates will improve through assistants like Mya.
Since candidates can also ask AI assistants questions about the hiring process, they can get an update instead of dealing with radio silence. The instant feedback candidates will get from chatbots will go a long way to improve candidate experience – something the recruitment industry desperately needs.
More than just giving candidate feedback, AI assistant can even help prepare candidates for interviews. This will certainly have a positive impact on the employer brand, which makes it easier to attract top talent.
The recruitment process will be quicker and more efficient
I talked about the need for the recruiting process to be more faster and more efficient when I wrote about Agile recruiting. One of the things that slows recruitment down is interview scheduling.
One of every recruiter’s pet peeves is scheduling interviews only to have them cancelled and having to find yet another suitable time for both the hiring manager and candidate – not an east feat. AI assistants like Amy and Andrew over at X.ai will do the scheduling automatically. All you and the hiring manager have to do is sync you calendar and ta-da, interviews are scheduled!
This means no delays while you go back and forth trying to coordinate everyone’s schedules.
Some recruiters WILL be replaced by AI in recruitment
I told you I was going somewhere with this.
If your main tasks as a recruiter are transactional, meaning that your main focus is posting jobs and praying for candidates, brace yourself. You may be a casualty of AI in recruitment. Assistants like Mya can do most of that now. She’ll screen every single resume AND rank candidates. AI assistants Amy and Andrew will then coordinate the interviews.
If this is your main role as a recruiter, sadly it’s easy to have Mya, Amy and Andrew work directly with the hiring manager without you in the mix.
For the recruiter aching to have more of a strategic and talent advisory role however, AI in recruitment will be like music to your ears because it will free up your time to act as a true consultant directing the recruitment process.
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