Can you completely remove the human element from a recruiting process that is intended to hire human talent?
Seems a bit counterintuitive to me!
There is a common perception that AI is here to replace people. In reality, AI creates more jobs than it replacesaccording to a Gartner report.
While it may seem paradoxical, artificial intelligence and machine learning are presenting ways to lend a helping hand to recruiters (and not replace them!) in improving talent acquisition efficiency and effectiveness.
AI is making it possible for tiny recruitment teams, or even just one HR employee source great talent. This makes it possible for startups on a budget who have no means to hire large talent acquisition teams to hire good people and grow their businesses faster.
Here are three ways AI can be used by companies to make recruiting smarter:
1. Automate the low-level tasks of recruiting.
AI tools can be used to source candidates, schedule interviews, rank candidates, or assess technical candidates through auto-generated coding challenges.
For instance,ClearFit enables recruiters to save sourcing time by automatically finding and ranking candidates with its patented job-fit technology that instantly identifies which applicants match your needs.
Another toolX.ai uses AI based-personal assistants who can automatically schedule phone screening meetings or interviews with prospective candidates.
You can also use tools to leverage existing data accumulated by companies across industries and around the world during the entire hiring process to automate candidate sourcing. For instance,Textio uses augmented writing to create better job descriptions that differentiate your offering from the rest.
When sourcing data scientists or engineering talent, you can use a tool likeFiltered that provides auto-generated coding challenges to qualify candidates. You no longer need to rely only on resumes.
You can also automate the laborious pre-hiring evaluation process with situational judgment tests that assess candidates on real-time tasks they’ll do on the job using tools likeHarver.
2. Personalize interaction and communication with candidates.
Passive candidates are the best candidates you can hire. They are already happy with their jobs and aren’t looking out. Both of which are often signals that they are doing great - exactly the sort of people you want working for you!
The only problem? Hiring passive candidates is extremely time consuming, which is why most startups don’t have the means to do so.
Some AI based-tools likeInterseller can take over the complicated and time consuming aspect of discovering passive job seekers and targeting them with personalized messages at the right time.
You can use theInterseller Chrome extension to find the email of a prospective candidate from LinkedIn, Github, Angellist, and other platforms. You can then add them directly to your email sequence.
You can also reach out to passive candidates - who are open to new opportunities - at scale. Import a list of candidates and easily create custom fields to easily personalize the messsages. Each email address of a contact will be verified as well. Interseller’s AI-based email verification feature is the most advanced in the market, which means that very few of your emails will bounce.
Automate a series of personalized emails usingInterseller’s Outreach feature that will reach the right candidate’s inbox at the right time. Each message to a candidate starts with your best template, but can also be manually personalized for specific contacts. Personalization goes a long way in demonstrating your interest to a candidate which in turn increases your chances of getting a positive response from them.
3. Make hiring smarter by removing interviewers’ unconscious bias.
Unconscious bias in hiring creeps in when a recruiter tends to stereotype and make decisions in favor of one person based on gender, age or ethnicity, to the detriment of others.
This can have a long-standing impact on a company’s diversity, recruiting, promotion, and retention efforts.
AI based-platforms likeGapJumper can come to the rescue. The tool enables “blind auditions” to test candidate work readiness which enables recruiters to see past keywords on a resume to better assess an individual’s talent.
Job descriptions are another area where bias plays a role. Use a tool like Textio that can highlight stereotypically gendered words in job descriptions or include language that appeals to a wider range of individuals.
The Future of Recruiting
So, should human recruiters move over and give machines the power to hire whom they consider a perfect fit?
Absolutely not!
AI based-tools can only do much when it comes to hiring talented human capital. While machines can automate routine tasks or assist humans in decision making, they are not capable of building a relationship - a crucial aspect of recruiting.
There are other pitfalls of total automation of the hiring process.
For instance, evaluating soft skills and cultural fit of candidates is difficult with robots. Bots may also eliminate talented individuals who do not use the exact JD jargon in their communication with the company.
Moreover, if a candidate is always communicating to a machine or chatbot when she tries to interact with a company, it will discourage good talent from joining you.
Here are few other areas where it is crucial to have human interference in hiring:
Relationships
When it comes to highly skilled professionals, they need more than just a personalized recruitment email. They need to be enticed and cultivated.
Theability to cultivate relationships gives a recruiter an insight into the needs and motivations of a candidate. If she listens attentively to a prospective candidate, she can learn more than what is written in the resume. This knowledge can be used by the recruiter to persuade and retain good talent.
Moreover, a prior relationship with talented individuals can make it easier to approach them when companies have a position to fill, especially senior-level positions.
Deeper Personalization
While email outreach can be automated, the body copy of each personalized email still needs a human touch. A recruiter’s ability to look into details and study a candidate is essential to construct a highly personalized response which goes a long way in nurturing talent.
Cultural Fit and Attitude
Another aspect is when judging cultural-fit and predicting success in a given role. While AI can source candidates who have the right skills and experiences, they cannot identify job seekers with the wrong attitude or unfounded expectations.
This is where the human recruiter has an essential role to play. A manager who has experience in dealing with successful professionals will be able to identify whether an individual has the correct attitude to take on a role and succeed.
Most importantly, while AI can find the right candidate for you, your HR manager will still need to meet and interview the candidate face-to-face. No robot can take over that part of the hiring process.
Conclusion
AI or artificial intelligence tools, as they are available today, cannot replace humans. What they can do is aid and assist humans to streamline and speed up the recruitment process.
What companies need to do is find the right balance between using AI-based automation tools and efficient hiring managers to source good talent and eliminate the risk and associated costs of making a wrong hire.
To start using AI for making your recruitment easier, why not discover how to hire great passive candidates andget in touch with Interseller.