Economic, societal, and environmental factors have been forcing employers and professional hiring firms to adapt their recruitment process. New developments in technology, a limited supply of tech talent, and many other reasons have resulted in a shift in how we attract candidates. The most obvious (and current) recruitment disrupter is the COVID-19 pandemic, but the truth is that hiring managers and recruiters have had to massively switch up their strategy over the past decade.

One way IT recruiters are evolving their hiring game is by using machine learning, or AI (artificial intelligence). Hiring managers and others now have the ability to streamline their recruitment process using software solutions that harness the power of predictive analytics. Using data to create “predictions”‘ is at the core of artificial intelligence. Without going into detail of how the technology works, we can take a look at the many recruitment applications where AI is becoming an advantageous tool: identifying, screening, organizing, analyzing.

Identifying talent

Smart AI tools are starting to change the game when it comes to identifying potential candidates. Sourcing talent can be time-consuming, as it often requires scouring job boards, interacting over social media, and a tremendous amount of outreach. 

Newly developed AI programs can now automate this tedious sourcing process by analyzing thousands of online profiles. This sourcing tech can be massively useful for the early stages of recruitment, where a large pool of candidates needs to head the top of the recruiting pipeline. 

Getting a sizable list of potentially qualified candidates takes considerable time and effort – why not let an AI program help with the task? These programs can even interact with candidates to start the conversation.

ai software
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Screening

AI software can be useful further down the hiring funnel during screening. Some programs utilize intelligent chatbots that are designed to ask candidates some important preliminary questions.

These tools help narrow down a search, and can reveal pertinent information such as a person’s years of experience, skills, and other qualifications such as education and language. They can even rank candidates from the weakest to strongest job match. 

Moreover, chatbot technology has the ability to engage with candidates – reducing the chance of the candidate losing interest in the role. Additionally, they can offer automatic updates, so that the candidate feels as though they are kept in the loop.

AI-powered screening technology can help cut down on time, but it can also improve the quality of hire due to powerful algorithms.

Eliminate potential bias

Diversity is critical for problem solving and a healthy candidate based on skills and qualifications; thus helping to refer to people who might have been overlooked by an unfair recruiter.

Organizing

Evaluating candidates comes with yet another tedious and time-consuming responsibility – organizing, communicating, and scheduling.

Human resources professionals often end up spending the majority of their allocated recruitment time scheduling interviews, as there is often a fair amount of back-and-forth, as well as cancellations and re-booking.

To shorten a recruitment cycle, AI-powered scheduling software can be used to manage interview scheduling, callbacks, updates, feedback, and other communication between hiring managers and candidates. The right AI scheduling software not only saves the hiring manager time, but it can provide a more reliable experience for the candidate.

Analyzing and interpreting

We’ve officially entered the era where facial analysis – something that was once only thought possible in sci-fi films – is beginning to serve recruiters.

In addition to chatbots, select video software now has the ability to analyze and interpret a candidate’s facial expression and other visual cues during video interviews. It’s easy to imagine that this kind of technology is fairly limited and probably can’t replace a human’s keen intuition, however it is interesting to note the remarkable innovations in AI and its applications for the world of recruiting.
Those interested in machine learning programs might want to consider testing the water before taking the plunge. Any search for recruitment AI software will result in dozens, or even hundreds of solutions that offer the promise of easy and efficient recruitment. A good tech company should offer free product demos, and will provide plenty of guidance on using their software. Consider the tech companies with helpful representatives who are honest about the limitations of the solutions they promote.

Leaders in talent acquisition know all too well that manual recruiting uses up valuable resources. The automation of repetitive tasks has streamlined processes in just about every field, and recruitment is another that is benefiting from this kind of AI. It sounds like machine learning technology is the answer to making talent acquisition a lot faster and more effective, but at this moment, these solutions should be viewed as potentially useful tools, and not a total replacement for human expertise.
The human touch is powerful, and there isn’t a match for emotional intelligence and intuition just yet.