Artificial Intelligence in the Recruiting Industry

Talks of artificial intelligence, automation and machine learning are not new, but have gained more traction in recent years. In many industries, artificial intelligence – or AI – is introduced for a number of reasons, usually in attempts to reduce costs and increase efficiency at whatever it is that company is doing. In recent years, AI has become almost indispensable in industries such as healthcare, which require and benefit from extreme precision and productivity.

In the staffing and recruiting industry, artificial intelligence has many potential applications, and has become an interesting topic of discussion. Recruiters work hard every day to source top talent, and AI has the potential to relieve them of various tasks which can make them even better at their jobs. As a result, AI in the recruitment industry has typically produced more closely matched hires with higher retention rates, and a lot of time and headache saved for the recruiters themselves. Here are statistics to consider:

• Only one fifth of businesses believe that AI will result in a loss of jobs
• 77% believe that it will result in better jobs/candidates
• 61% of CEOs believe they are not recruiting fast or well enough

In general, the majority of people surveyed believe that automation is positive for the industry. Whether you embrace it or not, it certainly has kept us on our toes! Here we have rounded up a few of the most interesting ways we have seen AI change the world of staffing and recruiting.

Candidate Data Interpretation

It has been reported that on average, recruiters only spend about six seconds looking at a resume after it has gone through an applicant tracking system. This means a resume only makes it into the hands of a human if enough key words and phrases that are relevant to the individual job posting have been picked up by the ATS. This saves a recruiter tons of time in the hiring process.

More and more data about candidates is being made available to recruiters. Whether it be the information they submit in a job application or the information that they post on their social media profiles, it can become such a high volume that it can often be difficult to interpret efficiently. In general, a machine can interpret and make meaning of more information at a much faster rate than a human can – machines would even consider this to be a low-level task (but a necessary one to secure top talent).

AI has helped to relieve human decision makers of these time-consuming tasks, leaving recruiters more time to move forward in the pipeline with carefully selected candidates. Right now, the average length of a hiring process is around 23 days – hopefully, with the use of artificial intelligence, that number can be brought down, and placement success can be brought up.

Recruitment Chat-Bots

In an age of impatience and instant gratification, businesses have to do everything they can to serve their customers as quickly as possible. While there will always be people who will prefer to speak directly with a human being, the introduction of artificial intelligence in the form of online recruitment chat-bots is becoming widespread.

In the staffing and recruiting industry, chat-bots can help to answer candidate inquiries or navigate them through the beginning of their job search if they aren’t quite sure where to go. This can potentially reduce unnecessary interaction time with recruiters and improve the overall candidate experience by streamlining some of the job search process. Of course, chat-bots may not be able to answer every possible question a job seeker might have so it lacks a human element in that sense, but they can help to eliminate some of the basic administrative tasks associated with fielding new candidates.

Facial & Emotion Recognition 

Skype interviews are becoming more and more commonplace, to both accommodate busy schedules and geographical distances between recruiters and candidates. Aside from the obvious convenience advantages to this approach, certain AI developers wanted to leave no stone unturned, and took it to the next level.

There are now technologies in place which monitor a candidate’s facial expressions during a video interview, to determine whether or not they are being truthful in their answers and interest in the position. While this may come off as a little creepy to some, many brands have reported upsides to this approach. For one, it can save time during the hiring process by eliminating candidates who are potentially being dishonest about their experience or qualifications. It could also help to get rid of some bias in the hiring process, if they are programmed and taught correctly.

What are your thoughts on artificial intelligence and its role in the staffing and recruiting industry? Is it something to be embraced and encouraged, or is this an industry that should remain largely human-centric? Join the conversation on LinkedIn or in the comment section below.

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