A couple of years ago, AI seemed like one of those far-fetched ideas for Sci-Fi movies and novels. As of now, AI is more realistic and even a mainstay in our lives for years to come. You may have interacted with an AI-powered tool and may not have even noticed it was AI-powered.
Some of the most common platforms that use AI include:
As you can see, these are tools that most people use almost daily, whether for fun/leisure or work. AI is currently changing how many industries operate, and chances are that all of us, at some point, will be affected, whether positively or negatively, by this revolutionary technology.
Talent acquisition and human resource companies are learning from other industries and implementing this new technology in their way of doing things. As you will see, this has proven beneficial in how companies hire and retain talent in many ways.
Before we look at how this new technology creates waves in talent acquisition, we should briefly examine how recruiters would initially work without AI's help. The recruitment process before the introduction and application of AI was heavily manual: it relied on the recruiter almost 100% of the time. That is, from job posting to receiving, storing, and compiling applications, picking the applications that match the job requirements, interviewing the candidates, and finally offering the job to the suitable candidate.
As you can see, this is a tedious and time-consuming process that desperately needs to be shortened and simplified. This is where HR managers leverage the power of AI to make life easier for recruiters and make the process much more streamlined and efficient.
So, here are some ways through which AI has found its place in the hiring process:
From the above illustration, traditional hiring is a long, tedious, and unpleasing process. But, AI is a powerful program that can churn through thousands of applications in a fraction of the time recruiters need. Additionally, it can sift through all the applications to identify the best candidates and highlight their standout capabilities.
Let's take this example: Google, which is not only one of the biggest companies in the world but also a well-known company that most people associate with, wants to recruit for around 20 global positions simultaneously. Chances are they will attract massive applications worldwide since many people will gladly jump at an opportunity to work at Google. If Google doesn't use AI in their recruitment process, the applications will overwhelm their in-house recruitment team, and chances are they will be biased at some stage or, worse, not go through the entire application.
All this is at the expense of the deadlines Google has to meet for filling the advertised positions. Indeed, why won't Google expedite this entire process by leveraging the exponential power of AI?
AI will speed up this enormous process and enable Google to fill these positions on time.
Using the above example, Google will most likely get a massive amount of applications for the 20 global roles. Even if they outsource the entire recruitment process to a recruitment company, it will take much work to go through all the applications and match each with the job requirements while still being objective. Also, most applicants will have the same skills and accomplishments, so choosing one over the other will be hard.
Should Google decide to employ AI in its "Applicant Tracking Systems," it can get the best matches out of the numerous likely candidates. AI makes all this possible since it is a program designed to make the best possible decisions no matter the number of requests and parameters it uses to achieve this.
Eventually, what Google wants is the best candidates for the positions. The best candidates, in this case, don't just mean those with the best skill set. Still, it is a cumulative overview that considers many variables, including academic background, accomplishments, companies worked for, and professional qualifications.
This is the next stage after identifying the few likely to be good fits for the job. In this stage, recruiters focus on the few promising applications and identify distinguishing characteristics that give each an advantage over the next candidate. Unfortunately, this is a painstaking experience where recruiters invest a lot of time combing through each application and always ensuring they remain objective.
Recruiters prefer a quicker process with a faster turnaround and better outcomes.
This is precisely where AI makes the assessment process more effortless than the manual process. All this is possible since modern applicant tracking systems are powered using smart AI, which has intelligent recommendation engines that can sift through the applications and evaluate the ones that stand out from the rest. This powerful feature on its own has the potential to reduce the time spent on the recruitment process significantly.
Human is to error, or so they say. Humans can sometimes be biased, even during a recruitment process where a recruiter can choose one application over the other. Of course, not by looking at the facts but by using their feelings, emotions, and personal preferences to select one applicant.
This is a problem that AI can get rid of and, in the end, ensure fairness at each stage in the recruitment process. AI can maintain objectivity to ensure Google, in the example, we've used in item number 1, gets the best possible candidate by the facts they have used on their application.
The bigger picture is that AI can create a rational job market that is fair to all and promotes the quality of an applicant's application and nothing else. Isn't this the ideal world we all want to live in?
The fact that AI-powered ATS systems can be objective when assessing applications and maintain a superior level of fairness means that companies can rely on this technology to get the best possible candidates for whichever position they wish to fill. In addition, using AI in your recruitment process can eliminate human error that can negatively affect the recruitment process.
Recruiters, at times, may get overwhelmed by a vast number of applications and ultimately make decisions that can be poor and were made with drained mental energy.
Conversely, AI can comb through a mountain of applications without getting tired or breaking down. Therefore, AI can do more work than humans and yield better results than humans. In doing so, it increases the chances of getting the best applicants in the shortest time possible.
In the example we used earlier on, Google will want to fill the 20 global positions with candidates with the required technical skills and knowledge. The ideal candidate will be someone who will hit the ground running once they occupy the position. Additionally, the perfect candidate will be someone who doesn't require fresher training to know how they will go about the job.
Here are ways through which you can use AI in skill assessment:
Nowadays, clients have many AI-powered platforms that create tests for candidates and also score the tests to provide the recruiter with a score they can use to verify a candidate's proficiency in a particular skill such as coding and web design.
Just as the name suggests, recruiters can use AI to make current hiring decisions based on past hiring trends. This helps recruiters make more data-informed decisions when hiring for new roles such as using data of past successful hires to replicate the same.
Recruiters can now use AI-powered tools to create virtual simulations on specific tasks, such as customer service. The candidates can then use these simulations to show their understanding of the processes and provide feedback to the recruiter, who will then use it to decide whether to hire the candidate.
You can now use intelligent video interviewing platforms to have a video interview with your candidates. The video interviews show specific body movements that will communicate confidence and communication skills essential for a recruit.
You can now use intelligent recruitment tools to comb through applications and objectively focus on their educational qualifications, work experience, and skills attained.
Employee onboarding is as critical as recruitment. The faster you can onboard the employees, the quicker you can get them to start working and adding value to your company. Plus, if you onboard your employees correctly, such as by training them on work processes, the faster they will be able to achieve the same performance levels as the rest of the employees.
AI can help you do this by suggesting efficient learning paths for your employees to get up to speed with the rest of the team and to start hitting their targets faster.
Using AI can expedite the recruitment process and, in this case, use fewer resources to hire more candidates over a short period. Again, let's use the Google example we used earlier in this article. If Google decides to use recruiters for hiring for the 20 global positions, chances are the number of applications will be humongous.
That, in turn, means they need to have a huge team that will go through all the applications: an enormous task that will require a considerable workforce. and require a considerable workforce. A workforce that Google will have to keep on a salary and other employee benefits. The better economic decision will be to use AI-powered recruitment platforms to save them money and yield better results.
There are various ways AI can optimize job descriptions. Here are some illustrations:
AI can comb through dozens of job descriptions that match yours and suggest the best possible job descriptions based on those already posted online.
Through AI, you can now identify the most used words in job descriptions and language patterns that are most likely to yield better results in your job descriptions.
AI can match your job description to the best possible candidate profiles and identify which keywords and qualifications you should include in your job description.
AI can create numerous job descriptions and suggest the best possible job description by testing one against the other to identify the best.
AI-powered tools can prioritize candidates for interviews by using behavioral assessments, predictive analytics, and candidate screening tools. This lets you give the best candidates a chance to be interviewed first. This enables the recruiter to cut to the chase and see whether you can get your best candidate as soon as possible without interviewing everyone else, especially if the number is enormous.
Artificial intelligence, if applied with precision and proper intent, will benefit users in multiple ways that will be beneficial. However, you need first to establish whether you want your recruitment process to have a human feel or are comfortable with a computer program taking over your recruitment process.
At HireMango, we take pride in giving our clients cutting-edge talent recruitment solutions that give your business a competitive edge in the marketplace. Visit our website today to learn more about our business and how we can help your business grow by having top-of-the-line talent. Let us take the recruitment burden off your shoulders today and allow you to focus on core functions, enabling you to grow exponentially.
AI in recruitment and selection procedures has been praised for being time-saving, fair, and unbiased, increasing diversity in the workforce, and being cost-effective.
By being set up to disregard variables like color, age, or gender when evaluating potential employees and guaranteeing a fair applicant screening process free of bias, AI talent acquisition solutions can also increase diversity in the workplace.
By looking through resumes, job descriptions, and social media profiles, artificial intelligence can help recruit candidates by identifying those with the best qualifications. Also, by analyzing interviewees' responses to questions, recruiters can utilize AI to judge candidates' suitability for a job.
