Technology has had a massive impact on the hiring process, especially artificial intelligence. From providing access to candidate profiles to making it easier to post job applications on different platforms, modern technology has helped make recruiting more efficient and effective than ever.
Let’s face it, though – even with the access that websites like Glassdoor and LinkedIn provide, the hiring process can still be strenuous for everyone involved. For candidates, it can be frustrating to receive little to no communication in response to an application, while hiring managers, on the other hand, have the grueling task of sorting through hundreds of applications to find the best person for each job.
Though the search for the perfect candidate can take a toll, new developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, made especially for recruiters and hiring managers, can improve the process.
Artificial intelligence is used to analyze a large quantity of data in a very short amount of time to make predictions. Our brains are built similarly – we use all of our past experience and knowledge to make decisions. AI, however, uses much more information to make even more precise and accurate predictions.
It’s used in everything from Google algorithms that predict what searches you might make to customer service chatbots that help talk you through a return on Amazon. In the hiring process, it can be used to help find qualified candidates quickly.
But are the benefits of using this technology worth the potential costs? Consider the following pros and cons.
The Pros
Sourcing
AI can significantly reduce the time spent finding and recruiting great potential candidates. Rather than having a person spend hours scanning LinkedIn, posting on job boards or attending career fairs, AI is able to automate this process and locate top talent while you work on other things. This can help ensure that organizations are bringing in candidates in a quick and efficient way.
Screening
One of the major benefits of AI for hiring is its ability to sort through candidate resumes for you. Because it can analyze information so quickly, AI is able to screen hundreds of resumes, searching for relevant past experience, or other qualities you may be interested in from a candidate, and ensuring the best candidates are brought to your attention in a matter of minutes. This greatly reduces the time involved in reviewing applications, which allows hiring managers to use their time elsewhere.
Communication
AI can also help you improve your communication with candidates. The use of chatbots has grown quite a bit over recent years, especially in customer service. Now, it’s being used by HR professionals in candidate outreach. AI is able to act as a representative that candidates can contact with questions day or night. It can also reach out to qualified candidates to gather more information and set up an interview. A new form of AI, known as Personality AI, can even offer advice for communicating with each candidate in an effective way based on their unique personality, which helps you build important connections and hire the best candidates you can find.
The Cons
Overlooking Candidates
As beneficial as AI’s ability to find suitable candidates can be, it also has the potential to overlook, deprioritize, or even reject great people. Because it tends to look strictly at past experience or other relevant data points, AI may not follow-up with someone who could be well-suited to a role, despite not having as much relevant experience.
Learned Bias
Despite popular perception, AI does have the potential to be biased. Though properly developed AI can help prevent human biases, the technology’s need to learn through pattern can easily pick up on past partiality like age, gender and even the candidate’s alma mater. While there are companies that may neglect to account for these biases, this problem is easily fixed when software developers take the steps needed to remove these patterns of human error.
Being Impersonal
AI doesn’t always connect as well to customers as a person on the other end might. The hiring process can feel less personal for both the hiring manager and the candidate with AI-powered chatbots. Though it can make the work more simple and effective, it may ultimately lead to a lack of effective communication. Hiring managers may feel more detached from the process, and candidates may be less convinced by generic messaging. However, this can be avoided if the time hiring managers are able to save with AI automation is spent getting to know more about the candidates that AI is able to locate. While it’s possible to let AI do all of the work, there are still plenty of areas, like interviewing and making the final decision, where human connection works best.
Finding the Right Fit
Given the pros, many high-performing recruiting teams are leveraging AI to improve their hiring process. Though there are some downsides to modern AI, the positives can be worth the risk if you identify the right applications of it for your hiring process. Whether you choose to focus on creating a more efficient candidate outreach program, or improve your interviews with personality insights, AI can make a significant impact for your team.
