Will Recruiting Processes Really Be Replaced by AI Soon?
Is AI Going To Eliminate Recruiting?
AI will play an increasingly important role in recruiting, particularly in screening, but key elements of recruiting, such as cultural fit, can only be determined via human interaction. Recruiters can breathe a sigh of relief; there will still be plenty of work even when the robots take over! In this article, we will explore how AI can be used in recruiting and what tasks it is not suitable for.
What Is AI?
AI, known as artificial intelligence, is the process of teaching computers and machines to perform tasks that were traditionally performed by humans. AI researchers are trying to teach machines to do everything that humans can do, from writing to speaking to driving to even recruiting! The goal of AI is to speed up tasks, increase accuracy, and provide humans with more free time to focus on other activities. Currently, AI really shines in boring, monotonous, and repetitive tasks, but as the algorithms get more advanced soon, AI will be capable of far more complex and creative tasks.
How Does AI Work In Recruitment?
In recruitment, AI is still in its infancy. It is most commonly used to screen candidates. Thanks to the power of machine learning, you can train AI to analyze resumes and identify keywords that are “good” or “bad.” You then can teach AI to cull resumes that contain “bad” keywords and move forward with resumes that fit your ideal candidate criteria.
AI can also analyze your job descriptions and advertisements and make suggestions about the tone of your writing and the phrases you used and can play a key role in removing bias. For example, AI may scan your job description and reveal that your description is too masculine and unappealing to female applicants.
AI can help you schedule interviews. It can analyze your schedule, determine the length of an interview, and then make scheduling suggestions based on your availability. AI systems now have the power to analyze your talent pool and determine where you need to search for more potential recruits and what key skills your current talent pool is lacking. AI is also helpful in meeting diversity goals and can give you quick insights into the number of women vs. men in your firm, religious breakdown, and also the ethnic composition of your company.
Pros of Using AI in Recruiting
AI is helping recruiters make better decisions and screen candidates much quicker. The insights that AI is delivering to recruiters are boosting employee retention, improving cultural fit, and removing bias. Check out the key pros of using AI in recruitment below:
Save Time
Artificial intelligence in recruitment is very good at automating boring tasks. There is nothing worse than losing days going through a massive pile of resumes, with many of them only half completed and a high percentage of clearly unsuitable candidates. Luckily, with AI, you can automate the initial screening and be left with a cohort of amazing candidates worth interviewing! AI can also schedule interviews, do admin and even write job descriptions! By automating these tasks via AI, you can save hours every single day and devote this new free time to more important projects.
Assess a Broad Range of Candidates
AI is great at analyzing your current talent pool, determining what skills they are lacking, and helping you sift through a broad range of candidates. It can also help you transform your talent pool into viable candidates. While you can do this manually, it will take a lot of effort, and human error can cause you to miss out on fantastic candidates. AI can efficiently, quickly, inclusively, and systematically transform your talent pool!
Improve Employee Retention
AI can study historical data of the employees who have left your company and why. It can then generate insights into the types of employees you should and shouldn’t hire. For example, AI may determine that customer support agents with less than one year of experience in a similar role are three times more likely to leave your company within six months than customer support agents with one year or more experience.
Meet Diversity Goals
AI can quickly determine the makeup of your company and give you key insights into your current diversity profile and how close you are to your goals. For example, AI can instantly reveal what percentage of senior managers are women vs. men or from an ethnic minority. You then can use these insights to alter your recruitment campaigns to attract more diverse candidates.
Cons of Using AI in Recruiting
While AI can play a key role in improving recruitment, it is far from perfect! The implementation of AI technology can be costly, and many employees will be resistant to change. Currently, AI is only as good as the human input it receives and therefore is capable of making poor and biased decisions. Let’s explore the cons of using AI in recruiting in a little more depth.
Artificial Intelligence Can Make Poor Decisions
AI makes its decisions based on the data it receives from humans. It also relies on humans to prompt it and train it. Therefore, if your AI is relying on incorrect data and receives flawed prompts, it will make poor recruiting decisions. This can result in unqualified candidates being invited to interviews while star recruits being disregarded. There have even been cases of recruitment AI only selecting certain genders or having an anti-black bias! It can also result in AI generating false insights into your company; for example, it may analyze incorrect data and create a distorted ideal candidate profile.
AI Is Expensive and Difficult to Implement
AI recruitment software is not cheap! Enterprise software can cost over $1000 per month. Then you have to spend time and money training your staff to correctly use the software. There will also likely be resistance to using AI from established employees who have their routines and recruiting techniques. AI may save your company time and money in the long run, but at the beginning, the setup phase can be costly and time-consuming.
Final Thoughts: Will AI Take Over Recruitment?
There will always be a need for human recruiters. However, AI will play a key role in certain recruiting tasks such as candidate screening, writing job descriptions, ideal candidate profile construction, and interview scheduling. Companies that can get the right balance between automation and human interaction will be able to recruit more effectively than their competitors. You need to be aware that AI is only as good as its human input and is capable of making poor decisions when working with incorrect or incomplete data. While the initial cost of implementing AI may be costly in the long run, this new technology is worth the investment, especially when you start consistently attracting star performers!
