4 Ways AI Makes Recruiting More Human
It seems like we simply cannot stop talking about artificial intelligence (AI).
AI has dominated the headlines over the last few years, and it has slowly become inescapable even in our personal lives. Gartner predicts 85 percent of all customer service interactions will involve chatbots by 2020. What’s more, the research firm has even boldly forecasted that the average person will interact more often with chatbots than with their own spouse by the same year!
AI’s applications seem virtually limitless — which raises an important question: How will this technology affect recruiters?
Some recruiters are shaking in their boots, terrified this remarkable tech will soon put them out of a job, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. AI isn’t going to replace human recruiters any time soon. Instead, AI is merely a tool that will help recruiters use their time more wisely and connect with candidates more effectively.
Here are four ways AI will actually make recruiting more human, not less:
1. Pinpointed Personalization
It is common practice for organizations to create employee value propositions (EVPs) to guide their recruiting efforts. However, approaching every candidate with the same EVP can actually limit a company’s ability to hire a diverse workforce. Every candidate is a unique person, and a one-size-fits-all EVP will by necessity fail to meet some candidates’ needs.
However, with the help of AI recruiting technology, organizations can create hundreds and even thousands of uniquely targeted EVPs, one tailored for each specific candidate persona. This hyper-personalized approach can streamline candidate outreach and engagement like never before.
2. On-Call Assistance
Unlike a human recruiter, a chatbot is always on call. They can engage with candidates at any time, whenever the candidate needs them. They can answer candidate’s questions, start conversations whenever a job seeker visits your careers page, and even guide candidates through your application process to ensure completion.
You may be wondering, “Isn’t that a little intrusive and impersonal?” In reality, it’s just the opposite in the eyes of candidates. Sixty-nine percent of people actually like using chatbots for quick and easy communication.
Speed is a critical factor here. When candidates are working on applications, they need timely answers to their questions. Otherwise, they may abandon the process altogether. Chatbots allow you to meet your candidates’ needs quickly and easily, which in turn makes candidates feel heard and respected by your company.
3. A Better Understanding of Who Your Candidates Are
A candidate’s communicate style sends many signals about who they are as a person. Without AI, however, you’re probably missing most of those signals.
Recruiters communicate with so many people every day that the conversations can easily run together. Even if it were easy to keep all those conversations straight, the signals candidates send can be very subtle.
This is where natural language processing (NLP) comes in. This advanced AI technology can analyze a person’s fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary, and other factors to uncover more facets of their personality. With the help of NLP, emails and resumes become more than just documents: They become portals into a candidate’s whole persona.
4. More Time for the Human Touch
Ultimately, AI performs mundane and time-consuming tasks, freeing recruiters up for more important work. Of course, part of that work is building deep interpersonal connections with candidates. When recruiters don’t have to worry about rote administrative duties, they can dedicate more time to their relationships with candidates.
Hiring a candidate requires establishing rapport, and that takes time and a human touch. To make better hiring choices, recruiters need time to understand candidates’ goals, career progressions, and expectations — time that only AI can give them.
A version of this article originally appeared on the IQTalent Partners blog.
Chris Murdock is cofounder and senior partner of IQTalent Partners.