6 Ways AI Is Already Changing Hiring Process
While critical to business success, the recruiting process as a whole is both time-consuming and incredibly costly. It is estimated the average company spends roughly 8-12 percent of a candidate’s salary in recruiting costs, although the number should be closer to 6 percent.
By introducing the right technology, recruiting teams can streamline the process and significantly reduce spending. Artificial intelligence is particularly poised to assist HR teams with the repetitive, time-consuming tasks of recruiting — potentially saving thousands of dollars per employee per year and improving the quality of hires overall.
Given that 35 percent of hiring managers see AI as a top trend impacting how they hire, it may be helpful to look at six ways AI could improve your hiring process today:
1. Prescreening Candidates
Prescreening applicants demands more time and attention than perhaps any other task in recruiting. However, the days of manually reading through stacks of resumes and cover letters may soon come to an end.
There already exist search tools that allow recruiters to quickly surface candidates who meet specified criteria. These tools become much more powerful when AI is added to the mix. AI-enabled chatbots, for example, can prescreen candidates before a recruiter ever engages them. Through online conversations, chatbots can gauge candidates’ credentials, respond to their questions, and identify the most qualified applicants in the batch.
2. Scheduling
Simply scheduling interviews can be a major hassle, often requiring a lot of back-and-forth emails and days of wait time. According to our internal data at RoboRecruiter, it takes an average of 15 emails between recruiter and candidate to schedule one interview! Candidates grow frustrated when the process moves slowly, and this inefficiency can reflect badly on company itself.
Inefficient scheduling and interview processes can have ramifications beyond a single candidate. Twenty-two percent of candidates who have a bad candidate experience will tell others about it, thereby driving potential talent away from the organization.
Many chatbots and other AI-driven solutions now offer automated interview-scheduling functions. Rather than exchanging endless emails, candidates can simply select interview times that work for them, and the AI tool will reserve time in the interviewer’s calendar.
3. Sorting Candidates
Fifty-two percent of recruiters feel the hardest part of recruiting is identifying qualified candidates in large applicant pools. AI can help recruiters to cut through the noise that often surrounds an open role.
Chatbots can engage candidates to pre-vet them before they ever make it to a recruiter. Based on these conversations, chatbots can identify the top matches, which means recruiters spend less time screening unqualified candidates. Chatbots can also fill in gaps in candidates’ resumes by asking relevant questions, ensuring that recruiters get a full and accurate picture of each prospect.
4. Keeping Candidates Engaged
Candidate engagement is a critical component of the recruiting process, and AI can be of great value here. Few recruiters have time to engage with candidates manually on a regular basis, but automated chatbots and other AI tools can do just that. AI can also be used to maintain relationships with candidates who are not yet available or right for a role at the company. AI can automatically reach out to these candidates when new roles open up, keeping them engaged with the company in the long term.
5. Writing Better Job Ads
A great deal of time is spent answering the same redundant questions about a role from candidate after candidate. AI can help head off these questions before they are even asked. By analyzing previous job ads and frequently asked questions, AI can make suggestions on how to update job ads to give candidates all the information they’re looking for.
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The recruiting process can have a significant effect on a company’s future, but the journey from application to hire can be as time-consuming as it is costly. AI has recently emerged as a major tool that can both cut costs and save recruiters time through automation. AI is streamlining the entire hiring process, bringing the most qualified candidates to the right jobs faster and cheaper than ever before.
Chris Collins is the CEO at RoboRecruiter.