According to Forbes , 84% of business leaders have said that they believe artificial intelligence (AI) is the trend for the future that will help them stay competitive and retain an advantage in today’s competitive job market.
However, whilst AI recruitment tools are powerful for hiring managers and recruiters, there are both pros and cons to using them. So what are they and how does it work in real life?
- THE ADVANTAGES:
Can reduce administration time and time to hire
90% of businesses use automation software to reduce administrative tasks and cut down on time spent carrying out non-productive functions. This is where AI can certainly help as it is highly effective at recognising patterns (algorithms) which can lead to improved, shortened processes which leads to overall performance improvement and reduced cost.
In the recruitment and hiring process, AI can easily handle tasks such as screening candidates, searching for qualifications and skills, answering candidate questions during office out-of-hours, analysing data and setting up interviews for applicants.
The software can also screen resumes and organize applications in your applicant tracking software (ATS) so that they can be easily found and managed.
When you are searching to top talent in a highly competitive market, time to hire is extremely important as the best candidates will be considering offers from your competitors. They won’t be around for long and AI can help streamline your recruitment process and ensure you can screen, select, interview and offer your candidate within a shorter time frame.
Can help improve Communication
Managed in the right way, AI can help with the recruitment process by ensuring that candidates are kept up to date with their application, thereby assisting with and maintaining the candidate relationship.
Already popular with customer service, it can be a good way to reach out to candidates where applicant to job ratio is high and you want to ensure you keep the communication going.
Whilst we know that a chatbot can at times be frustrating, in certain circumstances, it alleviates the “no response” from the recruiter and at least lets the candidate know that you care.
Can identify more Quality Candidates
24% of businesses use AI to acquire top talent. It can help by pin pointing key skills, “must haves” and necessary qualifications, thereby reducing the need to review those who do not meet the criteria. Be mindful however, of the previous paragraph and if you have “must haves” just make sure they are absolutely critical otherwise you may miss that one ideal person.
AI can help increase your talent pool by identifying outliers and candidates that you may not otherwise have found, particularly in Executive Search.
Can help to reduces Human Bias
Unconscious bias cannot be totally avoided in recruitment where humans are involved. Even though recruiters are trained to recognise this, it is impossible to eliminate it completely. AI however can do this.
Ai recruitment can ignore factors such as personality, education, gender and ethnicity and focus on key skills and qualifications that are essential for the role. This is a key advantage in terms of diversity and inclusion.
- DISADVANTAGES
Lack of Human Judgment
AI is a fantastic tool to help you in scanning CVS and screening applicants at the early stages of the recruitment process. However, it is not a complete substitute for human judgement and therefore, should be used as an addition to your recruiting process, not as a complete 360 to AI powered hiring.
Don’t forget that AI builds on patterns and predicting patterns and is likely to look for the “same as “ is you are not careful what you ask for. AI can only be as good as what you ask it to do. At least, for now that is!
Make sure that review and AI generated information or processes and check that the data you receive is in line with what you are looking for and that if fits your business requirements. You don’t want to be constantly employing candidates who are complete clones of each other or missing those that can add diversity and innovation.
It is not foolproof
AI can only function when you feed it data, so if you have bad or insufficient data, your AI may not be accurate enough for your recruiting process.
For example, a candidate might use a different phrase or keyword to describe a skill. If the AI doesn’t have enough data to realise the skill is transferable, it may skip over a qualified candidate. However, this can work in reverse and some candidates may include a certain key word to increase their chances of being “found”. This is where your skill as a human comes to the fore in the final screening process. AI is not doing your job, it is assisting you.
Regulations Are Changing
While using AI in the recruiting process can make your hiring process more fair and unbiased, there are some cases where there can still be bias. That’s why you must be careful when selecting AI tools, or you could have biased hires.
Because of this, some countries are regulating the use of AI in the recruiting process to ensure that there is still a fair hiring process for everyone. For example, New York proposed legislation regulating how AI algorithms work in hiring. Whilst this has not yet been passed, it is something to consider when thinking about the use of AI in your recruiting process and make sure that you stay up to date.
It can be Impersonal
AI is not human and is not great at building a solid relationship with candidates. Whilst AI chatbots can be great for answering frequently asked questions, a recruiter still needs to create an authentic candidate relationship.
However, AI can help with building the relationship through automation of the simple, early stage administration and screening tasks that do not require a personal approach.
The Future of AI in Recruitment
AI recruitment is not a future concept; it’s already here and has started making ripples in the HR landscape. As we move forward, the adoption of AI in recruitment will only intensify and the scope of its application will widen.
Here are some of the future trends that we can expect in AI recruitment:
- Predictive Analysis: AI can predict a candidate’s success in a role based on their past experiences, skills, and behavioural patterns. This predictive analysis can help recruiters make more informed decisions and hire candidates more likely to succeed and stay with the company in the long run.
- Enhanced Candidate Experience: AI can make recruitment more user-friendly and efficient for candidates. For instance, chatbots can answer candidates’ queries in real-time, scheduling tools can make it easier to book interview slots, and automated feedback systems can ensure that every candidate gets a response.
- Bias-Free Hiring: AI can significantly reduce unconscious bias in recruitment by focusing solely on skills, qualifications, and experience rather than personal characteristics. This can lead to a more diverse and inclusive workforce.
- Integration with other HR Functions: AI won’t just stay limited to recruitment; it will get integrated with other HR functions like onboarding, training, performance management, etc. This will result in a more holistic HR tech ecosystem.
- Data Security and Privacy: As the use of AI increases, so will the emphasis on data security and privacy. Companies must ensure that their AI systems comply with data privacy laws and respect candidates’ privacy rights.
- Ethical Use of AI: As AI becomes more prevalent in recruitment, discussions around the ethical use of AI will become more crucial. Companies must ensure that their use of AI is transparent, fair, and doesn’t result in discrimination.
In Conclusion:
AI is a great tool to use in recruitment and hiring but it should be used as an addition to your processes. It can help reduce bias, administration time and time to hire and improve candidate quality, candidate relationships, the search for top talent and the success of your hire.
However, it is not an exact science and cannot function at its best without the intervention of a human. The human touch is still absolutely necessary to ensure that the recruitment process follows the correct path, that it is fair, unbiased, successful and relative to what your brand conveys to your current and future talent.
DSA Executive use industry leading Executive Search and Recruitment AI software in conjunction with our own extensive data bases, networks and experience of recruitment in the Senior Executive, Board and CEO marketplace.
This ensures that we always use the most appropriate methods of recruitment and find a wider range of suitable candidates through the use of a mixed methods approach.
Fundamentally, it is our relationship with our candidates and with our clients that matters above all else and ensures we deliver high quality, cost effective and successful recruitment solutions.
Contact us now to find out more.
01675 464060
Adapted from an article by Alyssa Harmon, Recruiter.com Oct 2023