In the battle of signing the best talent for your organization, you always want to be one step ahead of the competition. Especially if you are operating in sectors like IT, you have to bring your ‘A’ game. By making use of the latest technologies, you can gain an edge over your competitors. 52% of talent acquisition leaders say that identifying the right candidates from a large applicant pool is the hardest part of their job. In this article, we take a look at how artificial intelligence can help HR professionals with the hiring process. On the other hand, we also dive into the much heard arguments against artificial intelligence in recruitment.
Let’s start off with the basics
First, we dive into the definition of artificial intelligence. Just to get any misconceptions out of the way.
With Artificial Intelligence, we refer to the ability of computers to take over tasks that normally require human intelligence. For example: speech recognition, translation, visual perception and decision-making. Artificial Intelligence is based on algorithms, a set of rules to be followed in calculations by computers.
The history of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence has formally been around since 1956. But in the next few decades, progress was slow which led to a drop in interest and government funding. It was only in the 1980s that interest returned when the Japanese and British increased their funding. When computers became part of our lives in the 1980s and 1990s, Artificial Intelligence experienced a major boom. The most famous AI event from this era took place in 1997, when IBM’s Deep Blue beat chess champion Kasparov. When digitalization advanced in the 2000s and 2010’s, Artificial Intelligence proved itself as something promising that helps us with out everyday lives.
Artificial Intelligence for Recruitment
ABN AMRO, a Dutch bank, did research about atomization in recruitment with artificial intelligence. The results are clear: with the use of gamification, digital tests and artificial intelligence, 95% of the recruitment process can be automated. The research also stated that big job boards will soon be something of the past. In addition to this, the amount of hiring agencies will also slowly decline. At this point, only 10% of recruitment is done via this traditional way. There will of course always be room for these agencies, but the market is certainly not growing anymore. The research also suggests that the recruitment department will soon consist of three different employees:
- The nerd (for sourcing and other technical stuff like integrations and implementations
- The salesperson (for talent acquisition)
- The psychologist (for talent selection and interviewing)
Tight labor markets
Now that the economy is recovering from COVID-19, we can see that the pre-pandemic tight labor markets are returning. Organizations are all ‘fishing from the same talent pool’ in order to attract the right people. Around the globe, there is a lot of demand for software developers, information security analysts, construction workers, and heath care personnel.
How can you use Artificial Intelligence for your Recruitment?
In tight labor markets, it is important to stand out from the rest. You need to get your name out there and build on your reputation. It may come as no surprise that companies like Google and Apple have some of the best working for them. A good way to start, it to show where your organization is standing for. What is the purpose of your organization? Do you like to educate people to do better, do you want to support local companies, do you want to make the world a better place for all? Start with your ‘why’. This does not only have marketing advantages, but also for your employer branding!
Career site
A good way to start is a career site. See it as the front door for potential new employees. Phenom TXM operates as a career site on the front end, but acts as an AI recruitment platform on the other side. Let’s say you open up a new vacancy for a new Sales Manager and 150 people apply. As a recruiter, do you want to take the time to go over all of the resumes and compare them? With the AI behind the platform, incoming candidates will automatically be ranked based on the information on their resume and the requirements you set up for the vacancy. You will soon see that out of these 150 candidates, around 10-15 candidates get a maximum score. On the back-end of the system, recruiters will be able to analyze, plan, and administrate all of the candidates. Our own career site also runs on this platform, check it out here.
A good career site also needs a proper chat bot. Questions like: how can I apply to a vacancy, where is the office located, and how long does the job interview take are essential for potential employees. With Phenom TXM, you can also set up answers to these questions and have potential candidates with help from the chat bot!
