Opinion

AI in recruitment – can I use a robot to hire my team?

Recently we’ve seen a massive boom in the use of artificial intelligence, or AI, across various industries. It’s doing everything from writing content, changing text to speech with voice generation, to creating images and artwork. And it’s even changing the way companies recruit.

We’ve been taking a look at the various AI tools available to recruitment companies. And while it’s true that it’s rapidly becoming more and more sophisticated, we’re pleased to say we don’t think it’ll be completely replacing us or your in-house HR team any time soon. Here are the pros and cons of some of the technology that’s currently on the marketplace.

AI in recruitment – what’s available?

Chatbots

Lots of us are getting used to speaking to an AI-powered robot on the phone or on a website (usually through ‘Live chat’) before we get to a human. Recruiters are using chatbots to get job seekers to the right people (i.e. by finding out which area they’re experienced in, and directing them to someone who specialises in that). They’re also using them to give people real-time updates on job applications taking away the need for a phone call.

Obviously these can be great time-saving devices for both job seekers and recruiters. But they can also cause frustration for people with more complicated queries who just want to speak to a real person.

Cv-readers

CV-reading tools help companies find job seekers with the right skills more quickly, usually with keyword searches. Some software can even pull information from an advert and find potential matches on a recruitment consultancy’s database.

We use SourceBreaker and LinkedIn to help us find suitable job seekers, and both of these do speed things up. We don’t think they can replace a truly specialist recruitment consultancy like Pure though – we have a long-standing network of qualified job seekers who we’re constantly in touch with. In fact, we make sure each and every CV we receive is reviewed by one of our specialists.

Automation

Okay, automation isn’t true AI. But it is an automatic process that some consultancies are using to increase the efficiency of communication. It can be things as simple as sending automated emails to acknowledge CVs or applications, or reminders to help consultants remember to check for interview feedback after a certain amount of time.

At Pure we use automated communications to keep our job seekers in the loop about which companies have seen their CVs. This helps make sure they know exactly what’s going on, and lets them know when they should expect feedback.

Can AI eliminate human biases?

AI is great at making predictions based on patterns – that’s why Netflix is so good at predicting what you might like to watch next. But it isn’t ideal when it comes to recruiting a diverse workforce.

For example, if a large percentage of your workforce is of a certain age or from a particular background, AI could eliminate anyone who doesn’t fit the same profile. Our consultants are trained to avoid all types of bias, even unconscious.

Some things need a human touch

There’s no doubt that AI is helping speed up recruitment processes and fill roles more quickly. But there will always be certain areas you need a human to understand – like whether someone would be a good fit for a particular company’s culture or team, or if they have the right work ethic, for example.

These intangible things aren’t something a computer or bit of software is going to be able to identify. We believe that the only way to do this is to bring consultants, clients and job seekers together, and allow them to build and maintain human relationships.

Want to know more?

There’s more information about how AI is being used in recruitment in this article. And if you’d like to talk to one of our (human) consultants about your job search, or filling a position at your organisation, please get in touch.

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Written by

Scott Woodrow

Scott is a Director at Pure, having joined us in 2004. After specialising in senior finance recruitment for several years, he now leads our technology, marketing and digital division. Scott specialises in filling senior management and board-level IT appointments across the east of England.

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