Recruiting has always been a critical function for businesses to secure the right talent to achieve their goals. However, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is fundamentally changing the recruitment landscape by transforming the way companies source, screen, and select candidates. AI provides companies with new insights and opportunities to make data-driven decisions. In this blog, we will explore the impact of AI on recruitment, discuss the benefits and challenges of using AI in the hiring process, examine how companies can effectively incorporate this technology to attract and retain top talent, and how candidates can better market themselves in the age of AI.
Let’s be honest, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is incredibly cool but a tad creepy. The capabilities of AI get stronger and more useful each time it’s utilized. For example, the intro to this blog was written by an AI chatbot with only a suggested title. Like it or not, AI is changing the way the world operates, including hiring practices. As with all things, there are significant pros and cons for both employers and employees when it comes to AI in the recruiting process. Automation and AI have made the job search and application process incredibly easy for candidates seeking new opportunities. However, the ease of this process has also created more competition for job seekers. Employers are now bombarded with hundreds of applications. Many do not meet the necessary criteria. And for both parties operating in the world of AI, the aspect of “the human touch” is completely lost.
AI is essential in cutting down the time it takes to fill job openings. While many hiring teams use generic job descriptions that do not truly highlight the necessary skills and requirements of the job, AI suggests candidate matches based on the job description. Employers must take the time to develop a job description that truly reflects the candidate they want to hire. Doing this in the beginning, will save rework time and allow the AI to do its job faster. Leading job boards and candidate-sourcing sites such as LinkedIn and Indeed, have advanced AI capabilities. Once a job is posted, the AI will provide hiring teams a suggested list of top available matches based on the information entered in the candidate's resume and/or profile.
Understanding how AI is used within the recruiting process can help candidates stand out in the vast pools of resumes floating in Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). Most use AI by utilizing keywords from the job description to match keywords on resumes. This provides recruiters and hiring teams a list of top candidates to engage with at the very beginning of the hiring process. If you are applying to a job, it is important to customize your resume to match the keywords of the job description. The experience still needs to be real, and the candidate should be able to give personal examples of the work completed. However, there is nothing wrong with highlighting experiences as they relate to individual jobs. By doing so, you are giving yourself a better chance of making it on that list of top candidates.
Frequently updating resumes, profiles, and overall information will also help elevate candidates to the suggested candidate lists.
For employers, the value of having a human recruiter to screen and vet candidates is vital for verifying applicants as well as ensuring desirable candidates aren't blocked by an AI firewall. As proven by the entry to this blog, AI is more than capable of writing fake resumes and fabricating experiences. The only way to guarantee the candidate is authentic, prior to an interview, is to have a human recruiter vet them for you. More importantly, recruiters are experts – even more so than AI (shocking, we know!) in understanding an employer’s needs, and a candidate’s value, and providing both with a perfect match. AI can make the hiring process more efficient, but it can’t replace the primordial need for the human touch.