How A.I. and Machine Learning will make recruiters better
On the market today are several new products and services that leverage artificial intelligence (A.I.) and machine learning in an effort to change the recruitment and retention landscapes.
Some of these products definitely fall into the “cool” category – like those that predict when someone is likely to switch jobs, analyze facial features during an interview, or automate the onboarding process – but it remains to be seen how effectively these types of products will improve the overall recruitment process.
More Time to Be Human
One way that A.I. and machine learning are likely to have an immediate impact is by giving recruiters more time to have actual human interactions with candidates. Based on my own experience, I’d estimate that during the recruitment life cycle of any given open position, a recruiter may spend up to 30-40 percent of their time sorting through resumes and entering candidates into an applicant tracking system (ATS) instead of actually talking to candidates about the job.
The number of resumes that need to be screened can be staggering. Once a recruiter has identified a handful of qualified candidates, they will simply stop looking at new resumes – which might mean they are missing out on the best talent. What if the ideal candidate applied a few days later and was never even reviewed? Or perhaps a great candidate’s resume was simply overlooked early in the process because the recruiter was juggling so many tasks.
By eliminating the dreaded ATS “black hole” and giving recruiters more time to actually recruit, A.I. can improve the hiring process for both clients and candidates.
In the Trenches With an A.I. Company
One company that is working with A.I. and machine learning to help companies recruit more efficiently is NLP Logix, based in Jacksonville, Florida. There, a team of software engineers and data scientists is working on algorithms to help recruiters screen candidates and match them to jobs more effectively.
With demand for talent so high, many companies are looking at ways they can utilize advances in technology to attract and retain highly skilled professionals and reduce the time it takes to onboard candidates. Having computers do much of the time-consuming and tedious work allows both in-house and agency recruiters to spend more time actually speaking to candidates in order to evaluate their personalities, soft skills, and overall cultural fits.
“Staffing firms and HR departments are increasingly dependent on expensive recruiters to do some of the most menial tasks,” notes Robby Robertson, chief operating officer at NLP Logix. “By creating A.I.-based recruiters, we’re allowing these firms to increase capacity by making the recruiting team more efficient and to close more business faster with the best talent available.”
Organizations that adopt these new A.I.-driven technologies are likely to see improvement in key metrics like their interview and time-to-fill ratios, ultimately giving them an edge over their competitors. The technology may also allow recruiting teams to do more with less, as teams will no longer need to hire additional recruiters in order to handle additional workloads.
Aside from the introduction of the ATS, the recruiting process has not changed much over the last couple of decades. However, the adoption of A.I. and machine learning may prove to be a game-changer that transforms how we think of talent acquisition.