Should Job-board care about Artificial Intelligence?6 min read

“Advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning are now arriving at a breath-taking pace”.

These recent years we have seen a rising curiosity about artificial intelligence and how it could revolutionize the working world. Therefore, we can wonder how Artificial intelligence could help the recruitment field? Should job-boards care about it at all?  The immediate thought following such question is no, of course, they cannot help job boards in recruitment advertising. However, if you give it a second thought, at least two reasons seem indicate that artificial intelligence could be helpful for job boards. Improving the Jobseeker’s experience and the recruiter’s performance.

 

IMPROVING THE JOB SEEKER’S EXPERIENCE

Job seekers always have many questions, and FAQ are usually ineffective, you never actually find an accurate answer. In fact, 77% of job seekers say that there is not enough information on job ads. According to CareerBuilder’s data, 67% of job seekers have a positive impression of a company if they receive consistent updates throughout the application process. However, 43% of applicant said they “never” got an answer from the company they applied to.  Implementing artificial intelligence (AI) could therefore help improving the jobseeker’s experience by solving these issues and differentiate a job-board from another as well as building loyalty with its passive and active visitors. Chatbots such as Olivia, from paradox.ai, Mya from MyaSystems, and ARI from textrecruit could help jobseekers identify their options, asses their readiness for a job interview, guide them through the application process or answer every question they could have.

Machine learning could also be used to help job seekers with the one task they are least able to do well: searching the job database to find openings that are appropriate for them. So, doing all of that, on a 24/7 basis and in a conversational tone will likely go a long way toward improving their experience during the recruiting process. It is simply better customer service. Jobseekers will be happier since they will not waste time looking at inappropriate opportunities, will not miss any of the appropriated ones, and will know everything they want to know.

IMPROVING THE RECRUITER’S PERFORMANCE.

 

More applications from higher quality prospects.

Answering candidates’ questions and, in the process, keeping them engaged, will increase their propensity to apply. Such consequence will especially be true for candidates that are more passive since they have often more question before they actually give it go. Even if AI will not prevent applicants from dropping off the recruitment process, it will attract more jobseekers. As we have said it above, candidates will be happier with the job-board and more likely to apply.

Moreover, by answering their question, AI will direct them towards the right opening positions. By doing so it will prevent underqualified applicants. Recruiters will therefore have more applicants who correspond to their criteria. In addition, they will prevent human bias by redirecting people who we would not have thought of. In England, for example 40% of L’Oréal’s interns come from schools that were not seen as top providers of interns before the use of IA.

Gain time

Using a Chabot for Q&A and to help candidates through the application process will ultimately produce better quality candidates for the company overall. Since the most qualified candidate who is likely to have other options will need more questions answered and points clarified throughout the process to help them make a final decision. Having an Artificial intelligence that can do so without interfering with a recruiter’s day will help speed up the process. Artificial intelligence (AI) will have ability to give accurate and quick answers to help speed up the decision-making process for candidates. Which will then reduce follow-up questions. Therefore, artificial intelligence relieves recruiters of the burden of answering candidate questions. Or of the loss of no doing so

Save Money

Using AI is not a new concept it has been seen in many industries such as customer’s services and sales. Incorporating AI did not completely automate the services of course, but it generated major annual savings. In fact, a study by the BI Intelligence team found that by using chatbots in customer service, the annual savings could result in about $23 billion a year. Therefore, we can expect similar saving by incorporating chatbots in the recruiting process. According to a SHRM study from 2016, the average cost per hire for companies is $4,129 and the average time it takes to fill a position is 42 days. Using a Chabot’s abilities to talk to multiple candidates at a time and scan thousands of resumes would reduce this time to hire. But, if AI are so profitable; why not try to integrate them even more?

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS NOT ALWAYS A SUCCES

Some experiences are conclusive end other are not. For example, Vera the very much heard about Russian DHR did not convince neither L’Oréal nor Ikea. Vera was supposed to sort and select application and then conduct interviews with applicants. She could answer the phone and take video-calls. Finally, explains Natalia Nogera, Digital Transformation for HR at L’Oréal, it works better when automation is made on low-added values tasks. Making the first call to an applicant seems to big of a responsibility and it seems therefore better to leave it to a more human DHR. And Natali Nogera to ad “We see IA as a tool that will enhance the human capabilities of our HR, and not replace them. We need to be really cautious about this subject”

Moreover, by preselecting ads for candidates we prevent them from glancing at other options that might unpredictably interesting to them. We even prevent them from being curious and seeing information from “non-relevant” markets.

Finally, it is all about human relations. Putting this in the hands of AI doesn’t feel right for most recruiters now.

 

In the end, artificial intelligence could potentially improve jobseeker’s experience and help recruiters select the most qualified candidate with better precision, decreasing the chances of wasting time and money on the wrong selection. But it surely will not replace the recruiters. For the present and the near future, they are more likely to be a competitive advantage, whether they are developed in-house or introduced via a partnership. In either case, it is important that job boards invest the time to understand the technology and explore how best to deal with it.

 

 

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