This post originally appeared on Entrepreneur.com - #Growing Your Business
Applications for artificial intelligence are becoming more widespread, and with good reason.
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The writing is on the wall, boldly: Artificial intelligence is here to stay, and it is transforming every aspect of life and business. Over the years, the adoption of AI in recruiting has increased, and that has subsequently improved the hiring processes of enterprises that take advantage of it. Initially, its introduction wasn’t so welcomed, not just because experts believed that it would take the jobs of HR personnel, but particularly because of the possibility that it would make the recruitment process overly robotic and remove the sacred “human” factor in HR.
AI in recruitment has been anything but that. It has neither taken away jobs nor completely taken over the HR business. Instead, it complements the work of hiring teams and makes the recruitment process faster and more efficient. This lowers costs and ensures more quality hires. In a 2018 survey, 69 percent of talent-acquisition professionals admitted that AI has enabled them to hire higher-quality candidates.
Candidate Engagement
One of the fastest-growing enterprises putting forward recruitment solutions is Jobpal, a chatbot-software company that can use any of the popular messaging platforms (WhatsApp, LINE, Telegram, Facebook messenger or even SMS) to create software that ensures better customer engagement.
The benefits of using AI in this fashion for recruitment are two-way. The client company enjoys automation and can do more in less time. On the other hand, applicants are provided a better candidate experience with easy vacancy applications, immediate replies to inquiries, continuous assistance, scheduling interviews and passing other necessary information.
Related: Here’s Why Your Company Should Start Using Chatbots for Talent Acquisition
Intelligent Candidate Screening
AI may also be used to scan resumes and intelligently shortlist the most suitable candidates. This is usually done by training the algorithm to find certain keywords in application materials that prove their suitability. However, some companies have extended their system capabilities beyond just that.
For example, Ideal has software that not only screens resumes, but can also analyze every candidate data source and use predictive analysis to determine which candidates are more likely to succeed on the job. This not only improves the quality of the hire, but also ensures that the most retainable talents are brought on board.
Candidate Evaluation
Depending on the roles to be filled, companies often have job applicants go through multiple stages to guarantee that they select only the most qualified candidates, but this can also become a bottleneck. Many companies are looking to use AI-powered applications to assist in this process. One such company, TopDevz, saw AI as an opportunity and created a one-way video interview platform that speeds up the rate at which you can process applicants. This interview can then be shared with multiple decision-makers to review and watch on their own time and transcribed into a database where you can easily search their verbal answers for keywords.
Personality Testing
Within the last decade, there has been an increased focus on soft skills. Managers are now looking to hire candidates who are not only competent in what they do, but have a great personality. Those soft skills can broadly include communication skills, teamwork, critical thinking and public speaking, and research has proven that they are critical to an employee’s success on the job.
Up until now, hiring managers have had to rely on facial cues and their own intuition. However, appearances can mislead, and it is easy for a candidate to put up a good act just to sail through the interview stage. But a company like Humantic is now changing that narrative, enabling companies to organize personality tests via AI. Sometimes, by making applicants play a game or answer some seemingly innocent questions, recruiters can get insights about their personality and make better hiring decisions.
Related: How Integrating AI Into Recruitment Can Benefit Companies
Today’s job market is overcrowded, and it is not uncommon to have so many people grappling for so few jobs. Hiring teams often rummage through loads of resumes and engaging in other mundane tasks. AI relieves most of this stress and enables the human recruiters to focus on important aspects of the process like assessment and interviews. This saves a lot of time while ensuring a more efficient recruiting process. The biggest challenge that hiring managers face is finding the right candidate; AI makes that possible.
