If you are in Recruiting, one of the buzzwords you hear the most these days is Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Recruiting. Robots..Chatbots…Machine learning…AI…are taking over the HR and Recruiting world and creating anxiety of robots stealing our jobs. But can they replace a recruiter?
I must say, I love bringing in any innovative or cutting edge tools that help us work efficiently and save us a hell lot of time. Most of the talent acquisition technologies that use AI functionality seem to be promising when it comes to reducing the administrative/repetitive tasks of a recruiter.
Where AI can help recruiters
AI will surely transform the recruiting world. Those time-consuming tasks that recruiters spend can now be streamlined and automated.
- Sourcing and hunting down candidates – like Arya does
- Reviewing resumes and find a matching candidate from thousands of job applications – like PocketRecruiter does
- Scheduling interviews between candidate and hiring managers – like Olivia does
- Answer the job application question from candidates – like Mya does, and provide a good candidate experience.
AI will be a great help in reviewing resumes when you are working on high volume requisitions for sure. In a nutshell, recruiters will get to save a lot of time and spend it wisely on the strategic part of the game and add more value.
Where AI or Robots can’t help recruiters
While AI is so promising and I am so thrilled to personally utilize some of those tools, there are some of the aspects of recruiting that can never be automated. AI can replace tasks but not the human element and that makes all the difference.
Personal Interactions: Recruiting becomes more efficient, data driven and augmented by AI but the need for a recruiter to humanize the recruiting process, by building a great rapport and relationship with the candidate can’t be done by AI. We are connecting with humans for whom work is personal and the workplace is the second home. Relationships go a long way with personal interactions.
Emotional Connection: You are helping the candidate connect with the organization, its mission and mostly the DNA of the organization. That won’t happen overnight with a random message or talking to a chatbot. You need to connect with real human being in an organization to know the pulse of the organization. Recruiters hand-holding goes a long way from storytelling, connecting the candidate to the organization to soothing them if they are nervous before the interview and setting them up for success.
Strategic Counsel: Recruiters would know the culture, team vibe and especially the personality of the hiring manager and what type of candidate would be a right fit for him. Knowing this, recruiters would counsel and prep the candidates before they meet with hiring manager/interview panel. Throughout the recruitment process, the recruiter acts as a business partner, provides guidance to the hiring managers on setting reliable expectations and helping with salary negotiations. These ongoing interactions between a recruiter/hiring managers/candidates are what make a right hire. And it cannot be done by AI.
Personalization & Customization: I interact with hundreds of candidates and they all are unique and come from a different background. So the need for me to personalize my messaging and strike the right chord when it’s being delivered is important to my success as a recruiter. I don’t sell jobs if it doesn’t make sense for a candidate and knowing that their career aspirations won’t align with what they are getting into. I might take a detour and show them a different path within the organization where in they can follow their dream. And that is something AI can’t do now.
