6 Benefits to Using AI in Talent Recruitment
As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to become more integrated into modern society, businesses are finding new ways to leverage the technology for improved customer support, fraud detection and security, data analysis, and marketing. AI-based software and solutions, using machine learning and natural language processing (NLP), allow businesses to optimize their operations and give teams more freedom to focus on business strategy and tasks of higher importance. This also applies to human resources (HR).
The use of AI in HR departments is fairly widespread. Over 95 percent of Fortune 500 companies use an applicant tracking system (ATS) when sourcing prospective hires, according to a Harvard Business School study. An ATS, combined with AI tools and programs, can automate a variety of tedious, time-consuming tasks, such as resume screening and interview scheduling. This frees recruiters to spend more time building relationships with qualified candidates.
Here are six key benefits of using AI to help find the best talent:
Automates Tedious Tasks
Finding qualified, best-fit candidates can be a time-consuming process, one that involves creating job postings, screening applicants, scheduling interviews, and sending follow-up communications. AI, when used correctly, can automate many of these tasks. An AI scheduling tool, for instance, can reduce unnecessary back-and-forth communication between recruiters and candidates by analyzing both parties’ calendars and suggesting open interview slots. There are also AI tools that screen resumes for specific keywords or qualifications, eliminating the need for HR teams to parse through hundreds of resumes to fill open positions.
Job seekers can also use AI-backed resume screening programs to optimize their resume and improve its chances of consideration by recruiters. Jobscan, for example, has an AI program that helps candidates match keywords and hard and soft skills from a specific listing to their resume.
Easier to Source Qualified Candidates
AI can help businesses improve overall quality of hire in a variety of ways, beginning with the job listing’s description of responsibilities. Recruiters can leverage AI to develop descriptive job postings that clearly articulate the position’s requirements and responsibilities. Establishing the ideal candidate profile can lead to a talent pool with fewer over- and under-qualified candidates. This is important considering that almost 80 percent of employers find it difficult to attract qualified candidates, according to data collected by ManpowerGroup in 2023.
Chatbots and other AI-powered technology can also direct candidates to apply for jobs that match their skills and conduct pre-screening. Similarly, AI-powered scraping software combs through resume boards, ATSs, and LinkedIn, among other sources, to find candidates who may have applied for other roles but are better fits for the advertised position.
Address Unconscious Bias in Talent Sourcing
Hiring decisions, whether intended or not, can be affected by human bias. Unconscious bias might include male decisionmakers allowing gender to influence hiring decisions or recruiters favoring candidates without employment gaps in their resume. AI talent recruitment software helps improve objectivity by identifying best matches based on hard and soft skills, presenting managers with candidates that they might have otherwise passed on due to unconscious bias.
However, because AI learns from humans, businesses must also account for potential learned bias and misunderstandings. “One of the claims that companies make about AI-powered hiring tools is that, unlike a human recruiter, an AI-powered tool doesn’t see gender and doesn’t see race or other characteristics about us,” notes Kerry McInerney, a research fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence. “But I’m really skeptical of this idea that technologies are inherently more objective than human recruiters because ultimately they’re trained on the same biased data produced by human recruiters.”
Lower Hiring Costs
While implementing AI in the talent sourcing and hiring process can require a significant investment, such tools help optimize the hiring funnel and facilitate long-term return on investment. Depending on the industry, cost-per-hire can range from $1,000 to more than $5,000, while bad hires can cost businesses as much as $50,000. AI fosters cost-effective hiring by matching the most qualified and best-fit candidate with open positions, in turn reducing employee turnover and limiting spending on training and other new hire expenses.
Improved Time-to-Hire
Recruiters are constantly under pressure to fill positions quickly while ensuring they find the right candidate. Without AI, recruiters prioritizing time-to-hire might inadvertently pass over more qualified candidates. AI fosters balance between candidate fit and time-to-hire as it automates time-consuming tasks and speeds up the recruitment process.
Better Overall Experience for Job Seekers
Beyond working to find the best candidates, HR teams can strive toward ensuring a positive experience for all candidates so that even those passed over have a favorable opinion of the company if ever considered for another position. Many AI tools, including chatbots, are designed to enhance the experience not only for recruiters but also job seekers, allowing them to receive prompt answers to their questions and access important information.
