Recruitment made 'easy' with AI

I saw a funny meme the other day that said: “Recruitment is easy. It’s like riding a bike... but the bike is on fire, you are on fire, everything is on fire.” While this may be over the top, it captures the undeniable reality that finding the right talent has never been a simple task.

That is, until the arrival of artificial intelligence (AI). AI is transforming the recruitment process, turning the chaotic inferno into a manageable and even enjoyable journey. Let’s dive into how AI is reshaping each stage of recruitment.

Crafting the perfect job post

The recruitment process begins long before the first application arrives. It starts with creating a job posting that accurately reflects the position and attracts the right candidates. ChatGPT, Claude and other similar large language models offer a cost-effective and quality alternative. These AI assistants can create or critique job postings, helping to ensure high-quality, enticing descriptions that attract top talent.

It is notable that there are other AI tools that focus specifically on ensuring that the language within a job description attracts a diverse audience. Textio is a good example of one of these platforms, as it predicts which demographics are likely to apply based on the language used. Pretty neat!
However, I would start with using ChatGPT or Claude, as I’ve seen firsthand the impact that this has made for my clients, at next to no cost.

Sifting through the haystack

Once the applications start pouring in, recruiters face their next major challenge: identifying the best candidates from potentially thousands of applicants. For larger organisations, roles can attract many hundreds or even thousands of applications, making manual screening a near-impossible task.

This is where AI truly shines, transforming the proverbial needle-in-a-haystack scenario into a streamlined, efficient process. Advanced AI algorithms can analyse CVs, assessment results, and even video interviews at lightning speed, identifying candidates who best match the job requirements. Some AI tools go even further, conducting fully digitised video interviews to create a shortlist of top candidates.

These AI-powered screening tools don’t just save time; they also enhance the quality of candidate selection. By using machine learning algorithms, these systems can identify patterns and qualifications that human recruiters might overlook, potentially uncovering hidden gems among applicants.

Scheduling made simple

With a solid shortlist in hand, the next step is scheduling interviews. Traditionally, this has been a time-consuming back-and-forth process, often leading to scheduling conflicts and delays. AI chatbots are changing this narrative, automating the scheduling process with remarkable efficiency.
These intelligent assistants can communicate with candidates, check calendar availability, and schedule interviews without human intervention. They can even handle rescheduling requests and send reminders, ensuring a smooth and professional experience for both candidates and hiring managers.

Elevating the interview process

Even with the perfect candidates lined up, the interview process itself can be a minefield. Many hiring managers, despite their expertise in their fields, lack the specific skills needed to conduct effective interviews. This is where AI steps in as an invaluable coach and assistant.

I remember starting my career as an actuary; there were two particular interviews that left me doubting the quality of the hiring managers. In one interview, the introverted manager simply struggled to hold a conversation and wasn’t prepared with any real questions to ask. Some of my jokes to lighten the mood simply made things more awkward.

In another interview with a competing company, I was asked the most irrelevant questions. For example, I was asked what key steps I would take if I had to open a burger shop. I guess they were trying to assess my critical thinking skills, but surely there are more effective ways to assess my ability to work as an actuary for a life insurance company than to test my ability to sell a Big Mac. I lost respect for these folks and excitement about potentially working with them before I even left the room.

I would advise all hiring managers to upload their job description to an AI tool like ChatGPT to receive a list of tailored, incisive questions designed to assess candidates thoroughly and then to offer guidance on how to rate candidate responses effectively. I highly doubt ChatGPT will suggest asking interviewees how they would run a burger shop, unless they were actually being hired to run a burger shop.

AI-assisted onboarding

The recruitment process doesn’t end with a signed offer letter. Onboarding is a crucial phase that sets the tone for a new employee’s tenure with the company. Here too, AI is making significant inroads, streamlining and personalising the onboarding experience. AI-powered chatbots can guide new hires through paperwork, company policies, and initial training modules. These systems can answer frequently asked questions, provide personalised information based on the employee’s role, and even schedule introductory meetings with key team members.

By automating these routine aspects of onboarding, AI frees up HR professionals to focus on more strategic, high-touch elements of welcoming new employees. This results in a more efficient, consistent, and positive onboarding experience for all new hires.

The human touch in an AI-driven world

While AI is revolutionising recruitment, it’s crucial to remember that it’s not about replacing human judgment, but enhancing it. The goal of AI in recruitment is to handle repetitive tasks, provide data-driven insights, and free up human recruiters to focus on what they do best: building relationships, assessing cultural fit, and making nuanced decisions that require emotional intelligence and a bit of gut-feel.

Removing bias

When making recruitment decisions, whether relying on human judgment or artificial intelligence (AI), it's crucial to ask: “Is there any bias influencing our choices?” Some advocates of AI argue that it mitigates the risk of unconscious human bias in decision-making. However, this assumption holds true only if the data used to train the AI is itself free from bias.

AI platforms are often trained to identify top candidates based on historical hiring decisions. If these past decisions were tainted by human biases, the AI systems using this data will inevitably replicate and perpetuate these biases in their decision-making processes. This creates a paradoxical situation where AI, intended to reduce bias, may instead reinforce existing prejudices.
However, I do believe that with AI and a hiring manager working in tango, the risk for biased decision-making is greatly reduced.

In conclusion

While recruitment may never be as simple as riding a bike, AI is certainly dousing the flames and smoothing out the road. The good news is that it is so easy and cost-effective to bring AI into your recruitment process. The many HR teams that I have trained to bring AI into their recruitment processes will attest that AI has been a game-changer for them. It’s time to jump onto the AI bandwagon and radically transform every element of your hiring process.