How is AI transforming the recruitment industry?

In the past few years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has moved from being something from science fiction to a realistic opportunity for improvement in the business sector. But how can it benefit the recruitment industry – and recruitment agencies in particular?
For agencies who are new to this technology, AI is a form of computer-based learning in which intelligent software can not only automate key processes, it can analyse current patterns and behaviour to predict what will happen next.
Some recruiters fear the role of machines in what traditionally has been a man-powered industry, but there are many ways in which AI can improve day-to-day productivity for many companies. And best of all, rather than replacing current staff, it will take away boring and inefficient jobs being done by personnel, so they can concentrate on value-add tasks.
Let’s take a look at some examples…

Wording the perfect job advert

Finding the right candidate begins with creating the perfect job advert, and AI is making this process even easier; taking the weight off recruiters’ shoulders in the process.
Intelligent software systems such as Textio can enable what is known as ‘augmented writing’, where millions of sentence structures and word patterns are analysed to reveal which phrases are most likely to generate a response.
Additionally, AI increases in efficiency the more data it analyses, so the more adverts a recruitment agency places, the better it gets at understanding the data, and therefore the response rate will keep improving over time.

Removing bias from the search process

Good recruitment agencies will always strive to find the right candidate regardless of their age, gender or social circumstances, but sometimes subconscious bias can creep in – either on the agency side, or influenced by the client’s requirements.
AI tools like Harver can help overcome any unwanted bias by analysing each applicant’s experience and skills against the requirements of the position they are applying for, and rating their chance at succeeding in the role. Then it’s down to the recruiter to find the candidate with the best chemistry from the best-fit applicants.

Using chatbots to assess suitable candidates

One of the use cases for AI that people will be most aware of are chatbots, and these can be utilised by recruitment agencies to determine whether candidates are suitable for a position.
Chatbots can ask potential employees a series of questions, which will help filter out those that either aren’t suitable for a role, or aren’t interested in progressing with their application. There are already a number of bots doing this successfully for recruitment companies – JobPal and Mya, to name two – and more are anticipated to hit the market over the coming years.
Rather than replacing recruiters, these chatbots use AI to qualify candidates so that staff can focus on spending quality time coaching those who are the best-fit applicants for the role. This is something highly appealing to recruiters; in a recent blog post we looked at an international survey on AI, and the top benefit professionals wanted from this technology was a means of simplifying and automating time-consuming processes. 

Use technology intelligently for better performance

As these examples show, AI is creating powerful opportunities for recruitment agencies to blend the efficiency of machine learning with the human skills unique to their workforce. However, it’s not just artificial intelligence technology that can make day-to-day operations easier.
ETZ’s industry-leading recruitment back office software manages many of the everyday processes that dominate recruiters’ workload. From formatting and approving timesheets to creating invoices and chasing payments, our technology automates key processes so that agency staff can focus on more profitable activities.
Book a free ETZ demo to see how our software can empower your agency team.