Artificial intelligence in recruitment, benefits and limits

More and more companies are using artificial intelligence (AI) within Human Resources and as a result, recruiters can now focus on other ongoing and priority tasks. According to a study by Apec (employment association), 27% of companies use software packages capable of reading CVs and more and more companies are using artificial intelligence to recruit new members of staff. While this technology can increase efficiency, it can also increase the risks of standardization and dehumanization.

Using IA in recruitment?

AI can select resumes with specific key words.  It can test candidates’ profiles and specific skills. It will match profiles and suggest candidates best suited to the job description and it can store similar applications and place them into the right category. At this point however some human interaction may be needed.

Using AI in this way a recruiter has no need to look at several possible resumes but will rather see the one that has been selected based on the criteria’s set.

What is the point of viewing candidates?

According to a study by Robert Walters, 62% of candidates believe that the use of artificial intelligence presents a risk of dehumanization or lack of personalization.

Candidates are looking for interaction and advice from recruiters. A relationship should be created between the two parties and emotional elements must be taken into account.

Skills and diplomas are obviously essential when recruiting a candidate, but the relationship created, and the impression given should also be taken into consideration. In addition, soft skills play a key role in job interviews because they best define the personality of the candidate in front of you. 90% of recruiters believe that behavioral skills will continue to grow in importance in the years to come. Of course, in order to identify qualities, it is important to talk to the candidate. Artificial intelligence cannot detect a person’s personality.

Candidates may feel some concern about artificial intelligence application filtering.  The fact that a machine can make such important decisions without a human being consulted demands questioning.

Recruiter contributions?

Recruiters are increasingly using new technologies to better recruit new talent. 39% of recruiters want to use artificial intelligence to search for talent and only 14% actually do so according to a study by Robert Walters. However, as you have probably noticed, the job of a recruiter is changing by automating some of his or her responsibilities.

Saving time and increasing efficiency are the main contributions of artificial intelligence. The digitalization of recruitment allows recruiters to focus solely on the analysis of the data extracted by algorithms. These help recruitment decisions, but it is important to remember that artificial intelligence should never take the place of the recruiter.

It is true that artificial intelligence can bring a dynamic and personalized interaction to the career sites of companies along with chatbots which can help make the first selection of candidates. It can also help to predict the behaviors of a candidate applying for a specific position. However, we must not forget that artificial intelligence has flaws and can never replace an interview between a candidate and a recruiter. According to the Robert Walters study, 62% of candidates say that the use of AI software in recruitment presents a risk of dehumanization or lack of personalization.

In the long run, machines may select candidates with the same profile and thus reduce the diversity that enriches a business. Above all, they cannot evaluate the potential skills expressed.   We should bear in mind that only the recruiter can develop a connection with the candidate and he or she alone can best assess a profile which will match the company’s culture.

On the other hand, while the machine can be trained to read and select, the candidate can also improve the information provided, improving his or her chance of being selected by the machine via word matching.

So yes, the machine will be able to clearly match a resume to a recruiter’s key words, but the recruitment will always involve two people and in the end, there will be human interaction.

Furthermore, with the increasing difficulty in finding scarce resources, recruitment will need to be more creative.

Artificial intelligence is and must remain a complementary tool to the recruiter and it must never take its place. It can be used to save time, but we must remember that only the recruiter is qualified to detect personal skills, the qualities of an individual, the integration with the team personalities in place, and with the culture of the company.