Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Recruitment

Over the centuries, it has been observed that one of the most important factors that has constantly driven the growth of multifarious industries is innovative technology. Since the 18th century, when machinerydevelopment ushered in the era of the First Industrial Revolution that lasted from 1760 to 1840, technology has played a key role in contributing to the growth of several economies.

Following that period, the world successively witnessed the arrival of the Second industrial revolution in 1870, which brought electronically powered mass production;and was followed by the Digital revolution in the 1950s, which paved the way for automation in manufacturing processes via information technology. Now, we are on the verge of witnessingthe Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0, which is expected to introduce Cyber physical systems across industries in the near future.

Just like previous revolutions that liberated humankind from animal power, made mass production possible, and brought digital capabilities to billions of people, the fourth industrial revolution is also expected to be driven by new range of technologies. Moreover, the new technologies being introduced with industry 4.0 is touted to combine the power of physical, digital, and biological worlds, and in the process, also challenge ideas regarding what it means to be Human.One such technology is Artificial Intelligence, which is one of the main technologies that are powering the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial intelligence or AI, is a branch of computer science that aims to create intelligent machines that can imitate human intelligence to accomplish complex tasks. In simpler terms, AI refers to any tech enabled machine that can mimic rational/cognitive function associated with human beings, such as logical reasoning and problem solving to complete different tasks.The technology is expected to serve as an alternate source of intelligence by using different aspects. Some of them include: Reasoning & problem solving; Representation of knowledge; Planning; Learning; Natural language processing; Perception;Motion & Manipulation; Creativity; and Social & general intelligence.

While the concept of AI has gained prominence over the past decade, there are some evidence that suggest that this technology has been discussed or has been hinted upon in works of several distinguishedpeople. For example: Marry Shelley’s most popular work – Frankenstein has been attributed as one of the earliest mentions of ‘Artificial Humans’ in fiction.

These days, AI is playing a significant role in powering lots of things which we utilize on daily basis. Be itin the form of smart cars, smartphones, email spam filters, shopping list recommendation, translator, or chess, artificial intelligence now has many takers, and is being considered by many as a step forward in the field of technology. Some of the most common applications of artificial intelligence are in the fields of healthcare, automotive, finance, video games, and science based competitive events.

Apart from aforementioned industries, AI has also begun to foray into the recruitment industry and has managed to create a ripple effect all across the sector.Most recruiters around the world have begun to gradually shift their focus towards analytics and Artificial Intelligence in a bid to redefine the future of recruitment. Let us explore how.

How is Artificial Intelligence transforming the Recruitment industry for the better?

Recruitment refers to the process of finding employees to work in an organizations by sifting through numerous candidates, and selecting those who are qualifiedfor the job description set by recruiters. The industry is ever growing, and has witnessed several developments over the years.

Globally, the recruitment/employment sector is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 17.66 per cent within the next 4 years, according to a report published by Technavio. Another report suggests that the evolution of online recruitment is engaging both recruiters and candidates like never before, and is opening several doors of opportunity for both parties involved, as well as allowing new technologies like AI to disrupt the market effectively.

At present, the following factors are determining the prevalence of artificial intelligence in the recruitment sector:

AI Powered Recommendations: Manually finding candidates resumes is an error-prone and time-consuming task. Although human touch is essential for any kind of activity, it has been observed that most recruiters tend to invest a majority of their limited time in finding relevant resumes for any given job profile. However, with AI, recruiters are able to solve this problem now. If done right, AI powered recommendation algorithm can list down candidates sorted by relevance, allowing recruiters to connect with them one by one, and hence,substantially optimizing his/her precious time. These days, some artificial intelligence powered recommendation engines can also analyzes the job description posted by employers, and after taking into accountseveral parameters, and find the best candidates in the database who fit the given requirement. What’s more, using AI can also eliminate the need for recruiters to come up with long and complicated Boolean or keyword searches to conduct a resume search manually.

Finding best time to reach candidates: Recruiting passive or unresponsive candidates can become a harrowing task for recruiters as it is almost impossible to gauge if someone is actually looking to switch jobs or not. However, with artificial intelligence powered, many online search engines can monitor social media behaviors that correlate with someone who is ready to make the transition or those who are not. For active candidates, AI powered notifications can be sent at a time slotwherein candidates are more willing to open email/SMS based on past behavior, and thus,considerably improving the campaign’s performance funnel.

Writing Better Job Descriptions: Writing a job description can be a difficult task as there is no fixed rule or technique to create it, and highlight the ultimate goal of persuading candidates to apply in the first place. However, based on machine learning on past job descriptions & marketing analysis, artificial intelligence can help recruiters in writing better job descriptions for different job roles. In short, letting the human mind take the final judgement in terms of the tone of voice while verbally speaking. Sentiment analysis plays a major role here as such technologies can help create a more neutral tone, and ensure that any job description being presented to candidates appears inclusiveness and friendly work culture.

Screening Incoming applications: Imaging having to go through hundreds of applications on daily basis, most of which are not relevant. Such things can become a challenging task for anyone. On the other hand, AI powered screening can automatically filter out applications that are not relevant for a job role so that recruiters can focus on only those applications which are potentially useful. In addition, such intelligent screening algorithm automatically flag irrelevant candidates, and lists relevant submissions in decreasing order so that recruiter/employers do not have to work hard to find relevant candidates first, and in the process, cut down on manual labor.

Reducing unconscious bias: One of the biggest advantages of introducing artificial intelligence in the realm of recruitment lies in the fact that it can minimize instances of unconscious bias based on cast creed, gender, or race on part of the employer. This allows people from all walks of life and social strata to apply for jobs based solely on their qualification.

To conclude, AI is a huge boon for recruitment industry if properly used. Despite popular belief, AI will not make recruitment process more inhuman but instead will make it more human by freeing by recruiters time to more deeply explore candidate’s data and needs and determine fit with company values and requirements. By using it in right places, AI powered technology will help ease the recruiter frustrations and build a bridge between disconnect of employers and job seekers and can lower time to hire for recruiters.

As the renowned German Engineer & economist – Klaus Schwab once said, “The Fourth Industrial Revolution can compromise humanity's traditional sources of meaning - work, community, family, and identity - or it can lift humanity into a new collective and moral consciousness based on a sense of shared destiny. The choice is ours.”

Gaurav Verma
CTO,Aasaanjobs