As artificial intelligence continues to push its way to the forefront of technology and make itself known as the inarguable standard of the future, the conversation surrounding AI-enabled recruiting has shifted.

Instead of merely dreaming of how convenient and productive AI-enabled recruiting might be, conversations and practices have quickly evolved, cementing AI-enabled recruiting’s place in businesses of the future.

Over the years, competitive advantages have shifted from tangible to intangible assets, and human capital has transitioned from supporting cast to starring roles. Because of this, AI practices have improved recruiting processes, making AI-led recruiting practices are more vital now than ever before.

What is AI-Based Recruiting?

But what exactly is AI-based recruiting, and further, what does this look like for industries and their applicants?

As companies enter a new era of AI, they’re stepping into what’s being coined as Digital Recruiting 3.0—a transformation that, at its core, is using AI in recruiting activities, such as performing tasks and making decisions that would normally require human intelligence.

In other words, AI-enabled recruiting should automate and streamline the recruiting workflow, especially when it comes to repetitive, high-volume tasks.

Ideally, the AI-enabled processes would be able to identify, attract, screen, assess, interview, and coordinate with job candidates more effectively and efficiently.

Further, it could even improve an applicant’s job interview experience, making them more likely to be open to future opportunities even if they’re passed over for their initial interview.

4 Ways to Implement AI-Based Recruiting For Your Business

AI-enabled recruiting technologies and processes have moved from the periphery to front-and-center necessity. When used properly, the recruiting workflow can be optimized, saving time and resources, and, ideally, cutting costs while improving applicants’ experiences.

According to a recent paper published in Science Direct, AI technology has mainly been applied in recruiting processes in four ways—outreach, screening, assessment, and coordination.

Use AI to Optimize Outreach

It’s crucial for companies to find the right people, which means that, often, their recruiting outreach efforts need to be simultaneously broad and targeted.

Using AI-enabled tools, firms can intelligently sort through candidates to identify both active and passive pools. Over time, AI tools can learn what methods work best and which type of candidate is an ideal fit for their needs.

Companies such as Talenya, HireScore, and Pandologic use AI to scrape data from LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, MeetUp, Beyond, and more in an effort to find candidates actively searching for employment as well as passive candidates who are qualified, though not yet on the job hunt.

While AI can help increase the total number of applicants, it can also target more appropriate candidates. Unilever, as an example, partnered with AI hiring provider Pymetrics to target candidates for 200 key internships. Through this effort, they doubled their applications (from 15,000 to 30,000) while increasing the diversity of their candidate pool.

Lean on AI-Enabled Screening Tools

Reaching active candidates is only the first step in the process. Once the audience has been increased and the ideal candidates have been targeted, firms still need to sort and sift through hundreds (sometimes thousands) of applications to screen for ideal candidates.

Traditionally, this is exceptionally time-consuming.

However, AI-enabled tools can help decrease time-to-hire periods substantially. L’Oréal reported that, when using AI-enabled screening tools, their resume review time dropped from 40 minutes to 4 minutes (a reduction of 90 percent). Further, Hilton Hotels & Resorts saw a time-to-hire decrease from 42 days to just 5 days—an 88 percent reduction.

But the speed of AI screening isn’t the only notable advantage— by using AI-enabled tools to screen candidates, companies can reduce turnover and effectively place qualified, fitting candidates into roles that suit them. According to a recent study, researchers found that AI-enabled tools were at least 25 percent superior to humans in screening applicants, even when humans took a reasonable amount of time to evaluate an application.

Consider AI-Enabled Assessment Procedures

When the screening process has concluded and firms have eliminated 50-80 percent of their applicants, AI-enabled assessments can help narrow the search even further.

Some AI tools use the gamification of tests that provide insight into skills, personality, and capability. For example, Unilever used Pymetrics to create 12 neuroscience-based games to assess candidates in just 20 minutes.

Other companies, like L’Oréal, use AI-enabled interview tools. Specifically, L’Oréal partnered with Mya Systems to assess candidates who passed initial screening and verification that asked candidates three specific questions.

There are several unique ways to utilize AI to assess candidates, but ultimately, AI dramatically reduces the time between screening and making final decisions.

Enhance Interviewees’ Experience

Typically, there is a high volume of rejected candidates during the recruiting process, but the experience of those rejected candidates matters just as much as the candidates who ultimately end up with the position. For, candidates who were rejected today could be great fits for your business tomorrow, and how a company treats them through rejection will dramatically impact the likelihood of them accepting a future offer.

AI-enabled systems can help create a more positive, smoother experience for candidates, even if they ultimately end up with a rejection by providing a seamless digital experience, responding in a timely manner, and allowing for optimization without pre-defined order.

For example, in the age of Digital Recruiting 3.0, applicants typically don’t need to submit CVs or resumes in a predefined order for storage purposes—they can simply submit their LinkedIn profile so an AI system can comb through their online platform and fill out an application for them.

AI-enabled technology is undoubtedly the way of the future for recruiting—but we still have a long way to go. According to a 2018 survey from Deloitte, only about 37% of firms were utilizing AI-enabled recruiting tools across the core of all four recruiting activities.

Still, the evidence remains—recent and near-future advances in AI-enabled recruiting will undoubtedly improve recruiting efficiency, the hiring process, and applicant experience overall.

Daniel Browning is the Business Development Coordinator at PDF Supply, a global supplier of automation products. He enjoys writing about automation, AI, and new technology.

AI recruiting stock photo by Jacob Lund/Shutterstock