Chatbots for making hiring faster and smarter in future

After taking the retail and banking by storm, the cognitive technologies are all set to change the face of staffing industry revamping the traditional or outdated hiring and recruiting practices. In IBM’s 2017 survey, nearly 66% of CEOs said that cognitive computing has an immense potential to create value in HR and Recruitment. And, the organizations are enthusiastic and optimistic about the cognitive technologies for the substantial benefits offered. In fact, some of the early adopters of Artificial Intelligence and Predictive Analytics agreed that there is a sharp rise in their revenue growth in comparison to those which do not use A.I. and Predictive Analytics, as per a Deloitte Bersin report.

Faster yet cheaper

One of the biggest advantages of AI for technologically disruptive organisations is the hiring of quality talent within the stipulated time. There are many avatars of AI that have blessed companies hiring and recruitment processes with agility, productivity, and precision, and chatbots occupy the top position among them. AI chatbots are gaining huge popularity among the recruiters. They interact with the applicants and compiles relevant data that make recruitment process 30 per cent faster besides reducing the overall recruitment cost by 50 per cent.

Smart assistance

Chatbots work on many platforms such as SMS Text Messaging, Recruitment-specific Software such as ATS, Messaging Apps like WhatsApp, Slack, Skype, etc., Social Media, and E-mail. Powered by AI and ML, chatbots perfectly perform repetitive tasks and help in fixing the communication gap between the recruiter and the potential candidates. They speed up the recruitment process by elimination candidates which don’t fulfil the eligibility criterion set by senior managers in the HR team. On the other hand, they instantly reply to all those FAQs which candidates usually asked after finding the job advertisement on the company’s website, job portals, or on other online platforms like LinkedIn or Glassdoor.

Friendly and supportive

The way like Siri and Cortana make instant calls or control room temperature, A.I. chatbots supported with natural language processing would help customers seek quick answers to the relocation questions, instantly book a relocation move with a service provider, or even advise them. These chatbots understand the customers’ requirements in a human-like way and accordingly provide them with apt solutions on the fly.

Today, the HR industry is flooded with bespoke chatbots to address the changing needs of recruiters in the digital era. Some of the most popular chatbots in the present time are: Mya, XOR.ai, VCV.ai, Ari, Job Pal, My Ally, Robo Recruiter, and Debra. These advanced chatbot talk and engage with applicants and prospects through simple language and easy to understand responses. With 24/7 availability, they are ready to answer anyone from across the globe. They schedule telephonic as well as video interviews, and also considered effective in the post-selection activities such as employees’ training and onboarding.

Work more tirelessly

They instantly reply to the queries of candidates and record every conversation to share it with the concerned authorities. Based on the recorded conversation, the HR team decides which candidates should be invited for the interview, which profile should be rejected, and which one should be kept in the database to consider future requirements. With the help of these innovative chatbots, recruiters can analyse a large number of profiles without consuming extra working hours and money. Chatbots are all about smarter and faster hiring in future and leveraging HR teams with more time to focus on crucial decisions. They are accredited with unbiased and thoughtful recruiting and improved the overall efficiency of the recruitment team.

Optimised hiring

Chatbots have enabled recruiters in optimising their hiring processes and achieving maximum return from the recruitment budget. In this age of automation, where AI technologies make it easier for the candidates to apply for the coveted jobs, it provides them recruiters with both adequate time and efficiency to focus on more important tasks that are dependent on human thinking and reasoning. In the future, there will be more proliferation in job opportunities as the new job roles are emerging where human reasoning will be complemented by Artificial Intelligence.

 Abhishek Agarwal, Senior Vice President, Judge Group