No one likes applying for a new job. Having to pull up the resume and write a cover letter is far from exciting. Turns out companies may not feel thrilled about sorting through them all either. In 2016, one company accepted 250,000 applicants just for one job! – Do you have a source for this?
More companies are using robot recruitment—technology that uses artificial intelligence (AI) during the recruitment process. Things like sorting stacks of resumes or comparing and contrasting candidate cover letters may become a thing of the past.
The Rise of AI in HR
In 2012, The Ladders conducted a study to discover that recruiters spend an average of six seconds reading a CV. Then in 2015, Glassdoor reported that each job posting on their site received an average of 250 applications.
With the rise in applicants, a streamlined way to evaluate and select the most qualified candidates for the job needed to be created. Recruitment software already existed and was in use on websites through things like chatbots, which decreased the time to interview by 79% and increased productivity for recruiters by 144% for the company Mya.
Applicant tracking systems (ATS) instantly scan resumes and cover letters for keywords and skills that have been programmed in thus eliminating candidates that don’t fit the description. This cuts down on HR pros having to do this manually, improving their productivity and work flow. The New Economy Reports that Jobscan estimates that 98 percent of Fortune 500 companies now use ATS software to assist with the hiring process.
Impacts on HR
These programs can sort through and score candidates by matching their resume, cover letter and CV against the job requirements. This score lets the HR professional know how the candidate ranked based on their qualifications. Then it is up to the HR team to decide who gets accepted to move forward with the hiring process…like for instance accepting all candidates who score 85 percent.
However, not all algorithms are created equal. Some demonstrate biases, like it was recently discovered that a company was using an AI recruitment tool and the tool ended up discriminating against female candidates. AI also only scans for keywords from the job descriptions, so candidates need to be aware to tailor their skills and experiences using words exactly from the job description.
AI isn’t making recruiters and HR pros obsolete. But it is improving efficiency and increasing productivity for HR departments.
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