Will recruitment be automated? (part II)

The recruitment process has transformed over the years, along with the development of machine learning technology. At one point, it turned out that automation favors effective HR activities and helps talent acquisition teams reach the right people faster. With time it became clear that robots can support humans in many efforts, and there are activities they perform better than recruiters. Hence the question, will recruitment be automated? 

How recruitment evolved during the last 20 years

There are apparent differences between how companies acquire talent now and how they used to two decades ago. Let's look at the opportunities we have gained with technological advancements.

Unlimited reach  

Back then, recruiters had to publish their job offers in local newspapers or trade magazines. There were absolutely no tools to measure the interest to the offer or the number of people who saw it. Also, with limited reach, the number of candidates was low making the talent shortage a serious problem. 

Nowadays, thanks to social media and Internet expansion, the number of platforms where you can promote your HR campaign is overwhelming. It’s never been easier to access so many qualified candidates. The reach we have today gives us much more opportunity to hire the person we need. Not to mention how much space companies have to implement their Employer Branding strategy.  

Much more control over analytics

Twenty years ago, candidates’ engagement tracking literally didn’t exist. There was no option to collect data to see patterns of behavior or to predict future success. Hiring managers relied on intuition and relied mainly on guesswork to decide which activity would attract the best applicants. 

Technological advancements have allowed HR teams to be more aware of their actions. They can make decisions based on the real data drawn from real campaigns. This way, instead of guesswork, they are actively getting closer to the desired results. And even more, data collection along with report generation can be performed 100% automatically! The accuracy gained through analytical tools is a powerful weapon in today’s fight for talent in the market. 

Video job interviews

The quality of the video is much, much better now compared to the quality from 2000. This fact has opened the door to video interviewing - a popular way to get in-depth knowledge about a candidate before even seeing them. A recruiter can organize a meeting on Google Hangouts, Zoom, or any other communicator with a video option to see and talk with a candidate without both sides having to leave the office. During the current pandemic, video interviewing is the best way to get to know your future employee. 

Additionally, video conferencing has become much more accessible nowadays. Something that was a pricy platform with low audio quality (not to mention video quality) is now in most cases a free option for both businesses and individuals. 

Scheduling calls & interviews 

Nothing has become so convenient and quick as interview scheduling. Before the massive progress in machine learning and artificial intelligence in general, this was a manual job. Hiring managers had to engage in so-called back and forth with candidates to finally choose the date of a meeting that suits both parties. It was a time-consuming and repetitive process causing much frustration. 

Access to AI solutions such as HR Voicebot or other automated recruitment assistants frees up HR managers from interview scheduling. They can start preparations for a meeting while the software completes the task for them. HR Voicebot will accomplish the job faster and fit the interviews into the recruiter’s work schedule. Such a relief! 

Potential threats 

As we see, technology has changed the recruitment we knew in a way that brings many possibilities to the table. On the other hand, the adoption of machine learning solutions is continuously increasing, taking more space in the whole hiring procedure. Coming back to the question: will recruitment be automated? 

There are assumptions that AI can be a threat to HR departments. It’s true that when it comes to efficiency, robots outperform humans. However, is the factor enough to transform the recruitment we know into an AI-only procedure? 

Recruitment is all about connecting with people and finding the best fit. It’s a process based on social relations rather than on a piece of paper screened by a program. Even though we see some attempts to replace HR managers with robots, let’s admit that technology is still rather impersonal, and such actions could scare candidates. Soft skills are the only skills that robots can’t replace. At the same time, those are the skills that make recruiters crucial in this job. 

Ending

It’s important to understand that robots are here not to replace people, but to employ them faster, better, and in a way that releases recruiters from tedious, repetitive tasks. Automated solutions are here to show us how much time and money we save joining forces this way. 

Looking at the current adoption of machine learning solutions, we can be sure that automation won’t go away. That’s why we should learn how to make the most of it and achieve our goals effortlessly.