AI in Recruitment: How it works

Explore AI’s transformative role in recruitment and learn more about the key benefits and considerations surrounding its implementation.

Numerous industries have embraced artificial intelligence (AI) in recent years, including recruitment. And with new capabilities being showcased by the likes of ChatGPT, the implementation of AI looks set to continue.

However, excitement about AI’s potential in talent acquisition is still tempered by concerns, especially among candidates who fear being dismissed by a machine or algorithm before their application is reviewed by a recruiter.

In this article, we examine the hot topic of AI in recruitment, exploring the opportunities it presents, the challenges it poses, and the ways in which it is already being leveraged to optimise processes.

Understanding AI in recruitment

The AI recruitment industry is currently valued at $590.5 billion, following a 64.45% growth rate from 2020 to 2023. According to the Institute of Student Employers, nearly a third of employers are already using AI as part of their hiring processes, a significant increase from just 9% in 2022.

Despite this growth, recruiters and employers should still be mindful of candidate sentiments towards AI integration in talent acquisition. While research from Totaljobs shows 52% of jobseekers would be comfortable applying for a role where a small part of the process is AI-driven, most would prefer AI to only be used early in the recruitment process for tasks like:

Sourcing qualified candidates
Screening applicants
Automating interview scheduling

However, many still want and expect human oversight in final hiring decisions:

4 in 5 are against AI making the ultimate hiring choice
66% doubt AI’s capacity to fully understand human emotions

As such, when it comes to hiring, AI is best placed to automate monotonous tasks, not replace human judgement. Like other technological advances, AI is a tool that promises to heighten efficiency and free up time for human workers’ creative and critical thinking.

The benefits of AI in the recruitment process

As with other industries, there are many opportunities for AI to optimise processes in recruitment, saving employers time and money in the process. Here are some of the key benefits that you could leverage by harnessing AI in recruitment.

Reduce time to hire

One of the biggest advantages of AI in recruitment is its potential to save time when it comes to filling open positions. By automating repetitive, high-volume tasks like creating job descriptions, screening candidates’ CVs and cover letters and scheduling interviews, AI can streamline much of the hiring workflow.

This allows recruiters to focus their efforts on more complex and higher-value activities like talent evaluation, interviewing, and making offers to candidates. With this improved efficiency, the time it takes to fill an open position can be reduced significantly.

Cost savings

Hiring isn’t just time-consuming; it can also be expensive. For example, research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development indicates that the median cost of recruiting senior managers is around £3,000.

By using AI to minimise the time and effort spent on repetitive tasks, businesses can reduce the intensity of the talent acquisition process on hiring managers, thereby making potentially substantial savings and opening the possibility of reinvesting in other key areas.

Mitigate bias

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to recruitment is cutting bias from the equation. We all have biases, whether purposeful or unconscious, and that can have serious repercussions in recruitment.

As a result of biases, businesses can end up lacking the diversity they need for creative and innovative ways of thinking, while strong candidates could miss out on opportunities. When properly trained on unbiased data, AI-based systems can work to mitigate potential bias and create a fair and consistent experience for all candidates, no matter their demographic.

Enhance candidate experience

Another common problem candidates face when applying for roles is a lack of clarity and consistency from prospective employers. Sometimes they get ghosted, sometimes the communication from the hiring team is not up to standard, and sometimes things just get lost in translation.

With the help of AI, employers can implement clearer, more streamlined processes that make it easier to keep applicants informed of their progress throughout the hiring process.

Boost quality of hires

AI has the potential to process high volumes of data and provide real-time insights that can be used to optimise numerous business processes, including talent acquisition.

Used correctly, these capabilities can be used to increase the quality of hires. This can be done by analysing candidates and suggesting those most suitable for a specific role based on a data-driven approach, helping human recruiters come to a final decision.

While AI can undoubtedly help to optimise hiring processes, there are still factors employers and recruiters need to consider alongside its implementation. Let’s take a look at some of the challenges associated with leveraging AI in recruitment.

Data privacy

One of the main concerns with AI in recruitment is data privacy and security. AI systems need lots of candidate data to be effective, including what’s on their CVs, personal information, and potentially sensitive details.

Organisations using AI must therefore make sure they are in compliance with data protection regulations, such as GDPR, and maintain strict access controls. Getting this wrong could have serious consequences for the organisation, with our research showing that 54% of jobseekers have concerns around privacy and data protection when it comes to AI.

Unconscious bias

While research suggests around 68% of recruiters believe the use of AI can remove unintentional bias, algorithms also have the potential to cause or reinforce existing biases. This is because AI is often only as good as the data it’s being fed. If its systems are fed bad data, or influenced to favour certain candidates over others, biases in hiring are likely to continue.

Training and upskilling

Another consideration for organisations looking to use AI in recruitment is that they will need to provide proper training for their existing employees to ensure they can make the most of the tools available. As the technology develops, so too must the learning and development programmes for recruiters.

Using AI in recruitment

AI is already being utilised in various ways throughout the recruitment process, with more potential uses on the horizon as its capabilities develop. Below we’ve outlined some of the most common ways AI is being to optimise traditional hiring processes.

Sourcing candidates

Algorithms and machine learning can be used to source potential candidates through automating searches across job boards, databases, and social media platforms. This provides recruiters and hiring managers with a list of both active and passive candidates, based on their job title, industry, experience, location, and any other relevant criteria, that might otherwise not have been considered.

CV and applicant screening

One of the first steps in most recruitment processes is sifting through CVs and job applications based on, among other things, keywords and work experience matching what is listed in the job advertisement to find candidates suitable for interview.

With the help of AI, this can be done faster and with improved levels of accuracy. AI is already being used by many organisations to analyse CVs and identify the skills, qualifications, and experience of applicants, saving hiring managers lots of time in the process.

Assessing candidates

AI can be used to help assess candidates, whether that’s through behavioural assessments or skills testing. The data generated from these assessments can be analysed by algorithms to pinpoint a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses, along with personality and behavioural traits.

Conducting interviews

While most candidates wouldn’t be comfortable with an interview being conducted solely by artificial intelligence, the technology can still be used to streamline the interviewing process. That’s because AI can be used to process and analyse candidate’s answers much quicker, providing insights into their tone, demeanour, emotional state and suitability for the role.

In addition to this, AI is also being used to help make interview notes. This is especially useful given the rise in video interviews in recent years, making it easier to identify top candidates.

Onboarding

After the hiring process is complete and a candidate has accepted an offer, AI can be utilised to create engaging and personalised onboarding experiences for new hires, based on their skills and any identified knowledge gaps.

For example, this could include: