Recruitment is getting more and more technology-related. The latest innovations allow using AI to screen applications, arrange interviews, communicate with candidates, summarize interviews, and analyze recruitment data.
However, does it make sense to automate the whole recruitment process?
Most likely, no.
Instead, it makes sense to apply AI wherever possible but keep the decision-making process human-driven.
When AI Can Be Useful
AI is especially useful for those recruitment processes which are repetitive, structured, and criteria-based.
- Job Descriptions Creation
AI can help recruiters to draft job descriptions, improve clarity, detect missing criteria, and modify the texts in accordance with the specific hiring platforms.
Then, the recruiter can revise the output.
- Resumes Organizing
For big companies, the number of resumes received for one vacancy may reach hundreds or even thousands.
AI can extract the relevant skills, experience, qualifications, etc., and classify resumes based on certain criteria.
Still, it is essential that automatic screening is not treated as a black box rejecting everything without any checks.
The criteria have to be regularly checked by humans.
- Interview Scheduling
Scheduling is one of the simplest recruiting activities to automate.
It means less paperwork for recruiters.
- Candidate Communications
The AI can deal with numerous candidates' queries:
What is the hiring process?
When do we have the interview?
What documents do you need from me?
Can I change the date of the interview?
What will happen after the interview?
The more complicated or sensitive questions should be answered by a human recruiter.
- Interview Transcription and Summary
The AI can transcribe interviews and provide summaries.
It may help to avoid additional note-taking and structure information in several interviews.
However, an AI-generated summary should serve humans' evaluation.
What should remain in hands of humans?
There are some recruitments which need context, human judgment and empathy.
Final Hiring Decisions
The AI can offer valuable data and recommendations, however, the final hiring decision should belong to humans.
The candidate is not merely a list of keywords on a resume.
Experience, motivation, communication skills, potential and context mean something.
Interviews
The AI can help to prepare interviews and take notes, but the human interaction is also necessary.
The candidates are judging a company as well as a company judges candidates.
Evaluating Potential
The ideal candidate does not always come with a perfect resume.
Someone can have transferable skills, experience outside the box, or potential that cannot be seen by automated systems.
Human recruiters understand these subtleties.
Sensitive Cases
Career breaks, accommodations, personal issues, and other sensitive cases involve compassion and tact.
These decisions must not solely rely on an automated process.
Over-Automation Risks
One of the biggest myths is that an automated decision is necessarily an objective decision.
Automated systems rely on their input data, design, and criteria for evaluation.
These can all contain inherent biases or assumptions.
Organizations need to consider:
Evaluation criteria
Human intervention
Testing
Data management
Privacy
Transparency
Unintended consequences monitoring
Recruiting needs to be sped up without being irresponsible.
Combining Human and AI is the Optimal Approach
Humans versus AI will probably not define recruiting in the future.
The future of recruiting is rather a human-AI combination.
AI will take care of:
Data analysis
↓
Scheduling
↓
Communication
↓
Administrative tasks
↓
Reporting
Humans will be responsible for:
Judgment
↓
Interviewing
↓
Networking
↓
Context
↓
Decision-making
This separation ensures that technology and people leverage their respective strengths.
Automate the Workflow but Not the Judgment
One rule of thumb when developing AI-based recruitment is:
Automate the mundane work, not the crucial judgment.
Technology can make the administrative tasks easier and enable recruiters to process information faster.
However, the human element should be retained in cases where context, emotional intelligence, responsibility, and consequences for applicants are vital.
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Developing Ethical AI-Based Recruiting Systems
When creating a recruiting application based on AI models, the developer needs to consider the following aspects:
Authentication and authorization
Data protection
Access management
Audit trails
Explainability
Evaluating the bias
Approval workflows for humans
Monitoring and observability
Safe data processing
The point here is not to eliminate people from the process.
The point is to minimize manual tasks without eliminating responsibility for people.
Conclusion
Recruiting will become more intelligent thanks to AI.
“What recruitment processes can AI accelerate without losing any human element?”
The future of recruiting may lie in organizations that can use artificial intelligence to remove all friction on the administrative side while retaining humans to take critical decisions.
Automate the mundane tasks. Retain the critical decision-making to humans.
