Candidates are increasingly using AI in their job applications and recruiters will need to accelerate their AI implementation to keep up, according to a panel of leaders at the recent RCSA Talent X conference.
Sooner than people realise, “bots will be talking to bots” throughout the hiring process, says Chandler Macleod MD Nick Gabrielidis.
Recruitment apps will be able to access other apps to generate a wide range of data, and candidates will be able to apply for numerous jobs quickly, and with minimal effort, for example with a simple ‘hey Siri, find me a job’ prompt, says Gabrielidis.
Like many recruiters, he has already seen a big rise in the number of cover letters and CVs written by generative AI.
The growth in candidates using AI to apply for roles means it’s getting harder to assess whether they actually have the skills for the job, says Seek director of search and technology Mark Pritchard.
However, using AI to assess these applications might surprisingly increase the chances of making the right fit.
Further, candidates will expect to be able to enter job search queries in natural conversational language, Pritchard says.
To deal with this, he says the search and technology team at Seek have rapidly ramped up AI in the website’s systems to the point it is now able to respond to conversational queries.
What do you want AI to do?
When incorporating AI in their day-to-day work, the first question recruiters need to ask is “what do we actually want to achieve?”, says Frazer Tremble co-founder Brendan Tremble.
His team uses AI to speed up previously manual administrative tasks, making sure not to compromise client and candidate experience in any way, he says.
And transparency is key in communicating with clients, says Tremble. “We want to make sure they understand why we’re using it and how it helps.”
Gabrielidis suggests leaders “take a pause” and reflect on which parts of the job recruiters like and dislike most, being cautious not to take away the former.
Notetaking during job briefs or transcribing interviews are other areas where AI comes in handy, the panellists suggest.
But “you don’t want to overly rely on AI“, Tremble stresses. “Keep in mind it’s a value-add, rather than just trying new fancy things
AI for coaching and training
“The next step is to use AI for training purposes,” Tremble says, in line with other leaders’ predictions this year.
On that note, recruiters at Six Degrees Executive have been using AI to forecast revenue, says CFO Luke Howes.
The team used to manually populate spreadsheets and calculate fees, but AI allows a quicker process, with 90% accuracy on the forecasts, he explains.
This then frees up time for quality coaching for young recruiters and more problem-solving conversations all around, says Howes.
“It is important to be curious of what’s out there,” he stresses. “AI is going to come to you, so keep an open mind because the possibilities are endless.”
The ‘Leveraging AI’ panel was moderated by Seek national sales manager Natasha Saccuzzo.
