The following article was recently written and published by Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA), a leading research and information aggregator for the staffing industry. We thought it contained some important insights on the topic of AI and hiring that would be of value to our readers who are tracking these kinds of trends. Sharing it in a slightly edited format as this week’s featured blog.

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The job application experience is being transformed in real time, reshaped by technology, automation and the expectations of a new workforce that is clearly digital-first! From artificial intelligence that screens candidates to mobile tools that streamline applications, the future of applying for a job is becoming faster, more personalized and more competitive.

The most significant shift? Artificial intelligence is now central to how both employers and job seekers navigate the hiring process.

When it comes to HIRING, AI Is Everywhere!

Today, employers are using AI-powered tools to interview candidates, match them with open roles and filter applications on the basics in nano seconds. Job descriptions are being rewritten and optimized by AI, before candidates even see them. During the recruiting process, chatbots answer candidate questions and schedule interviews. And during video interviews, AI can be asked to assess the content of a candidate’s responses but also their tone and facial expressions.

Job seekers are also embracing AI — from résumé generators and application auto-fillers to tools that help them compose interview responses. According to recent surveys conducted by members of the staffing community, 79% of job seekers say they’re using AI to create their resume or to complete an application. An interesting side note is that the majority of both candidates and hiring managers view this practice as ethical – which doesn’t mean its effective, just not against the “rules”.

“The fully human-produced résumé might be dead,” says Jesse Skaff, the head of strategic account management at staffing firm Phaidon. “Candidates are able to submit 1,000 applications a day because of AI which means AI hasn’t necessarily killed the résumé, [but] it’s actually created a world in which résumé production is faster and definitely more artificial.”

This shift in the scale with which AI is used, is definitely changing how recruiters interact with and evaluate candidates. 

The Recruiter’s Challenge

This AI-powered speed in which applications or resumes can reach a recruiters inbox is flooding them with candidates. Hiring teams now face five to ten times the number of candidates they once fielded for many roles. Candidates are facing new sources of competition with AI generated resumes making it more and more difficult to separate out candidates who are fully qualified for the job from candidates whose resumes just look the part.

The Résumé Debate: Its New Role in the Hiring Process!

Is the résumé out as a necessary component of the hiring process? Not yet, but it’s role is definitely changing. (See PACE’s comments on the value of the resume in our prior week’s blog on this topic).  Those of us who’ve been in the hiring industry for some time remember back to the time when resumes arrived by fax on Monday mornings after weekend newspaper ads ran and drove the vetting process. Obviously that’s no longer the case but they still play a role in the hiring process.

In executive search, for example, candidates will always need a résumé to provide hiring authorities with the detail they need to support the decision to further vet a candidate. Some roles may only require a LinkedIn profile, particularly for light industrial, hospitality or retail jobs. Cover letters, on the other hand, are likely to completely disappear, in part because applicant tracking systems make them unnecessary. While some hiring managers prefer emailed résumés, others want candidates submitted through a portal using a more traditional “application” model. We see a resurgency in the value being placed on a structured application process – mostly in terms of standardizing the formats in which screening relevant information is solicited and delivered.

Because of the increase in application volume, filtering technologies or processes are even more essential. the larger employers and most organizations use advanced forms of AI to assess candidates – most going beyond what more traditional algorithm technologies can catch. That said most recruiters will tell you that even though technology speeds up the mundane task side of recruiting you need technology more than ever to keep you focused on the human interaction side of recruiting that always involves the human touch.

Where and How does the Human Touch Still Matter?

Despite the rapid digitization of the hiring process, candidates are still looking for a human experience when applying for a job. Some even prefer old-school approaches where you apply for jobs in person, particularly for skilled-labor roles like warehouse or manufacturing jobs. Some staffing industry professionals are still hoping that after a period where high speed technology solutions have been the darling, the pendulum might swing back toward more human contact, especially in more people-driven fields like healthcare.   

Mobile-First, Faster Than Ever

Meanwhile, mobile accessibility is now a basic expectation across the board. Candidates want to be able to apply for jobs quickly which means that there is an increased number (about 40%) that apply for jobs via mobile devices. Recruiters and hiring managers no longer count on candidates sitting at desks. In fact, the best candidates are 24/7 types that may never be at their desk, making the mobile process a critical component of any company’s hiring tools.

Email has become less popular primarily because candidates see it as a black hole where they never hear back and have no clue about the correct person to contact.

The application process is definitely more about speed than it used to be but candidates will also walk away from processes that aren’t interactive.

FINAL THOUGHTS – AI’s Future in Hiring

Looking ahead, it is easy to see how AI based automations will continue to become more sophisticated and central to hiring. Here’s the bottomline line of where you’re going to need to invest in the people processes that touch hiring in order to keep up with the pack………

• Your recruiters will need to know how to use AI to parse résumés, to match skills, to rank candidates. 
• Your job descriptions will need to be continuously updated, your job postings optimized – probably using AI tools.
• You’re likely to need sophisticated chatbots to handle initial communications, answer questions, conduct first tier screening, schedule interviews and provide both hiring managers and candidates with updates.
• You’ll need video interviewing platforms to help you assess not just the content of a candidate’s answers to structured questions, but their tone and facial expressions.
• You’ll need to rely on professional skill and aptitude assessments to reduce the time to hire and minimize hiring mistakes.
• You’ll need new systems, technologies and the right human insertions to weed out the candidate wannabes.

Humans are still going to be needed in the hiring process. AI and other new technologies are achieving significant break thrus in helping their human partners become more efficient. Technology will continue to evolve with the help of its human enablers.