AI WILL CHANGE RECRUITMENT. IT’S TIME TO GET ROBOT READY
The robots are coming and there’s nothing you can do to stop them. They’re already ruffling feathers, causing spats between tech billionaires –Elon Musk thinks we’re on the precipice of an artificial intelligence (AI) inspired apocalypse, Mark Zuckerberg thinks it’ll save humankind– not to mention changing the way we work. And, whichever side you’re on, you’re likely to come across them when you apply for a job sooner rather than later. You may already have.
A recent survey of recruiters found that 50% said they “guaranteed” AI will be a common part of the corporate hiring process by 2020. That’s a pretty powerful finding. It means half of recruiters are absolutely convinced that AI is advancing quickly enough to soon take over many recruitment roles. But that doesn’t mean you’re going to be interviewed by Robocop.
Right now many businesses are working out how artificial intelligence can improve their efficiency and productivity and enhance the experience of their customers and staff. This includes potential employees and the recruitment process they go through. It’s a global trend, more advanced in some countries than others, but one that is likely to see AI become a part of several stages of the hiring cycle.
WHAT PART OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS IS MANAGED BY AI?
Online, where friendly chat-bots will start helping you navigate sites and access information. They may also help you search for suitable job openings and guide you to select the most relevant for you.
When you apply for a role, AI will capture and analyse the information on your form and link it to the social media you use and professional networking sites you’re on. All the time it’ll be assessing and scoring you against pre-determined criteria relating to your experience, qualifications or other resume and profile factors deemed relevant to the position.
If the robot likes the look of you, it may ask you to sit an automated video interview that allows it to assess your body language, reactions and mannerisms so it can build a personality profile of you, as well as score the answers to the questions it poses. This isn’t science fiction, the technology is available right now and becoming more sophisticated as organisations expand the data they use to assess people.
Assessment and personality tests come next. Again they’ll be fully automated and controlled by AI based on a success profile or competency map it has been instructed to follow. It’ll combine these test results with the profile it has formed of you and your video interview performance, to decide if you’re one of the lucky ones who gets to interact with a living, breathing human.
If not, the AI will send you a pleasant thanks but no thanks (it won’t forget to do this either) and, hopefully, connect you to a useful resource such as The Career Conversation.
TO MEET A HUMAN, YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT PAST THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
For those who get a robotic thumbs up, the AI will schedule a meeting with the hiring manager who it’ll then help prepare for the interview. It’ll suggest where to probe based on its ideal ‘success profile’ and how you match up to it based on the insights it has gathered on you.
If you get this far you have a strong chance of being the successful candidate, so you can walk into the interview confident you have a great shot. Just make sure you are fully prepared and know how to perform to the best of your abilities.
For those who think this is a little far-fetched, well it’s already happening. Retail banks in the US and UK have already introduced AI processes where the first human interaction is the interview with the branch manager. The future, whether you like it or not, has arrived.
READY YOURSELF FOR THE ROBOT AGE
It’s really important to be prepared for interacting with AI at every stage of the hiring process. We’ve written several guides to help you do this, including:
Why a great CV is critical in the digital age.
Build and control your online profile
