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Artificial intelligence in recruiting

From chatbots to the automated application process - How artificial intelligence helps in recruiting and where it adds the most value: An overview.

 

 

In times of acute shortages of skilled workers, complex application processes and an individual candidate journey, artificial intelligence is crucial to the success of companies. In particular, it includes software systems that automate recruiting and HR tasks. Based on data, AI programs develop algorithms that make decisions independently. In order to enter the data into the system, AI relies on humans. Here, the more data available to the system, the better the AI can draw insights from it, adapt the algorithm and implement tasks even better.

What recruiting tools are available?

Depending on the needs, company size and degree of automation, there are different recruiting tools that use artificial intelligence to take over tasks in recruiting and human resources. The following AI tools in particular have become established in recent years.

  • Chat bots: The systems, called bots for short, enable text- or voice-based dialog. Chat bots are used by companies to answer questions from job applicants in real time. Chat GPT has been the hot topic when it comes to self-learning AI chat bots for several months now.
  • Sourcing Multitools: A sourcing tool helps build and maintain the applicant pool. It provides information about which people and which qualifications are in demand for a vacant position. Recruiters can use to access a pool of suitable applicants even before the job is actually advertised.
  • Active sourcing: actively approaching candidates - Active sourcing is a common practice, especially on business networks such as LinkedIn and Xing, to directly approach suitable candidates. Artificial intelligence helps with algorithms that suggest suitable profiles to recruiters and send automated messages to applicants.
  • Voice and moving image software: Robot recruiting also includes programs that conduct interviews with applicants on their own. The system asks questions that fit the job in question. The entire interview is recorded and then evaluated. The software uses the results to create a personality profile.

How do I use AI in the recruiting process? What is important?

Not all applicants are familiar with AI technology. How the programs work is complex and not easy to understand, especially for outsiders.Companies that work with AI in their application process should communicate this transparently and show at which point in the application process artificial intelligence is used. In summary: Explain in an understandable way which AI is used where and what this means for applicants. This is also particularly important because applicants must consent to the use of their personal data. Human contact persons should be available to candidates throughout the entire application process, despite the AI. The disclosure of the application process and the possibility for the applicant to ask questions create transparency: the basis for candidates to trust you.

Data protection and employment law for AI in recruiting

When it comes to artificial intelligence in recruiting, there is no getting around the issue of data protection in Germany.

The following applies here: The AI tool must comply with the applicable standards. In particular, the requirement reference of DIN 33430. This German standard describes requirements for personnel selection and the selection process.

The legal regulations of the personal data of employees and application candidates extend in an AI-based application process, beyond the usually applicable data protection regulations. The applicant must be informed about the collection of personal data (§ 13 DSGVO). Absolutely necessary: a voluntary consent of the data and training data for the AI application of the applicant. Voluntariness is, in the case of an application process, not necessarily given. If the applicant does not consent to the data processing, he or she cannot continue the application process and thus suffers a disadvantage, which is actually to be avoided. In addition, the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) was expanded with the European General Data Protection Regulation (DSGVO), with admissibility requirements regarding profiling. This regulation protects the applicant from being affected by a decision that is based on an automated data processing process without a human additionally being involved in the decision. In addition, the applicant has the right to information about which personal data has been collected and processed.

PRO: What are the advantages of AI in recruiting?

In recruiting in particular, AI technologies are revolutionizing the search for personnel and making the search for suitable specialists more efficient. AI offers a number of advantages:

  • Efficiency: The system collects and evaluates the data of many application documents at once. Depending on which position is vacant, AI-based tools suggest suitable candidates.
  • Cost savings: The application process with AI saves labor, time and thus reduces personnel costs.
  • Objectivity: The systemic search reduces discrimination and disadvantage . This increases equal opportunities in the application process and thus ensures greater fairness.
  • Multi-posting: Tools that play out and renew job ads - fully automated on all platforms - save a great deal of time.
  • Chat bots: Before the application process, chat bots enable applicants to ask questions around the clock.
  • CV parsing: Corresponding tools enable the automatic reading of CV data. This helps recruiters to select suitable candidates more quickly .

Quality improvement: The quality for the suitable filling of vacancies is improved. Algorithms based on artificial intelligence search the database for candidates and suggest them.

  • Ranking: Based on the job requirements, rankings can be created based on the qualifications of the applicants. These help, among other things, to ask the right questions in the interview.
  • Personality profile: If job interviews are recorded on video, artificial intelligence can automatically create a personality profile of the candidate. Tonality, body language, facial expressions and gestures during the interview are included in the assessment.
  • Strategy control: Long-term data collection provides conclusions for improving future application processes and helps to maintain or adapt a successful recruiting strategy.

CONTRA: What are the disadvantages or risks of AI in recruiting?

There are also critical voices against AI in recruiting. The following risks are criticized:

  • Disadvantage: AI systems live on data. Data that already contains tendential discrimination is adopted and could thus disadvantage individual persons or groups of persons.(Proxy Discrimination). This can be the case if, for example, only men apply for a job advertisement. The program recognizes this and could unintentionally sort out women in the application process.
  • Impersonal: AI processes reduce human interaction. The lack of personal contact, some applicants might perceive as negative.
  • Hacker attacks: AI systems, like all computer-based systems, can be hacked or manipulated. This would lead to distorted results.
  • Immoral decisions: AI systems are not capable of making ethical and moral decisions. Therefore, they have to be monitored by humans and reprogrammed in case of abnormalities.
  • Skepticism on the part of applicants: AI-based application processes are still quite unknown. Acceptance or understanding of the new technology is lacking on the applicant side. This can lead to a critical attitude toward the company with an AI application process, or the potential specialists may not apply at all.
  • Recruiting rethought: AI processes are increasingly taking the work out of recruiters' hands. This does not necessarily mean job cuts. Rather, the tasks are shifting - away from traditional recruiting and toward the data-driven approach to specialists in real time. The recruiters of the future understand artificial intelligence and will not only be people experts, but also data experts who use new technologies profitably.

AI tools for HR you should know about

CV parsing, job parsing, semantic candidate search:

AI meeting assistant / interviews: transcription, recording, summaries.

Text optimization

Chatbots

AI text recognition

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