Although chatbots (or digital assistants) are absolutely not new, they are recently becoming more intelligent while enhancing the applicant experience. The bots are getting more and better at duties related to hiring, like pre-screening candidates, setting up interviews, and responding to job seekers’ questions. Especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, the use of chatbots has increased dramatically, and it is predicted that this trend will continue.
The ability to recruit constantly is one of the chatbots’ most advantageous qualities. Unlike their human counterparts, artificial intelligence (AI) software is available day and night to match job seekers with opportunities that most closely match their qualifications, experience, and interests. Chatbots are always accessible for worldwide businesses and are very valuable for multinational corporations.
Chatbots are particularly helpful for multinational corporations since they are always accessible to applicants from across the world, regardless of location or time zone.
Let’s examine some of the most inventive and successful strategies your business may use to better the candidate experience by utilizing recruiting chatbot.
What is a chatbot for hiring?
Eliza, the first chatbot ever, was created in 1966. However, it took a long time for the technology to advance to the point where it could be used widely. Facebook didn’t start letting app developers add chatbots to Messenger until 2016. Then, major brands began developing their own digital assistants. With specialized technology known as “conversational AI,” software vendors entered the fray.
Why has popularity exploded so quickly? Machine learning (ML) technology has advanced quickly, and as a result, AI now “learns” from its own experiences, improving its “human likeness” and usefulness to organizations. Near the beginning of the global Covid-19 epidemic, in a Deloitte report published in March 2020, 63% of company leaders surveyed already viewed AI as “extremely” or “critically” important.
According to a Deloitte assessment published in March 2020, just before the global Covid-19 outbreak began, 63% of polled company leaders already viewed AI as “extremely” or “critically” crucial to their organization’s development, with that percentage predicted to rise to 81% within two years.
In the field of human resources, chatbots are likewise making remarkable progress. According to a 2016 survey by SHRM, 58% of job applicants stated they felt “pretty to extremely comfortable” communicating with chatbots to respond to inquiries during the application and interview process.
A recruiting chatbot, sometimes known as a “conversational agent,” is a piece of software that simulates human conversation throughout the hiring process. On a career site, candidates can interact with the chatbot directly by asking questions or making decisions.
Where do recruiting chatbots live?
If your business isn’t already using chatbots for hiring, you should think about doing so soon to stay competitive with other companies in your sector. Digital assistants may attract great prospects to your organization, provide insights into candidate behavior, save time and money for your business, and improve the hiring process for both job seekers and recruiters.
Many individuals believe chatbots can only be found on websites. However, candidates can also text with a chatbot. The following locations have chatbots:
- Facebook Messenger
- Slack or other messaging apps
- Facebook or other social media profiles
- ATS and other specific software
You need to determine where your prospects spend their online time and where your chatbots should reside in order to make the most effective use of chatbots for recruitment reasons. Keep in mind the preferences of the job searchers you’re targeting as you make these decisions. If you currently have chatbots, you may test them out on the web, via text messages, and on other platforms to see how well they perform and compare response times.
You may learn how candidates reach your career site and what they do once they arrive by using third-party technologies like Google Analytics. Do they enter through Messenger or job boards? After reading the job description, do they click “apply” or do they visit your “contact us” page and write you an email asking for further information?
A more straightforward approach? Consult the applicants. Inform job searchers that you’d like to continue in touch using your bot. Ask them which form of communication they prefer: text, email, Messenger, or WhatsApp. Ask a question along these lines in your job application if you have chatbot technology in the works but haven’t yet.
Here too, industry statistics can be useful. According to Human Resource Executive, if given the option of only one format, 75% of millennials would rather text than chat. However, according to Indeed’s data, the majority of millennials, Gen Xers, and baby boomers all mostly use mobile devices for their job-hunting activities. Overall, according to Gallup research, Gen Zers spend more time texting than older folks.
Here are some points that describe how using recruitment chatbots can facilitate your recruitment process.
1.- They personalize the selection process: New technologies allow the human resources department to organize dozens of applications in a few seconds. By adding the chatbot to these tools, an interview and an assessment of each of the candidates can be carried out, establishing it as one of the filters in the selection process. This not only makes the whole process more personal but also enhances the applicant experience.
2.- They provide flexibility to applicants: timeless interviews can be carried out through chatbots so that the candidate can choose the best time of day to be able to take the tests of the selection process. This is also advantageous for the company, which saves time.
3.- Improve sourcing: These intelligent solutions offer information gradually according to the responses they obtain. In this way, the procedure can be optimized and pre-
selection accelerated, because thanks to neural networks, an algorithm is established to be able to filter the talent that the company needs and consider the ideal potential candidates.
4.- They project the image of an innovative company: At the same time that the company saves resources, it will be improving its image in the labor market, since it shows an innovative and attractive image to attract talent. These digital solutions manage to project that dynamic and positive image that every company pursues, in addition to improving proximity with applicants to discover their true potential.
5.- Keep candidates informed: In most recruitment processes, candidates seek information about the company and the position they are applying for. A chatbot can, for example, inform applicants of the tasks that it can develop, as well as the hours and other information that is requested. In addition, it can inform the applicant if he reached the second selection stage and if he was selected or not.
I hope to know you understand the importance of AI chatbots in recruitment. Contact Botsify to get AI chatbot benefits.
