There’s an AI recruitment cycle quickly taking hold. It goes something like this.
A growing number of candidates are using AI to send applications en masse. Concurrently, recruiters are resorting to AI to sift through applications en masse. In turn, candidates increasingly use AI to try and predict what the AI ‘sifter’ wants to see. In turn, this emboldens what the AI sifter does want to see.
It’s a self-perpetuating cycle where actions on one side spark a response from the other. Essentially, it’s cultivating an environment of AI talking to AI.
There are broader and very relevant pressures exacerbating this cycle. An influx of applications to HR teams is propelling their use of AI to manage the load: job vacancies are down 12% compared with this time last year, while applications per role are up 65%. That’s a stark gap at both ends. Specifically, a thinktank has warned how “young people are bearing the brunt of Britain’s jobs downturn”, with figures showing the unemployment rate has now risen to 5.1%.
No doubt AI itself is triggering this impact on early career roles. Anyone in business will have noticed how the technology is taking over entry-level tasks and creating a void for how to train young people in essential skills for their careers. It’s why PWC, one of the major providers of graduate schemes, is planning to cut its intake. Then, higher tax rates, miniscule economic growth and stubbornly persistent inflation are all impacting companies’ hiring plans and how they spend their money.
Not the brightest of pictures is it? So, is there a way to break the cycle?
The AI-human balance: A recurring theme
AI can of course enhance the recruitment process for both sides: refining job descriptions, scheduling interviews, searching for relevant candidates, conducting job searches for candidates, and so on. But relying on AI entirely, including the emerging use of AI video interviews, is a big risk.
Quality candidates might be overlooked altogether because their CVs do not match the specific search criteria that AI models are scanning for. There are also inherent biases in models that can entrench prejudices or favour certain skillsets. And imagine AI trying to assess the right cultural fit…?
The use of AI in recruitment should align with its sensible, practical use in other areas of business. Namely, pinpointing the tasks it can help with, establishing human checks and oversight, and using AI to support the humanity of your brand and work, not diminish it. Football, for instance, relies on a wealth of data to inform scouting and recruiting decisions. But it also has maintained the innate human instinct of a scout you can’t replace.
Really, what companies need to do is help candidates apply. This comes from messaging. It comes from accurate job descriptions, advice pieces and articles explaining how they recruit. It comes from promoting what skills they (and AI) look for online. By getting better quality applications, recruiters and HR teams will be able to sift and assess them better too.
Filling the vacancies-skills void
The tech sector is one industry where skills are in demand. But traditional career aspirations don’t always align with its specialisms. So, tech leaders are in a prime position to inspire young people to pursue the vocations and skills that are needed in the market. They might attend talks and events. Or they could try their hand at writing opinion pieces and engaging in conversations online.
There is much to gain from positioning yourself as a credible voice in your sector and inspiring others to follow suit. In particular, a golden opportunity has emerged for HR tech brands to confront the issues in the AI recruitment cycle and develop solutions for managing applications and strengthening the candidate experience. They stand to benefit greatly if they can build awareness for how their products can be used to augment the process for both sides.
From a business perspective, it can be easy to get shortsighted when change is happening at pace. But a longer-term vision is needed too. Recruiting emerging talent and building up their skills could become a core differentiator for companies. We have two recent grads who are more than showing their worth and developing impressively, proving that you can hire new talent and progress them alongside AI.
The crux is you can pick how to use AI to enhance processes while also championing the next wave of talent; it doesn’t – and shouldn’t – have to be one at the expense of the other.
Want to learn more? Get in touch today.
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