Anyone who’s needed to hire someone for an open position knows how time-consuming and challenging the entire process can be from start to finish. Enter Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its ability to significantly save a hiring manager’s time by sorting through hundreds (sometimes thousands) of resumes and weeding out the least desirable responses. For all the advantages of AI, there are some downfalls that companies must consider when looking for the best candidates. Here are a few to consider.
It’s not for everyone. No matter how advanced the technology, there will be some people who just don’t care for it. When this applies to job applicants, those who are turned off by any form of elimination through AI might not even bother to submit their resume. For example, some screening interviews are conducted through software rather than by a human. You may have candidates not even do the pre-screening if they know a human won’t see it.
Passes over resumes not search engine optimized. Especially when applicants are unaware how AI (or applicant tracking system) will process their information, their resumes may get passed over. When this happens, recruiters are missing out on good candidates because the candidate’s resumes aren’t optimized for the AI review. One example is if a company is looking for a CRM background, but the candidate labeled this experience as “SAP” instead. An otherwise qualified candidate can be looked over for minor optimization misses like this.
Can’t replace gut instinct. Obviously, there are human aspects to discernment that a computer just can’t mimic. One of these is having a gut instinct about people. AI is perfect for replacing simplistic duties related to hiring, however, according to Forbes.com, “There will always be the need for human touch, incorporating gut instinct into the hiring experience.” Forbes goes on to suggest it’s key to keep a human input involved when it comes to asking questions and listening to answers as part of the hiring process.
Bottom line, it’s hard to argue the value of AI when it comes to rudimentary tasks. Allowing a machine to sort through at least some candidates only frees up the hiring managers’ time to do what humans do best, and that is to have discernment. So, while AI has value, there are certainly limits to the technology. Knowing when to use AI and when to keep humans involved is the key moving forward.
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