The State Of Recruiting Automation

As we enter a new decade, it’s important to take stock of where we are and what the future may hold.

In this spirit, we’ve compiled a list of current trends in recruiting automation and the direction it's likely to take in the upcoming years.

The current state of recruiting automation

Recruiting automation is definitely finding a wide application in today’s business landscape. Slowly but surely, it’s finding its way into most stages of the recruitment process.

Flexibility of automation

As recruitment software keeps developing, businesses are now interested in solutions that allow for both automation and flexibility. They need recruitment software that's able to create bespoke hiring and onboarding funnels. These funnels will ideally guide new candidates from application to onboarding. At the same time, they would consist of the stages relevant to the company in question.

For instance, a large construction company may require all new workers to complete mandatory safety training. An automated funnel could serve this training online, saving both time and money for the company.

Discovering new candidates

According to the Entelo recruiting automation report, over 80% of recruiters would be interested in recruitment software that could discover candidates and collect data for them. This would allow them to focus on the big picture and decision making.

More and more companies are embracing automation as a way to bring a data-driven approach to seeking out new candidates. This is especially true when it comes to leveraging social networks. Social networks like LinkedIn hold a wealth of potential candidates. Many recruitment software solutions are focusing on collecting data from these websites, letting companies directly reach out to top-tier talent.

Resume screening—streamlined

Manually screening job applications is the most time-consuming part of any recruiter’s work. This is probably the area where automation can have the biggest impact. For instance, recruiting automation softwares use AI with predictive learning to set up which parameters you are screening applications for. These can range from skills and qualifications, personal traits, or impact on the company and value of the hire.

Once the screening process is done, all of the applications are graded and ranked. This way, recruiters can focus on making the best hiring decision without having to wade through all the applications that would eventually be rejected.

Interviews made easier

There are two main approaches to using automation to streamline the interview process.

The first one focuses on organization and availability. Recruitment software can schedule and keep track of the interview appointments. These solutions also allow for interviews to be done online, from anywhere and at any time.

The second approach relies on the ability to record and analyze candidate interviews. Recruitment software has reached the point where it’s able to analyze factors like word choice, facial expressions, and speech patterns.

These factors can help recruiters predict how well a candidate would fit into their organization.

On context

While recruitment software has taken a lot of work off the shoulders of recruiters (and will likely continue to do so), it’s important to remember these solutions are still fairly limited.

Automation will help you narrow down the candidate list to the ones that would make the best fit for the position. However, you still can’t be sure that an algorithm will make the right hiring choice.

Automation will help you narrow down the candidate list to the ones that would make the best fit for the position. However, you still can’t be sure that an algorithm will make the right hiring choice.

Upcoming trends in recruiting automation

We’re already seeing a focus on AI and machine learning in recruiting automation. With that in mind, here are some of the possible applications of these technologies.

More focus on sourcing

Like we mentioned above, recruitment software solutions are now using bots to actively seek out candidates. These bots can crawl social networks, finding candidates with the right qualifications and matching them to job openings.

Going forward, these bots will only get better at what they do as AI in automation improves. Engaging passive candidates will become a bigger source of potential employees with AI learning how best to engage and attract new hires.

The rise of AI

In a similar vein, as more and more candidate data is collected through automation, recruiters will need powerful solutions that can make use of it. For this reason, AI and machine learning will become an invaluable part of the hiring process.

AI will be able to mine this data and not only provide recruiters with the best candidates available, but also make suggestions for future hiring campaigns. It can also compare the new candidates with existing hires and suggest tweaks to the company culture that will let you attract the best talent.

Interview bots

Bots that use predictive learning are already being used to communicate with potential candidates and collect information during the screening process. Soon, recruiters will also be able to use them to conduct interviews.

While this can help avoid unconscious biases during interviews, companies should still be careful using bots.

Like any other automated technology, bots are limited by the amount of data they have.

Maintaining a talent pool

Even if a candidate isn’t the perfect fit for your job opening, it doesn’t mean they won’t have a place in your organization somewhere down the line.

Recruitment software will help keep these candidates engaged with your company, creating and maintaining a talent pool. This is especially true with chatbots becoming more and more sophisticated and able to better engage with potential candidates.

Automated onboarding

Onboarding is increasingly getting attention recently—as well it should. It is a crucial period when you can build a foundation for a lasting work relationship.

Automation will help ensure that proper onboarding is available to any new hire, 24/7. Chatbots can help recruiters and handle basic questions from new hires, taking a large part of the administrative burden.

In many ways, the future of recruiting automation is already here. Chatbots, AI and machine learning are already being used, and are only going to get more sophisticated. As their use spreads, recruiters will have an easier time focusing on making the best hiring decisions and finding the perfect candidates.