The corporate world is marred by challenges faced in the recruitment process. Companies have always been on the lookout to find a solution to this perennial challenge- to source and attract the right pool of talent for them. Increasing expectations, rising financial constraints and a competitive labor market in today’s dynamic environment are all signaling for a need to reinvent the entire recruitment process. Constant innovation in technology highlights that recruitment aided by chatbots could be the game-changer in the recruitment process.
The workforce productivity is taking center stage in companies to drive profit and efficiency for an organization. Companies are investing heavily in Human Resource technology and that’s where artificial intelligence is gaining prominence for recruitment. The amalgamation of automation and machine learning across verticals in business will boost the candidate and client engagement process. There are various reasons for the challenges faced by recruiters to hire the right candidate for the job. The problem is further compounded by companies not being able to address a candidate’s journey in an organization, unable to engage them meaningfully and the absence of an honest and real-time feedback mechanism. To address these issues (and much more), one such example of artificial intelligence in action in recruitment is using chatbots where recruiters strand to benefit hugely from their assistance. Chatbots are software that is powered by artificial intelligence to respond to users on a messaging interface. A survey records that over 58% of candidates prefer to interact with AI and chatbots for the early stages of the application process. This, in turn, gives more time to recruiters to manage resources and focus on the later stages of the recruitment process. Chatbots help to build and manage relationships and engagement for an organization. More often than not, it is difficult for recruiters to provide negative news to the candidates, with chatbots the task is made easier. Chatbots also assist candidates and update them on a real-time basis about the overall progress of the application hence recruiters need not worry about maintaining the relationship. Since chatbots are available 24*7, the candidate can communicate constantly rather than going back to emails and phone calls. Let us understand further about how chatbots in boosting candidate engagement in recruitment.
Increased Applications
Social media platforms like Facebook and its promoted post feature are one of the ways to attract new candidates. The only problem which lay here is to drive the candidate to the company’s career page and submit their application. This is where chatbots provide a simple solution. As and when the candidate lands on the company’s career page, chatbots can be deployed here to prompt a potential candidate to opt-in for job alerts, openings, information about the application process and other vital information. Since the applicant has been engaged right front the point of initial interest, it is most likely for a candidate to submit their application as the chatbot has helped to establish a contact and build a rapport with the company.
Real-Time Answers
Every candidate needs to know all the information and description of the company and processes attached to it. Visiting the FAQ page is a monotonous and an unpleasant experience for most candidates. Chatbots have helped brighten up this dull process, which drives away a candidate. Chatbots respond in a user-friendly way and in case it doesn’t know the answer, it will direct to the right person or provide contact details which makes it a happy experience for any applicant. Also, talking to chatbot is a less intimidating experience since candidates shy away from bombarding recruiters with questions.
Furthering Completed Applications
A report suggests that around 9% of visitors on a career site complete their job application while the whopping 91% of potential candidates leave the site without providing any information to the company to get back to them in the near future. This is a massive problem for companies who are trying to fill the job vacancies which sometimes are in huge number. Chatbots minimize this issue as it engages the candidate answers their question which might deter them from making an application and gathers contact information by creating a candidate profile which is a cumbersome process if done manually. Chatbots also send reminders to candidates to finish the application or complete the required information where it was found insufficient.
Simplifying The First Stage
Screening of candidates prior to the initial application process is an extremely tardy, lengthy and a time-consuming process. Chatbots help to make the assessment far more efficient. It sends out messages to all the potential candidates which leads them to a series of pre-defined questions, thus the suitable candidates can easily be filtered. This helps the recruiters to send out tons of texts in no time to get responses quickly, contrary to the time invested on phones emails which take weeks. The first stage is an important part of the recruitment process for it collects all the necessary details about the candidate. Chatbots automates this process and helps recruiters to focus more towards the end to have a highly qualified candidate suitable for the job role.
Responding To The Unsuccessful
More often than not, candidates never hear back from companies after they submit their application which leads to poor candidate experience and leaves a negative impression of the company. This deters the possibility for someone who wants to reapply for a different position in the future. This can prove fatal for companies given the highly competitive market. Chatbots helps to minimize the damage by responding to the candidates after a decision has been made. Such promptness is often appreciated by the candidates and minimizes the negative impression of the company if any.
Embracing digital transformation into a business will ensure survival in the competitive market. Technology in HR is changing the way candidates, and organizations communicate and interact with each other. The potential for chatbots in recruitment is huge and must be harnessed for boosting candidate engagement.