19 Apr
How Chatbots Can Simplify The Recruitment Process
According to CareerBuilder, over 67% of the applicants have a positive impression about organizations who keep them updated throughout the application process.
However, it is a herculean task for recruiters to provide regular updates to every one of the aspirants participating in the recruitment process.
In fact, they hardly have time to personally update the status of rejected applications while they’re busy sourcing candidates. Almost 75% of the applicants never hear back from recruiters.
This is an area in which chatbots can transform the applicant experience and take it to a new level.
According to Randstad Talent Trends survey, 84% of C-suite executives and human capital leaders assume AI will have an impact on the workplace in the next three to five years. And research firm IDC predicts the overall market for AI is expected to cross $46 billion by the end of 2020.
AI has the ability to take your HR experience to a higher level. According to Donald Southern, an HR expert at Resumes Planet, “AI can assist you in handling recruiting, productivity, and retention more effectively than regular HR techniques. Besides, it enables you to do the recruitment process faster than ever before.”
HOW ARE CHATBOTS SIMPLIFYING THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS?
Chatbots have been around for quite a while now, but in today’s digital world they are playing a vital role in many business processes. Organizations are quickly adopting this AI-powered technology, especially in the recruitment processes.
Chatbots are setting a new trend in the recruitment industry to manage time-consuming or repetitive administrative tasks with ease.
They provide a range of functions like
Resume Parsing
Making significant inquiries to filter the applicants for the screening process,
Providing updates about the status of an application
Answering FAQs to speed up hiring process for the busy recruiter.
Additionally, chatbots will come handy to collect data from candidates using a text conversation rather than asking them to fill out lengthy forms. A SmashFly report found that 74% of candidates who start filling the job applications will drop off before completing it. Organizations that use chatbots can save 74% of recruitment marketing efforts, time and budget!
Candidates can take the help of the HR virtual assistants available on their company websites or social handles to pump in their required information for the job application. Needless to say, all the conversations enabled on a website or social platforms undergo the standard security compliance and authentication methods while conversing with the chatbot.
By 2022, HR and recruiting chatbots have the potential to reduce business costs by more than $8 billion – Juniper Research
Here are few advantages of using recruitment chatbots:
They are available round the clock.
Quickly responds to any query raised.
Frees up HR personnel time.
Saves time and money with its smart and automated workflow.
Reduces cost per hire.
Handles multiple requests from different applicants simultaneously.
Keeps candidates engaged throughout the recruitment process and helps in improving the brand value.
Available across different messaging channels like Messenger, Slacks, SMS, etc.
Read More: A Buyer’s Guide To Choosing The Best Chatbot Builder Platform
4 SMART WAYS CHATBOTS ARE USED TODAY IN RECRUITMENT PROCESSES
ANSWER CANDIDATE FAQS
Juniper research forecasts that chatbots will answer 75-90% of queries and saves an average time of over 4 minutes and $0.50-$0.70 per interaction.
Recruitment chatbots are used to communicate with applicants to answer FAQs, interact with them to ask qualifying questions and speed up the screening process, and can also schedule an interview with a recruiter.
A major benefit of chatbot in recruiting is its ability to engage with an unlimited number of applicants simultaneously in real-time and answer their questions instantly, thereby greatly enhancing the candidate experience.
A recent survey by Allegis observed that 58% of candidates are comfortable interacting with AI for initial questioning in the application process.
COLLECT CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE FEEDBACK
Do you know how applicants feel about their recruiting experience with your organization?
In today’s tight labour market, organizations are identifying that candidate experience is turning into a major differentiator. Getting feedback and suggestions about candidates experience is key to differentiate from competition and build relationships.
AI enables intelligent chatbots to collect feedback and process it further. Chatbots capture feedback from applicants by asking simple questions about the job application and the screening process and also take suggestions to enhance it.
Sometimes, candidates tend to drop off in the middle of the application process. In these cases, chatbots can quickly get into action by enquiring why the candidate chose to not pursue the application further.
Key data that can be collected to add value to your recruitment process:
Notation Feedback: Design relevant questions that come with predefined answers. This helps in instant exchange of real-time feedback. Instead of forms, candidates will have a powerful interactive conversational interface to share their feedback.
Point of Improvement: Employers can pose questions like “where do you think we need to improve” and gain insights on the areas of improvement. The feedback collected from candidates is passed on to recruiters to initiate necessary actions and refine the process to best fit the human capital needs.
Using these insights, organizations can ensure provide an engaging experience to candidates and help HRs in eliminating human bias and capacity for error.
Read More: How Chatbots Are Revolutionizing The HR Department
EMPLOYER BRANDING TOOL
According to LinkedIn report on employer brand statistics, 75% of job seekers consider an employer’s brand before even applying for a job.
Using a recruiting chatbot to communicate and engage with applicants can enable the organization to be recognized as innovative and responsive in recruiting when compared to peer companies.
Some organizations are taking their branding to the next level by giving a personality to their recruiting chatbot. They align the chatbot and its interactions with their organizational culture and values. Another benefit of recruitment chatbots is that they foster the employer brand by ensuring consistency in messaging and treating candidates during the recruiting process.
According to LinkedIn reports, organizations who differentiate themselves with a strong employer brand enjoy a 50% lower cost-per-hire and 1-2x faster time to hire.
HELP RECRUITERS SAVE A LOT OF TIME AND RESOURCES
According to SHRM Survey, the average Cost-per-Hire for companies is $4,129 and it takes an average time of 42 days to fill an open position.
A recruitment chatbot can dramatically lower both the cost of hire and time to hire by automating a large part of qualifying and scheduling interviews while simultaneously keeping candidates engaged.
Most resumes received for a high volume role may be unqualified and recruiters don’t have the time nor capacity to interact with candidates they plan to reject. Using a recruitment chatbot can help them interact with applicants and quickly screen out unqualified candidates. This helps both the applicant and HR save time and ensure engaging candidate experience. Moreover, recruiters can focus most of their time and effort on creating connections and building relationships with qualified and interested candidates.
Read More: How Chatbots Help Hr Managers Improve Employee Experience And Reduce Cost Per Contact
With the present push towards AI and automation in the recruitment process, chatbots with advanced applications have the capacity to reduce recruiter workload.
In a complex scenario demanding engaging several candidates at once, chatbots are the most promising answer organizations have. They eliminate complexities and help businesses ensure there are no missed opportunities by providing an avenue to create efficient, engaging experiences for both recruiters and candidates. Chatbots also help organizations build the employer brand, which is vital to attracting the right talent.
Are you looking for a recruitment chatbot solution? Check out Acuvate’s enterprise bot builder platform BotCore, which enables organizations to create and train their own recruitment chatbot to handle employee queries and improve HR and operational efficiencies.
If you’d like to learn more about this topic, please feel free to get in touch with one of our experts for a personalized consultation.
Rakesh Reddy is our co-founder and a serial entrepreneur. A mechanical engineer by education, his business vision and direction as Chairman & CEO drives us to excellence. An avid team player, he works with his executive team to trigger growth for Acuvate across geographies and business areas. His business acumen, strategy and planning skills catalyzed the growth of Acuvate since its inception. A natural leader, he has been able to successfully bootstrap his companies, help win customers and successfully constitute the company’s board and a robust leadership team.
Rakesh Reddy