A new narrative rising to the top of everyday conversation includes a very real fear of robots taking over our jobs and maybe even the world. While there’s a lot of speculation going around, we can rest assured that robots taking over all of our jobs isn’t likely to happen.
If anything, robots and artificial intelligence (AI) are more likely to create new jobs while continuing to streamline and find more efficient ways of doing things. Do you remember when HR departments worried that applicant tracking systems (ATS) would eliminate recruiting jobs? That didn’t happen. ATSs only served to make recruiters more productive.
While recruiters may see AI handling more administrative tasks such as screening and qualifying resumes or scraping resume databases on the web for qualified applicants, there’s plenty of recruiting work that can only be done by a human.
Here are five recruiting tasks you shouldn’t leave to the robots.
1. Recruitment marketing
While it’s true that AI can find resumes on databases that match a desired skill set, what they can’t do is market your company to passive candidates. AI-powered marketing automation tools might help you disseminate your company’s recruitment marketing, but a human should be making the decisions about content and personalization.
Furthermore, robots can’t fully interact with people on social media, sell your brand or make real connections. Only a real human recruiter can have the insight to take the step further to research a Twitter profile, find out that their ideal candidate likes craft brewed coffee, and ask them to meet at their favorite cafe for a dark roast and an exploratory career conversation.
2. Creating a talent pipeline
What recruiters have always been known for, they’re still going to be known for; creating a talent pipeline. Yes, recruiting is part of the human resources department, however, the skill set of a recruiter has a lot in common with that of a sales professional.
Salespeople are successful because of the relationships they build, and recruiting is no different. Finding qualified candidates and building relationships with them is what makes recruiting an invaluable function. One that cannot be performed by a robot.
3. Storytelling
The best recruiters are excellent storytellers. With each candidate, the story begins with your brand. Once a candidate is interested enough to engage in a conversation with your company, the recruiter is the one who will dictate how the story unfolds, creating a unique and positive candidate experience.
From the initial approach and conversation, to the job description, to the final interview, the recruiter tells a story that sells the candidate on all of the reasons they should want to be a part of your organization.
4. Live interviews
There are some layers of the interview process that AI is handling for recruiters. The pre-screen process that asks basic questions to confirm things like availability and minimum requirements has been done within an ATS for years.
Today, that process can be even more streamlined and made even faster by incorporating it with AI technology like chatbots that can ask pre-qualifying questions to high volumes of candidates before a recruiter sees them.
It may seem that doing a pre-screen interview with a chatbot would appear impersonal, but statistics show that people are warming to them because of their speed and efficiency in getting them to a real person more quickly.
Once the initial interview process is completed, the live interview still needs to be conducted by a recruiter who will dig more fully into the candidate’s experience, past success, and fit.
5. Closing the deal
When it comes to “closing the sale” and making an offer, AI cannot replace real, human connection.
People need to feel that they’re making a good decision when they join your company, and that means feeling like your organization will provide them with the support and opportunity they’re looking for as they make a career change. Recruiters are the people who have already identified what those candidates need and can speak to those needs throughout the offer process.
While AI is certainly poised to do some amazing things via innovations in recruiting, it will never replace the personal connections made by recruiters. The candidate experience is what makes or breaks someone’s decision to join your organization and creating that experience should not be left to the robots.
Jessica Barrett Halcom is a writer for TechnologyAdvice.com, with specializations in human resources, healthcare, and transportation. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay and currently lives in Nashville, TN.