Hello SourceCon Community!
Jim Stroud here, your SourceCon Editor, and today I am reflecting on 20+ years operating in the recruitment industry. I have seen some things change. Pretty much, change has been the only constant in recruiting in terms of the technology used to make it happen. That being said, I have not seen the pace of change as profound as the advent of artificial intelligence. Holy Smokes! (Pardon the language.) It has many people wondering if they will lose their job in the short-term and their careers in the long-term. I understand the trepidation but I gotta side with optimism. No, recruiting, nor sourcing, will fade away from the job catalog (so to speak) but it will change as we know it. Let me give you three reasons why I think that.
- Radiology and Medical Imaging: The introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) in radiology has changed how radiologists work. AI can now assist in analyzing medical images, helping to detect abnormalities faster and with greater accuracy. However, radiologists still play a crucial role in interpreting results, making complex diagnoses, and advising on treatment options. Their role has evolved from manually reviewing all images to focusing on more nuanced and intricate cases where human expertise is critical. [At this writing, a search for “radiologist” jobs on Indeed returned 5,000 results.]
- Travel Agents and Online Booking: With the rise of online booking platforms like Expedia and Airbnb, the role of travel agents has shifted. While many travelers now book their own flights and hotels, travel agents still exist, but their focus has moved to providing personalized, high-end travel experiences and managing complex itineraries that automated systems cannot fully handle. [At this writing, a search for “travel agent” jobs on Indeed returned 400+ results.]
- Automated Teller Machines (ATMs): The advent of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) transformed the banking industry by enabling customers to perform basic transactions independently, reducing the routine tasks of bank tellers. However, this shift allowed tellers to focus on providing personalized customer service, handling complex transactions, and offering financial advice, thereby enhancing their role in building customer relationships and addressing needs that require human interaction. While technology streamlined basic banking functions, it enabled tellers to engage in more meaningful and value-added interactions. [At this writing, a search for “bank teller” jobs on Indeed returned 5,000+ jobs.]
In each of those instances, companies are still hiring for these roles however, their traditional duties and responsibilities have changed. I have no doubt we will see a similar transformation in the recruitment industry. Artificial intelligence (AI) has already made an impact. Resume screening, candidate sourcing, job matching, interview scheduling, and pre-screen-interviews are pretty much here to stay. I think that’s a good thing overall because… well, let me count the ways.
- Efficiency: Speeds up the recruitment process, allowing recruiters to focus on higher-value tasks.
- Consistency: Provides a standardized approach to evaluating candidates, reducing variability.
- Scalability: Handles large volumes of applications and data effortlessly.
- Insights and Analytics: Offers data-driven insights into the recruitment process, helping to optimize strategies.
Okay, blah, blah, blah on that. You’ve probably heard those points ad nauseum, most likely from vendors promoting their marvelous tools. Let me give you a reason that most people overlook – aptitude expansion. What is that? It is when people can quickly do tasks or show skills they usually wouldn’t be able to handle, often with the help of AI tools or technology. And this phenomenon has been proven by Science. To quote Aura…
A recent study conducted by the BCG Henderson Institute, in collaboration with Boston University and OpenAI, reveals that GenAI models can enhance workers’ capabilities, enabling them to perform tasks previously beyond their skill sets.
Further down the article it reads…
In the study, participants with no prior coding experience used GenAI solutions to clean and merge data sets, apply machine learning models, and correct statistical errors—all previously outside their domain of expertise.
Even without specialized knowledge, workers could achieve outcomes close to that of experts. For example, participants who used GenAI to write Python code for data cleaning reached 84% of the performance benchmark set by experienced data scientists. These results show that training generative AI models to assist with complex tasks can immediately boost worker performance and enable them to solve problems traditionally handled by niche experts.
Its important to note that AI helped workers improve their performance significantly, but it did not make them experts. I think of it like this. A calculator can help me do math faster, but it won’t turn me into a mathematician. Be that as it is, the calculator does increase my work value. The same can be said for AI tools that screen resumes and conduct video interviews, AI tools that enable note taking during an interview or, AI tools that answer questions and schedule interviews.
And yet, people have a reason to be concerned about AI taking their jobs away. The anxiety is warranted, in some cases, when there is reportage of AI being so amazingly efficient. A few recent examples…
- @Amazon: On August 1st, Andy Jassy shared an exciting finding regarding the real and quantifiable impact that the Amazon Q Developer agent for code transformation offers IT and developer teams of any size. Amazon has migrated tens of thousands of production applications from Java 8 or 11 to Java 17 with assistance from Amazon Q Developer. This represents a savings of over 4,500 years of development work for over a thousand developers (when compared to manual upgrades) and performance improvements worth $260 million dollars in annual cost savings.
- @Walmart: Walmart executives appear happy with the results of using generative AI to rewrite product listings, saying it is much faster than human workers on this task. They also plan to roll out a new shopping assistant using the technology. Walmart president and CEO Doug McMillon told investors during its fiscal second-quarter earnings call on Aug. 15 that the company has used multiple large language models to create or improve more than 850 million pieces of data in its product catalog.
- @RocketMortgage: Rocket Mortgage’s bet on artificial intelligence (AI) has resulted in a patented platform called Rocket Logic, which can automatically process nearly 90% of data points extracted from documents in a month and reduce by 25% the number of times a professional interacts with a mortgage loan year over year, the company claims… In February, it also processed about 90% of the 4.3 million data points extracted from documents such as W-2s and bank statements, saving 4,000 hours of manual work, according to the company’s estimates.
Just as AI has boosted efficiency in various industries, I believe it will bring significant improvements to recruitment, benefiting not only recruiters but candidates as well. In fact, I foresee a much better candidate experience in the near-future. Here’s what I predict…
- Tailored job recommendations based on candidates’ resumes, interactions with job postings and company websites, AI can better understand their interests and suggest relevant opportunities.
- Customized communication: AI can deliver customized content such as company culture videos, employee testimonials, and industry insights that align with the candidate’s career aspirations.
- Candidate nurturing: AI can offer career path suggestions based on the candidate’s skills and career history, helping them see potential growth opportunities within the company. | Maybe suggest jobs based on typical career path progression.
But that is on the candidate side of the house, what can recruiters and sourcers expect? I think AI will empower everyone to be proactive. Predictive analytics will enable companies to build proactive talent pipelines, identifying potential candidates before roles even become available. I think it will go so far as to forecast talent needs based on business growth, industry trends, and market dynamics. In some cases, algorithmic management may come into play. The same way Uber automatically encourages drivers to take certain routes to meet customer demand, I predict some tools will suggest to recruiters that they should begin pipelining for certain roles based on a recent CEO speech or comment made by an executive in a recent interview.
While AI will improve candidate engagements and recruitment processes, there may be a cost that should not be overlooked – the human element. Over-reliance on AI can sometimes make the recruitment process feel impersonal to candidates. Its important to note that relationship management should be of the utmost concern as AI cannot manufacture a truly personal connection. Neither can it source passive candidates on potential, or rather, gut instinct. Its searches are based on specific criteria and will not detect how someone failing in one leadership role can be coached into an exemplary leader at another company. Moreover, ponder the intricacies of job offers. It takes a certain skill to convince someone to uproot their family, and move to a new state, for lesser pay on the promise of pending success. For that to happen, trust and transparency are paramount and that cannot be constructed with an algorithm. I would wager that in-depth interviewing make human recruiters irreplaceable as well. Probing responses, asking follow-up questions, ethical considerations, and interpreting non-verbal cues are well beyond the scope of the most advanced chatbots. Most of all, the human element is essential for resolving complex or unique situations.
Fixing complex problems is the typical purview of artificial intelligence so my assertion may sound non-sensical, but bear with me. Artificial intelligence is used to manage traffic systems in the USA, most notably in cities like Los Angeles and Pittsburgh. The systems they use are smart traffic lights that adjust traffic light timings in real-time based on traffic flow data. And yet, traffic deaths increased by 7% in Los Angeles. This is despite pedestrians, drivers, and AI, all knowing the rules of the world. At best, AI is a tool, a very powerful tool, but human oversight is integral to success of any project involving technological interaction with humans. Just saying.
In conclusion, while AI is undoubtedly revolutionizing the recruitment industry—bringing efficiency, scalability, and advanced analytics—it’s essential to remember that technology cannot replace the human touch. Just as AI-powered systems have improved industries like radiology, travel, and banking without eliminating the need for skilled professionals, the same will hold true for recruiting. As AI continues to evolve, recruiters and sourcers must strike a balance, leveraging its benefits while preserving the human connection that lies at the heart of successful talent acquisition. In this way, we can embrace the future of recruitment without losing sight of what makes it truly effective: people.