AI: Is It The End of Talent Acquisition As We Know It?
There's no other way to say it - HR and recruitment will be fundamentally changed in the age of AI.
In fact, Matt Alder, host of The Recruiting Future podcast, believes AI is the end of talent acquisition as we know it. For our May webinar, we were thrilled to be joined by Matt to discuss his thoughts on all things AI related to talent acquisition and recruiting.
Check out the full 1-hour webinar below or read on for a brief synopsis of the 4 topic areas discussed.
1.) How Is AI Being Used Today?
Before we jumped into this topic, we polled the audience on if they’re using any AI-related tools in their roles. 74% said yes, which led us into a discussion on where AI is making an impact.
Matt pointed out that the way AI is being used today is very different from how he expects AI to be used in the future. Currently, AI is being used across a variety of TA functions - from sourcing all the way to onboarding. From Matt’s perspective, he’s seen the biggest impact across automating candidate communication and processes. He also mentioned that one of the things teams really need to think about is data and how automation can tap into the data you already have to make tasks more efficient and effective.
2.) How Is AI Reshaping Job Roles?
Matt is constantly seeing conflicting data around this, but what he can confidently say is that AI will change jobs. Talent acquisition teams can prepare for this by simply educating themselves on AI’s future capabilities - joining webinars, reading newsletters, etc. Matt also recommends having a very clear idea of where your current experience is and how you can use AI to make you perform better. Bottom line: you need to be proactive or else the TA/recruiting function will be left behind.
3.) How Should We Evaluate AI Tech?
AI tech is a very noisy space right now, so most importantly, Matt recommends thinking about technology strategically in terms of the outcomes it can give you. Secondly, ensure that you’re asking questions on how the AI works, how it makes decisions, how it’s learning, etc. and that you’re up to date on any applicable AI regulations. Ultimately, it’s about cutting through all of the noise and ensuring the AI is actually doing something (not just vendors saying their product has AI to jump on the bandwagon).
4.) What Can We Expect from AI in The Future?
Matt recently wrote a white paper on 10 ways AI will transform talent acquisition. In it, he outlines the 3 strong forces likely to drive the adoption of AI this year, which are…
- Skills - many employers continue to face skills shortages, and the ever-shortening shelf life of skills is becoming a critical issue that is redefining talent strategies
- Productivity - organizations are continuously focusing on productivity as they reorganize their operations to drive efficiency and growth. A move towards automation across the enterprise is an inevitable outcome.
- Changing candidate behavior - TA teams are already seeing a sharp uptick in applications as job seekers embrace AI-driven tools that allow them to submit tailored job applications at scale. If application levels continue to increase, this will be an existential threat to recruiting processes everywhere.
While we didn’t have time to dive into the 10 ways, Matt highlighted 3 > real-time talent intelligence, creating a personalized experience, and a more strategic focus for TA. Check out the white paper (linked above) for more of Matt’s commentary.
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To conclude, Matt walked through what he’s most looking forward to when it comes to AI related to TA. He’s very optimistic that AI will not only make recruiting faster and more relevant, but that it will really help people with their careers (what Matt calls the “recruiting nirvana”). And with that, we wrapped things up!
Huge thanks to Matt for joining us! Don't forget to check out the entire webinar linked above, and we’d also highly encourage you to check out Matt’s recently-launched course on trend spotting where he offers insights into the current forces changing talent acquisition. You can find more info here.
And see you on June 26th for our next webinar! We’ll be joined by Trent Cotton, VP of Talent & Culture at HatchWorks and will be digging into all things talent metrics. You can register for this live conversation here.
