A rising trend: the benefits of using chatbots in recruitment
Think of your to-do list right now. Probably (hopefully), you have at least one or two things on that list you are excited to get to. The rest? Uninspiring, time-consuming tasks that you just need to stay on top of so you can do the rest of your job properly. Don’t you wish you could just make that part go away? Your dream is for someone to take care of the legwork for you, so that you can focus on the stuff that gets your blood pumping.
Recruitment chatbots are tech developers’ answer for you.
Recruitment is a challenging gig
These days, recruiters are involved in a lot more than just posting jobs on job boards and following up candidates. In today’s candidate-driven economy there is a lot more strategy involved. The best-fit talent is often hard to find, and recruitment is a competitive industry. Recruiters need to plan strategies, craft intriguing job posts and stay on top of trends in industry and HR to spy out opportunities. And that’s on top of the daily grind of ploughing through applications, answering queries, and keeping track of candidates.
Recruitment chatbots were designed to take care of preliminary recruitment tasks so that recruiters can focus on higher-level work.
What is a chatbot?
A chatbot is a tool that interacts with users. Similarly to Siri or Alexa, it uses machine learning to understand users’ messages and come up with responses.
What are the benefits of chatbots in recruitment?
1. Improve communication + Speed up the process
A big part of a recruiter’s job is responding to queries from candidates. A recruitment chatbot is available 24/7 and can be trained to respond to FAQs. This means that the chatbot can give candidates immediate responses to their questions, and guide them through the recruitment process. Candidates don’t have to wait around for your response (and find other opportunities in the meantime), or wonder what the next step is. And you don’t have to worry about being the bottleneck or unintentionally ignoring candidates. There are some pretty appalling statistics out there regarding candidates never hearing back from companies (In one poll, Workopolis found this to be 43%!).
Chatbots can also give candidates immediate confirmation of the materials they have submitted, and conduct preliminary interviews. You can program the chatbot to ask initial screening questions and gather information. Candidates get immediate feedback, and you automatically determine if they are suitable for the position, saving everyone time.
Interacting with chatbots is easy and intuitive for users. It’s just like chatting with a friend on an SNS (think Facebook Messenger or Line). It also reduces barriers for less confident candidates who might be nervous about asking too many (or specific types) of questions, or simply forget when you talk in-person.
2. Better candidate experience = better hires
Essentially, the above benefits equal a better candidate experience. And candidate experience is key to securing top talent.
The math is simple.
If: Recruitment chatbots = better candidate experience, and Better candidate experience = top talent
Then it follows that: Recruitment chatbots = better hires
It makes sense. If a candidate hasn’t enjoyed the recruiting process, they aren't likely to accept your offer.
In fact, if your process is too difficult, they might just give up halfway through.
According to one survey by CareerBuilder, 60% of applicants abandon online applications part-way through because of length or complexity. You can’t afford that. Top talent tends to be passive when it comes to job search, so you want to reduce the barriers as much as possible.
And while early use of chatbots wasn’t met with much enthusiasm, the great news is it appears users have become more comfortable with them now. In fact, Randstad found that 82% of job seekers believe the ideal recruiter interaction strikes a balance between technology and human interaction.
3. Strengthen your brand
Recruitment chatbots have the power to strengthen your corporate and employer brands.
If candidates have a great experience with you, they are likely to take note of future positions you post and recommend you to friends. On the contrary, if a candidate has applied with you in the past, and never received a response or was made to wait, they mightn’t bother applying again.
Making use of the latest technology also shows you are innovative and likely to be on-pace with the latest developments. This adds to your credibility as an industry leader.
4. Focus money and energy on your true value-add
High volume recruiting can result in being flooded with thousands of candidates. It is incredibly time consuming managing that large of a pool of candidates, and most aren’t able to do it effectively.
Not having to worry about fielding candidate queries and preliminary screening relieves you of a huge burden. Additionally, chatbots can schedule interviews and feed information into your ATS, effectively helping to manage your recruitment cycle. According to SHRM, the average cost of hire is $4129 and the average time to hire is 42 days. Handing a big chunk of the lower-level work to chatbots allows you to lower the cost and time it takes you to fill a position.
It also frees you up so that you can focus on strategy and decision-making—which is where you add the greatest value.
5. More opportunities
Chatbots are consistent, can access stored information instantaneously, and have the ability to make connections you might otherwise miss. For example, they can point candidates towards other jobs that fit their skills and experience even if they miss out on the one they applied for.
They also log every interaction with users, which, over time, provides valuable data. You might discover specific queries that are being sent frequently and realize your website is missing key information. Chatbots can also ask candidates where they first discovered your company or job opening, and other questions that could be helpful for your overall business strategy.
Drawbacks
Of course, for all their benefits, chatbots aren’t human and so do have some limitations. There are some obvious drawbacks such as challenges in understanding human nuances and emotions and making decisions.
These challenges certainly have some truth in them, but the technology is constantly evolving and huge progress has been made to limit them. For example, some chatbots are now able to comprehend emotions by analysing word use and placement. Additionally, advanced chatbots, (like the LeaddMe chatbot) are able to detect complex dialogue and switch over to a human operator to avoid issues. In other words, they know their own limitations.
Give it a go: join LeaddMe Recruiter
The use of chatbots is gaining traction in the world of recruiting for good reason. They improve candidate experience and help recruiters and HR managers maximize their time. In an economy where it’s becoming increasingly competitive to get the top talent, it’s important to take hold of every advantage you can get.
Find out about how LeaddMe Recruiter can assist you in your next recruitment cycle here.