As the job market gets increasingly competitive, many people, including myself, find themselves applying to dozens of jobs with little to no responses. While this is frustrating as an employee, it is also important to look at this from an employer’s perspective. How could real people be expected to look through hundreds of applications and resumes a day?
A Forbes article discusses the benefits of using artificial intelligence I for hiring, leading with the fact that ATS data entry and manually sorting through resumes can take up to 40% of a recruiter’s time. AI can make this process faster and more efficient by scanning for keywords to find the best fits for a role, matching relevant experience to applicants, as well as alleviating tasks from recruiters and hiring managers.
Given these facts, it makes sense that many companies today use AI in their recruiting process, even if it is just the first step. According to an article by the World Economic Forum, close to 88% of companies already use AI in their initial screening process, and in another study they also report seeing higher levels of success in the AI-chosen candidates, as well as significantly lower costs.
But, on the flip side, it can be seen as discouraging to think that candidates are spending time and effort on creating resumes, only for them to never be seen by a real hiring manager. In a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, 66% of U.S. adults said that they would not want to apply to a company that used AI to make hiring decisions. This disapproval could also be due to a number of factors that cause AI to seem unreliable for hiring. When applications are screened mainly for keywords, qualified candidates may be overlooked, while a human reviewer might recognize skills and potential that don’t match the exact wording of the job posting.
In my personal opinion, AI should not be used as a primary screening tool. When it is used to screen applicants, qualified candidates may be filtered out before a recruiter even reviews their resume, without being given a reason why. Especially as someone who deals with hiring at my workplace, I think there is a lot of value in personally reading through applications and getting a sense of the candidate’s personality and potential, not just their technical skills.
How much of a role should artificial intelligence play in the hiring process, if any? Is there more of a benefit in human judgment and decision making?
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