Integrating AI into hiring processes

By Dannah Majarocon

WE are in a very interesting stage in the evolution of the workplace, with the various generations working cohesively together. You have your boomers, Gen Xers, millennials, and Gen Zs. In response to the diverse needs and varying levels of advancement among these groups, we have seen countless business processes follow suit. From highly automated operations to artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted tasks, the landscape has undergone a remarkable transformation, one that we all saw coming.

The hiring process is no stranger to this change as we see more hirers embrace the hybrid approach and utilize technological advancements while integrating face-to-face interactions. We have seen how these digital tools have made recruitment processes more efficient, if not quick.

Likewise, jobseekers’ perspectives have also changed. We’ve observed in the past years that Filipino candidates are increasingly valuing factors beyond mere salary. They’re now considering other factors in order to stay happy and healthy in a role. In our Future of Work Report, work arrangements, social responsibilities, DE&I efforts (diversity, equity, and inclusion), and other benefits are impacting candidate affinity, especially for younger jobseekers.

All these work trends, workforce dynamics, and hiring practices will cascade into 2024. We are now ushering in a new age for both hirers and job seekers and a new age of how we work. Candidates likewise will have different sets of expectations and needs. Furthermore, the coexistence of multiple generations in the workplace encourages hirers to innovate and redefine their approach to seeking candidates.

THE EMERGENCE OF AI IN HIRINGThe use of Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t technically new, but we have seen how it’s been disruptive in the sense of how businesses operate nowadays. Hirers who know how to utilize AI get a step ahead as they get to focus on more complex, more strategic, and more growth-driven activities rather than mundane, repetitive tasks.

AI-powered tools have revolutionized recruitment by making the process faster and more efficient. One of the best examples include the short-listing of candidates on a job platform like JobStreet by SEEK; this helps hirers save time compared to manually scanning all applications. Additionally, with the data-driven job-matching capability of our job platform, AI can provide hirers with access to thousands of high-quality candidates. Likewise, jobseekers have better chances of finding opportunities that match their profiles through the help of AI.

As efficient as it sounds though, we need to understand that AI still can’t operate on its own. There still needs to be some type of human intervention. For instance, in looking for a candidate to fill a creative role or one with highly interpersonal experience, AI can select candidates with the most relevant background, but it may fall short of assessing the candidate’s overall capability as it lacks the soft skills needed to do so. That is why the interview process is still necessary for evaluation.

Ultimately, we have to have the capacity to understand what AI brings to the table and where we can come in to address its limitations so that we learn how to fully maximize it.

INTEGRATING AI INTO JOB PLATFORMSWe at JobStreet by SEEK are actively adapting to the emerging trends and changes in the job market. The technology upgrades, including AI integration, that we’ve recently done and are still working on are things that aim to trans-form the company into a completely reliable platform that candidates and hirers can go to for anything career-related.

As a digital platform, we needed openness to be able to accept and really understand what AI is for. In understanding and appreciating this, we get to find opportunities of how we get to maximize it.

After years of planning and exploration, we’ve successfully applied AI to provide better matches, better advice, and better experience to our users. We’ve started taking into consideration the activities of our candidates in the platform, so it can truly recommend opportunities based on their behaviors and beyond their career profile. They can now enable profile visibility for hirers and get insight-driven career insights at their fingertips. On the hirers’ side, we also apply the same. If a candidate’s profile is fit for their posted role given the data points that our algorithm looks into, we have applied a Top Candidate badge for the hirers to be able to shortlist faster and better. These are just some of the enhancements we have implemented for now as we’re continuously learning how to integrate AI into our platform to better cater to the ever-changing needs of hirers and candidates.

Needless to say, technology in general plays a significant role in today’s environment. The digital space moves at such an exponential speed, and hirers need to leverage efficiency tools such as AI in their recruitment processes to drive progression in their respective companies.

Dannah Majarocon is the managing director, Philippines, of JobStreet by SEEK.