Artificial intelligence is revolutionising recruitment processes, extending its reach beyond simple screening of job applications to now interviewing short-listed candidates and even making final decisions on who to hire.
Experts say that so long as there is still some element of human involvement, the use of AI in recruitment is nothing to fear.
But job seekers are not convinced, worried that AI could see them unfairly rejected for roles.
Copywriter Erin Arnett, 34, recently missed out on a $90,000 position with a leading Australian brand – told she was unsuccessful just days after being interviewed for the job by a chatbot.
“There was one particular interview question where I was asked why do I want to work at this company rather than where I was right now and I think I messed that up because I didn’t have a job so I sort of threw out (said) that I just wanted to work rather than be unemployed,’’ Ms Arnett said.
“While I would have given the same initial response (if the interview was conducted by a human), I perhaps would have been able to expand on that.
“But with AI, you don’t get the opportunity to clarify.’’
Ms Arnett, who has been interviewed twice by AI, for different job applications, found the process “jarring’’.
“It (AI) talks to you like a human would but it doesn’t respond like a human would – it can be hard to read the room because it’s not a real person,’’ she said.
“I can’t say I didn’t get the jobs because of AI but … AI might have limited my chances (of success).’’
AI screening of job applications in the initial hiring stages had also proved problematic, she said.
Having received an automated rejection to another advertised position, Ms Arnett contacted that company to request feedback and was surprised by their response.
“The hiring manager emailed me back saying that my application was actually good – it was clearly the first time she’d actually read it – (and) invited me to an interview,’’ she said.
“This exchange taught me that it never hurts to query the process, especially if it looks machine driven.’’
EQUAL PLAYING FIELD?
AIBuild chief executive officer Yifei Wang said the use of AI had significantly reduced the time required by companies to sort through job applications and interview candidates – cutting hiring times from 41 days to just 11.
Big business was not the only user of AI for recruitment, he said, with smaller companies without HR staff also opting to automate the majority of their hiring process.
While it was possible for companies to delegate the final decision on who to hire to AI, Mr Wang said most companies still preferred some human involvement, especially in the final interview round.
Despite job seeker concerns, there were some distinct advantages to using AI, including the removal of any unconscious bias, he said.
“When you are using AI well, it can remove a lot of the inconsistencies that occur in recruitment,’’ Mr Wang said.
“Every single candidate can be assessed against the same criteria.
“There won’t be any bad days or any tired recruiters on a Friday afternoon just trying to get through (interviewing) everyone.
“Well-trained AI doesn’t have any kind of bias for gender or age so it’s going to be very fair for every candidate.’’
However, some disagree, with a recent study, set to be presented to a Montreal conference next week, finding significant racial bias in AI tools used to screen millions of job seekers.
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
Mr Wang, who is also an AI lecturer at Melbourne University, said job seekers who incorporated keywords during their AI interview, rather than using generic language, may gain a competitive advantage.
But in general, he suggested AI interviews should be treated in much the same way as a job interview with a human recruiter.
“My overall message is that job seekers should not panic about AI recruitment,’’ Mr Wang said.
“The fundamentals still matter – understand the role, communicate clearly, show evidence of your skills and make it easy for both AI systems and human recruiters to understand your fit.’’
CULTURE CHECK
Byron McCaughey, a psychologist for entrepreneurs and founder of Sublime Studio, said it was crucial recruitment retained some human involvement to ensure a good cultural fit between the person hired for a job and the company.
“As much as a company interviews the candidate to see if the candidate is the right fit for the role, the candidate is also checking out the business (during the interview) to see whether they are the right fit for them,’’ Mr McCaughey said.
“But that’s challenging for the candidate when they’re being interviewed by AI.
“When you are doing these interviews, there’s no body language or personality (from a chatbot) that allows candidates to pick up those cues about (a company’s) culture.’’
Candidates who had progressed through various AI hiring processes but remained unclear about the values or ethos of the business should request a face-to-face meeting with the company’s leadership, he said.
HOW TO TACKLE AI RECRUITMENT
Treat AI interviews like human interviews. Don’t get distracted by the technology. Speak clearly, answer the questions directly and give structured examples just as you would with a human interviewer.
Use the right key words – but don’t force them. AI looks for alignment between the role description and your answers so it helps to naturally mention relevant skills, tools, industry experience and responsibilities from the job ad.
Be specific about outcomes. Instead of saying, “I’m good at teamwork” or “I have AI experience”, give concrete examples of what you did, what tools you used, what problem you solved and what result you achieved.
Keep your resume simple and machine-readable. Avoid overly designed templates, unusual formatting and images that may confuse automated screening systems.
Clear headings, relevant keywords and measurable achievements are more effective.
Don’t try to game the system. AI systems are getting better at detecting inconsistency so don’t fill your resume or interview answers with random keywords. The best strategy is still to be clear, relevant and authentic.
Source: Yifei Wang, of AIBuild