Hey
guys, in this newsletter we will walk through common questions we are asked
regarding how artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) is effecting
the Recruitment industry as well as client side talent acquisition teams. We
also take a look at Kapital’s USP’s and what seperates us from our competition
So
lets dive straight in around the topic of AI and ML within the recruitment
industry. AI and ML is really useful to automate processes which talent teams
and recruiters don’t really need to be doing and can be very efficient across
many businesses and industries. When it comes to using these tools in
recruitment it can be a very powerful, however, one needs to be aware of its
shortfalls and the inherent problems the AI platforms could cause.
So let me elaborate, AI and ML are technologies which have algorithms whos sole
purpose is to “learn” behavioural patterns and predict outcomes and
relies heavily on the person imputing the data to ascertain what is good and
reliable for its use. This can traditionally be based on what has worked for
that company in the past and in some instances once the platform has a learned
behaviour it is hard to alter. Therefore if a company is trying to change their
hiring to find candidates with new ways of thinking from the norm, how do we
now unearth innovative and entrepreneurial candidate talent pools, when we are using
a platform which has learned behaviour and will bring up the best results based
on historical search patterns?? The platform therefore will tend to neglects
applicants prior to the talent teams or recruiters even seeing their profile
and this could also be true for return to work moms or dads, who have a wealth
of experience behind them but with a couple of recent gaps in their CV the AI may
discount them from the search results and we don’t get to see those profiles.
I’ll
give you an example: Our banking and finance IT Team placed a candidate
with one of our financial services clients in Sydney , he was 24 at the
time and his CV had skills across networks, .Net Programming, text mining and
social media scraping and I can guarantee you, he would not have come up in any
AI or ML platform for a Data Analytics SME position which we had open. Here is
a good example of when the human touch won us that placement. 3 years later, he
still remains one of the best hires they’ve had. This is also where an industry
and client account aligned IT recruitment firm can provide more value due to us
understanding the clients high level needs, the industry they are in and what
they are trying to achieve rather than being technical vertically aligned. He probably
would not have got a look in from a pure .Net developer recruiter nor a Network
recruiter as he didn’t have enough experience in these areas. Our team
identified that he had a unique blend of skills and that our client, due to our
knowledge of them, would be very interested in such a unique and varied
skillset.
Also
for talent acquisition teams, sometimes there is a non technical talent
acquisition manager trying to source technical candidates for the company and
if the AI machine is told to look for a Software Engineer with Python, what is
stopping the AI/ML platform from looking for people who are C#.Net Software
Engineers with some basic Python scripting OR a DevOps candidate with Python or
even a Python Javascript front end developer rather than say an algo Python
Automation programmer??? All very different profiles.
Many
companies are now hiring technologists who have the personality and
communication to stand in front of senior members of staff to delivery and walk
through why a certain software or platform would be good for the company as
they move through a digital and data age and so the weighting in interviews is becoming
heavier on the cultural fit and personality side. So then how does a machine
pick up on this……OK so you set up a video link which candidates can then upload
a video profile……I am confident that the video applicants upload is not the
first take and it would be the best most polished version, so what about
accertaining how candidates can think on their feet when given a tough problem
to solve……nothing beats the human touch of face-2-face interaction
So
in closing, there is a real place for AI and ML platforms in the recruitment process,
just make sure it is helping and not a hinderance to attracting niche talent pools
to our ever changing corporate climate.
Our
Kapital team pride ourselves as being a client and industry aligned IT
recruitment agency. I hear over and over how HR and talent teams get frustrated
with having to deal with 3-4 agents from the same recruitment firm as one
covers Infrastructure/Networks and cloud, another development/DevOps, another
project services (BA and PM resources) and another digital/Data. Our agents are
across industry and cover multiple technical deciplines and understand the
client and the industry they are in and challenges they face giving our clients
one touch point on all roles and we have seen and heard from our clients the
benefits of this time and time again.
Remember
to follow us here and see our other news letters here
Till next time.
The
Kapital Team – Recruitment Made Simple
