Candidates embrace AI interviewing

Sponsored
Avatar
Author
Who wants to talk to a virtual recruiter? A few years ago, staffing executives might have doubted that candidates would welcome conversations with an AI tool, envisioning it would be impersonal, scripted and prone to error.
As it turns out, though, the technology has evolved to the point that not only have candidates warmed to it, they are asking more companies to use it. They appreciate the increased and early communication, more transparent process and level playing field that an AI-based virtual recruiting solution can provide.
Consider the candidate survey response following a conversation with the virtual recruiter for ConverzAI’s Voice AI solution.

“I didn’t know what to expect, but Al has come a long way!” said one. “[It’s] really nice to get a call early just to touch base with someone.”

AI is on track to replace at least 25% of current activities in candidate screening and matching within three years, according to SIA research. With a 75% candidate satisfaction score, ConverzAI illustrates how predictions about AI’s role in recruiting can come to fruition.

Figure 1. Expected effects of selected technological trends. Source: Staffing Industry Analysts’ North America Staffing Company Survey 2023
A Meaningful Experience
To be embraced by candidates, a virtual recruiter must overcome key points of contention humans have had with such technology: trust, latency and accuracy. And it’s beginning to deliver.
Trust. Trust is established — or lost — in the first few seconds of a call. To earn candidates’ confidence, the system should be upfront at the outset.

“Transparency immediately sets the tone of trust,” says Ashwarya Poddar, founder and CEO of ConverzAI. “At the beginning of a spam call, you hear all kinds of nonsense. But if the opening is, ‘This is a virtual recruiter for your job application, trying to help you get a job,’ it’s pretty transparent.”

To build trust further, the tool should assure candidates that their information will be kept secure and used only for job matching from the very start.
This transparency sets the tone for the rest of the call.

Latency. Immediacy is crucial in human conversation, and achieving this in real-time voice AI is challenging.

Immediate, meaningful AI responses enable longer candidate discussions. This process gathers valuable information at scale, enabling recruiters to make more placements.

Accuracy. Once the candidate agrees to speak with the virtual recruiter, the solution needs to be able to carry on a conversation — and that requires comprehension.

“In the past, a lot of the technology output would take you to a point where, as a human being, you’re frustrated,” Poddar says. “You’re saying something and the bot on the other side is understanding something else. And so you want to press a button to get out of this conversation.”

Technology has improved to the point that candidates are sticking around. For instance, ConverzAI can comprehend a candidate’s answers and respond accurately. This encourages candidates to give complete answers and sparks conversations that last longer than 20 minutes.

“Once you have meaningfulness in the conversation, people open up and talk like they would talk to anybody else,” Poddar says. When AI strikes a good balance between trust accuracy and latency, candidates can have meaningful conversations, Poddar adds.

In Their Words
ConverzAI makes the recruitment process faster and more effective for both candidates and recruiters. The virtual recruiter, which is connected to the company’s applicant tracking system, conducts six- to 21-minute screening conversations with candidates, verifying their interest in and qualifications for open positions and availability. The system then follows up via phone, voicemail, email and text, delivering a real-time summary of each conversation into the ATS.

Candidates appreciate the technology’s speed and transparency. Nine out of 10 surveyed liked the immediate response the virtual recruiter provided.

“It was a great tool to help streamline the interview process,” said one candidate. “I’m very impressed with the clarity and types of questions asked!”

Appealing Contact
Now that AI has overcome its initial hurdles, candidates are seeing multiple benefits.
No ghosting. It is common for job seekers to apply for a job and never hear from the company, which can be incredibly frustrating. A virtual recruiter can call every applicant for a screening conversation, greatly reducing the pool of dissatisfied applicants.

Candidates appreciate the technology’s speed and transparency. Nine out of 10 surveyed liked the immediate response the virtual recruiter provided.

Just because you never created an experience for a candidate doesn’t mean that experience is good,” says Ashwarya Poddar, founder and CEO of ConverzAI. “In fact, not creating [a candidate] experience is very, very bad.”

Fairness. A virtual recruiter handles conversations in a consistent way — and candidates know this. They each will have a similar experience. This reliability reduces variations that can occur due to fatigue or haste.

“There’s an element of fairness that comes into play,” Poddar says. “It’s a level playing field.”

Expanded opportunities. One of the best experiences a candidate can have with a staffing firm, if they don’t get the job they applied for, is to be considered for other positions. AI-powered virtual recruiters make this possible at scale.

For example, after talking to the candidates, ConverzAI is designed to identify whether a different job within the system would be a better fit for that candidate, Poddar explains.
What Are You Waiting For?
Using a virtual recruiter makes the recruitment process faster and more effective for both candidates and recruiters, and it can be implemented place quickly. ConverzAI, for example, can be up and running in five days — and it can cut time to placement by 90%.
Perhaps the most compelling reason to use a virtual recruiter, though: Candidates themselves are asking for more. “[I] wish more companies would do something like this,” said one candidate after a conversation with ConverzAI’s virtual recruiter.
Achieve faster, smarter recruiting at scale. Reach out to ConverzAI at team@converzai.com or request a demo today.