Recruitment Analytics: Hiring in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

Introduction: Traditional recruitment system relied heavily on the applicants’ curriculum vitae (CV). This system, besides becoming redundant, has proved to be a futile exercise leading to the hiring of candidates that eventually turn out to be ‘misfits’. CVs were the only source of candidates’ data available for the recruiters a few years back. Face-to-face interviews was considered to be the ultimate solution for hiring suitable candidates. However, evidence suggests that interview scores and job performances do not complement each other. Advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) has introduced several techniques in the recruitment process.

Purpose: This chapter underscores the drawbacks of the traditional recruitment process. Evidence suggests that the traditional recruitment process is prone to subjectivity and is time-consuming. Surprisingly, despite the disadvantages, the integration of AI into the recruitment process is still slow. This chapter highlights the need to harness AI and the advantage technology could bring to the recruitment process. Some of the techniques that are garnering attention and widely used by organisations, such as chatbots, gamification, virtual employment interviews, and resume screening are described to enable the readers to understand with less effort. Chatbots and gamification techniques are described through process flow charts. We also describe the various types of interviews that could be conducted through virtual platforms and the modality by which the resume screening technique operates. Today, we are at a juncture wherein it is pertinent to acknowledge the superiority of technology-driven processes over traditional ones. This chapter will help the readers to understand the modus operandi to implement chatbots, gamification, virtual interviews and online resume screening techniques besides their advantages.

Scope: Although chatbots, resume screening, virtual interviews, and gamification are used in other areas, too, such as training and development, marketing, etc., in this chapter, we restrict solely to employee recruitment processes.

Methodology: Scoping review is used to examine the existing literature from various databases such as Google Scholar, IEEE, Proquest, Emerald, Elsevier, and JSTOR databases are used for extracting relevant articles.

Findings: Automation and analytics in recruitment and selection remove bias which is otherwise increasingly found in manual hiring processes. Also, previous studies have observed that candidates engage in impression management tactics in traditional face-to-face interviews. However, through automated recruitment processes, the influence of these tactics can be eliminated. AI-based virtual interviews reduce human bias. It also helps recruiters to hire talents across the globe. Gamification improves the candidate’s perception of the work and work environments. Through gamified techniques, the recruiters can understand whether a candidate possesses the required job skills. Chatbots are an interactive technique that can respond to interviewees’ queries. Resume screening techniques can save the recruiter’s time by screening and selecting the most appropriate candidates from a large pool. Hence, the chosen candidates alone can be referred to the next stage of the recruitment cycle. AI improves the efficiency of the recruitment process. It reduces mundane tasks. It saves time for the human resources (HR) team.

Citation

Uma, V.R., Velchamy, I. and Upadhyay, D. (2023), "Recruitment Analytics: Hiring in the Era of Artificial Intelligence", Tyagi, P., Chilamkurti, N., Grima, S., Sood, K. and Balusamy, B. (Ed.) The Adoption and Effect of Artificial Intelligence on Human Resources Management, Part A (Emerald Studies in Finance, Insurance, and Risk Management), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 155-174. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-027-920231008