{"id":1285,"date":"2024-04-19T15:40:49","date_gmt":"2024-04-19T15:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baergroup.com\/?post_type=blog&p=1285"},"modified":"2024-04-19T15:40:53","modified_gmt":"2024-04-19T15:40:53","slug":"ai-in-tech-recruiting-is-a-battle-of-the-bots-can-a-personal-approach-turn-the-tables","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/baergroup.com\/blog\/ai-in-tech-recruiting-is-a-battle-of-the-bots-can-a-personal-approach-turn-the-tables\/","title":{"rendered":"AI in Tech Recruiting Is a Battle of the Bots. Can a Personal Approach Turn the Tables?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the United States and Canada, the average time to fill an IT or development\/engineering role is 56 days, according to Workable<\/a>. And as any HR leader, recruiter, hiring manager, or candidate will tell you, the intervening months can be challenging for everyone involved. Hiring managers must sort through hundreds of resumes and go through countless interview cycles. It\u2019s a massive lift that often leaves candidates in the dark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IT recruiting industry isn\u2019t helping matters. Most recruiters submit mass quantities of resumes, hoping one sticks. This is especially true if the open job req is for highly specialized expertise\u2014an SAP S\/4HANA<\/a> digital transformation, for example. If a recruiter doesn\u2019t have a solid understanding of the technology at hand, how can they evaluate an applicant's qualifications beyond simple keyword matching?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI in Tech Recruiting\u2014It\u2019s Complicated <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to a Harvard Business School report<\/a>, 99% of Fortune 500s and 75% of large employers now use AI-enabled applicant tracking and\/or recruitment management systems to screen or rank job applicants. Applicants, in turn, are employing a variety of tactics to clear these hurdles and get noticed. These range from the industrious, manually tailoring a cover letter and resume to align with a req, to the nefarious, stuffing a resume with keywords in a white font. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With generative AI tools like ChatGPT<\/a>, Canva\u2019s Magic Write<\/a>, and Grammarly\u2019s AI Resume Skills Generator<\/a> proliferating, writing and reviewing resumes has become a battle of the bots. AI-generated reqs, AI-generated resumes, and AI-enabled screening tools don\u2019t make for a very human experience, and it\u2019s humans that will determine the success of your digital transformation. This depersonalization is at the root of the candidate ghosting epidemic\u201478% of job seekers say they have ghosted an employer, according to Indeed<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When every resume is optimized for every job requisition, it sows distrust. Ultimately, this increases the burden on the hiring manager to screen and interview more candidates, extending the already lengthy time to fill, frustrating applicants, and exacerbating ghosting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a vicious cycle, and to put a stop to it, maximizing the use of AI and other technologies while finding the right places for human involvement will be essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lightening the Load with Personalization, Precision, and Partnership<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The IT recruiting industry, hiring managers, and candidates aren\u2019t going to walk away from technology\u2014and they shouldn\u2019t. In fact, 90% of hiring managers find it acceptable for candidates to use generative AI in application materials, according to Canva<\/a>. And truly, if we rolled back the clock to an all manual process, a lengthy, frustrating undertaking would only become more so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone has a part to play in bringing humanity back to IT recruiting. Hiring managers that use generative AI to create job reqs would benefit from thinking through what skills and experience are essential and where they can be flexible. Applicants that use AI to polish their resume need to lend a critical eye to ensure that it continues to represent their true experience and skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A large part of the responsibility falls to the recruiter, and at Baer<\/a>, we are focusing our approach on three key areas: personalization, precision, and partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n