How AI is helping recruiters write the perfect job advert

THE recruitment market seems to be buzzing with innovation right now, and many technologies are being harnessed to find solutions to some of the toughest problems in the industry.

Finding the right talent is critical for every business, although it can be a long and cumbersome one. According to research by Jobvite, 65 percent of recruiters claim talent shortage as the biggest challenge in hiring.

Hiring the wrong person can be very costly for your business. According to The Times, recruiting the wrong person costs roughly a third of the employee’s first-year earnings. Not only does it cost money, but it can also negatively impact staff morale.

But now, artificial intelligence (AI) is beginning to revolutionize how recruitment professionals find the perfect candidate to fill their position. Though the technology is often referred to as dehumanizing, if used efficiently, AI can actually allow recruiters to be more, well, human!

From time-saving tools which automate resume screening to AI-powered chatbots which provide 24-hour help and advice to candidates with applicant-queries, AI is set to become an essential tool for the most forward-thinking companies.

AI-powered job postings

In a world of fierce competition to nab the top talent, recruiters should not leave anything to chance. And this starts with the very first step of posting a job advert online.

Though this step is often overlooked, the job advertisement is where the applicant’s journey begins. It is often the very first thing that they see from your company, and so getting this right is vital.

Textio is an example of a company that truly understands the importance of high-quality job postings in recruiting the best possible candidates to join your company.

How does it work?

Using an “augmented writing” platform, the idea behind Textio is to give users data-driven feedback on job-postings and information on how it would likely perform with a particular audience. As a result of this, companies will be able to improve their communications and thus receive a far more favorable response.

Texio uses an algorithm that ingests 10 million job openings per month. The software searches and analyzes language patterns and rates phrasing against criteria such as the number of applicants a job gets and the percentage who qualified to get an interview.

Using natural language processing (NLP), the algorithms come up with alternatives to phrases to recommend ones found in the most successful job descriptions. For instance replacing “focused on” with “passionate about”.

Attracting diverse candidates

As well as this, the software can analyze how prevalent gender-biased language is in any given job posting.

For instance, Fortune and Textio analyzed thousands of Walmart job descriptions between January and March last year. After collecting and analyzing over 4,400 US-based job postings, it was found that 51 percent of job descriptions were more likely to appeal to men rather than women. On top of this, 53 percent of management positions and 84 percent of director-level job descriptions skew male.

According to Textio, using gender-neutral language in job postings is crucial in attracting a diverse mix of talent. Such job postings are filled 14 days faster than posts which contain masculine or feminine bias.

It seems that many companies are levering the help AI in finding the right talent. This includes major Fortune 500 companies like Cisco and Johnson & Johnson, who are using Textio to recruit better talent.

It is clear that AI-powered software like Textio is a powerful tool in saving recruiters a lot of time while also helping them to find the best and diverse talent.

Though, one can’t help but show a little concern about the possibility of augmented writing software like this taking over a writer’s job..

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