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The Role of Conversational AI in Candidate Engagement

In today’s increasingly competitive recruitment market, creating an outstanding candidate experience is critical to finding the right people for the job. A negative experience can cause potential candidates to lose interest in the advertised job position, causing recruiters to lose top industry talent to their competitors. Thus, facilitating a seamless engagement may help HR professionals boost their talent acquisition strategy right away, allowing them to deliver excellent business results without having to bear high costs.

Being proactive, relevant, and helpful in your communication keeps your company on top of the list for the candidate; and that is where conversational AI steps in.

 

But what is Conversational AI?

Conversational AI is the set of technologies behind automated messaging and speech-enabled applications that offer human-like interactions between computers and humans. And although it may seem to be the same thing, there is a huge difference between conversational AI and chatbots. Conversational AI goes far beyond the question-and-answer game of a simple chatbot. While the chatbot is primarily suitable for text-based conversations, Conversational AI can be operated via text as well as via speech.

Conversational AI relies upon natural language processing (NLP), automatic speech recognition (ASR), advanced dialog management, and machine learning (ML), and is able to have what can be viewed as actual conversations. It also uses deep learning to continue to improve and learn from each conversation. It is more flexible and is able to jump from one topic to another.

Thus, Conversational AI platforms allow companies to have meaningful conversations with potential candidates who are likely to land the position in the near future, resulting in a fantastic candidate experience. Furthermore, they can provide automated solutions to a variety of candidate questions based on the language used throughout the interaction with the bot. Above all, they can learn from previous encounters with applicants and, as a result, deliver more effective solutions over time. 

 

3 ways how an AI-driven conversational platform can work wonders for enhancing candidate engagement

 

1.  Bridging the communication gap

Maintaining consistent & relevant communication with all the candidates is crucial but it becomes impractical and challenging for recruiters. Conversational AI can very effectively bridge this gap and make it a very seamless process for both the recruiter and the candidate. The advances made in natural language processing make it possible for AI-powered virtual assistants to give ‘human’ responses to questions, improving the candidate experience.  It can initiate conversations with applicants upon résumé submission and improve the candidate experience by answering pre-indexed questions about the role, next steps, and other basic information that candidates want immediately. It’s important to note that it is less intimidating communicating with a virtual assistant where an applicant can just be themselves and remain calm. 

 

2. Reducing the response time

It’s not unusual for candidates to hear from companies weeks or even months after they apply for a position. During that time, candidates might find other jobs or even decide they’re not interested in working for a company with such poor response times. A survey conducted by Careerarc revealed that 69% of candidates wish that employers would improve response time. Conversational AI gives you the power to engage with applicants on their preferred communication channel in real-time. It can be utilized on your company’s website, email, Facebook, WhatsApp, and anywhere else where candidates may interact with it. These solutions can engage with talent 24/7, so candidates do not need to wait for recruiters to respond.

 

3. Providing clarity

If the application procedure is very difficult, candidates prefer to quit halfway. This can also arise as a result of unclear candidate instructions when filling out the job application. Candidates will, of course, rate this as a negative aspect of their experience. According to Zippia, if there is a lack of clarity regarding instructions during the application process, 92 percent of candidates will view their experience as bad. Thankfully, this is where conversational AI shines- candidates can receive real-time direction and help from intelligent chatbots while they finish their applications. Applying for a job will become a lot more convenient for them as they receive guidance and clarity at each step.

 

Let’s explore a case study

 A Global RPO specialist enabled seamless candidate experience via impress.ai’s conversational AI platform. What it did was, it helped guide candidates through an intelligent and automated hiring process. Besides supporting the candidates through every step of the application and screening phases, progressing best-fit candidates, and scheduling interviews without human intervention, it delivered an impressive candidate experience (94.5% candidate satisfaction rating) by responding to candidate FAQs, 24/7- accurately and instantly. It even reduced candidate drop-off.

Impress.ai is an autonomous recruitment platform that automates recruitment with minimal human intervention. This is accomplished using AI-driven conversational platforms that interview, interact, and shortlist candidates at scale, 24/7/ 365.

To know more about how you can enhance your candidate engagement using impress.ai, click here.

 

In conclusion

In the current recruitment market, positive candidate experience is key to ensuring the hire of top talent. It is because of this that leading HR executives globally are embracing  Conversational AI to create candidate experiences, designed to attract and retain top talent, and drive business results. This technology can be deemed successful as it makes the applicants’ journey seamless, straightforward, and inviting. 

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