Using AI to Source Top Talent When They’re Not Looking

Identifying passive candidates is a critical part of the recruiting process, especially at a time when the unemployment rate is at its lowest in decades. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the current unemployment rate is 3.9%, which means that fewer and fewer talented candidates are actively looking for a new job.

For organizations actively seeking new talent, a few sobering hiring statistics set the stage for why it’s imperative that you use AI to support your search for talent:

It’s not that there aren’t candidates—they do exist. But as the statistics show, many of them are already employed and not actively looking for a new position. With limited recruiting budgets and a shortage of time to find candidates, AI helps organizations quickly identify both passive and active candidates.

AI-powered Talent Acquisition Systems help recruiters save valuable time

Many expert recruiters and staffing specialists have been using the X-ray search method, also known as Boolean search, that combines keywords, phrases, and symbols to comb the web for candidates.

While these searches can provide powerful results, it takes a significant level of practice and skill to search for candidates using the Boolean method. This manner of recruiting passive candidates can be arduous, time-consuming and labor-intensive.

By comparison, AI-based recruiting can handle the heavy lifting to improve passive recruiting.

When candidate sourcing uses an AI-powered talent acquisition system, internal resources can use their time more effectively. AI ensures the most talented individuals are found, regardless of whether they are looking or not, and removes the need for a person to spend time conducting X-ray searches.

Human connections thrive thanks to AI

Using AI doesn’t remove the human element from recruiting. Instead, it creates more opportunities for human connections. Knowing that the talent acquisition system can find passive and active candidates, recruiters and hiring managers can focus their efforts on assessing AI-identified prospects to ultimately determine who is the best fit and to coordinate outreach.

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When you trust candidate search to AI, recruiters can interview candidates, partner with hiring managers to make decisions, and ensure that talent acquisition strategies are in place to attract and onboard top talent, in spite of today’s tight labor market.

When recruiters aren’t bogged down by manual searches for candidates, they’re better equipped to build positive relationships with candidates by having more time to communicate, answer questions and deliver a positive candidate experience.

The same applies to hiring managers who know that there’s a better chance that technology is helping to provide the best candidate pool possible to fill an open position. The combination of data-driven hiring criteria and vetted candidates lead to more successful applications and better connections between hiring managers and the candidates whom they interview.

While AI can support active and passive recruiting, it’s imperative that companies also actively market their employer brand to candidates. At each stage of the hiring process, recruiters and hiring managers should encourage those interested to apply, as well as communicate all the organization has to offer.

By using AI to automate time-consuming processes, recruiters and hiring managers can focus on the critical human elements of finding their next hire. When organizations rely on manual search methods, they risk missing top candidates at the bottom of the search results. A talent acquisition system powered by AI will provide a list of best-fit candidates based on relevant searches.

Searching for the best talent requires accuracy and speed — organizations that embrace an AI-assisted recruiting process are powered by technology that allows them to quickly source, connect, and engage with the talent they need.

Simon Oldham

Simon Oldham
Simon Oldham is the president at QJumpers, a recruitment platform.

Simon Oldham

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