A friend of mine was relating a story about how AI is being used in all the wrong ways. Her son was interviewing for a job and was scheduled for a screening phone call. He worked on his skills presentation and got on the call.

On the other end, a bot. It was at that point that my friend’s son decided that this was not the company he wanted to work for.

There are a few issues with this type of talent screening. While AI is great for vetting applicants and helping you refine the job posting and skills needed for the opening, allowing a bot to gauge personality and soft skills is asking too much of technology.

Then there’s the question of your brand and reputation. Job seekers need to feel connected to your organization and its people. If you’re sending the message that the face of your organization is a lifeless computer, you could be causing top talent to walk away.

The problems:

Biased hiring. Even the best algorithms are only as good as the data input. If your hiring manager is inadvertently using wording that could show bias – “salesman” or “women under the age of 30” – that could trigger EOC liability as well as eliminate quality candidates.

The wrong keywords. Most AI programs focus on vetting candidates through keyword searches. However, if your ad isn’t highlighting the right keywords, you could be missing out on candidates who have the experience you really need for the job.

Misguided focus. The same goes for listing education requirements instead of skills requirements. Education pedigree doesn’t guarantee that the candidate will perform well on the job.

Cultural misalignment. Your candidate could look amazing on paper, but has a problem working in a team setting or doesn’t excel without constant oversight that your managers can’t give. Without human interaction with job seekers, you cannot determine how well this person will fit within your company culture.

There’s a better way.

You can still use AI to set your organization up for success. Our proprietary Talent Acquisition Outsourcing (TAO) uses a bias-free algorithm that is based on your job request. TAO takes helps you define the hard and soft skills you need and puts that information to work in the form of a job posting and candidate scoring process. TAO creates the ad and an intuitive application that further narrows down the skills each candidate brings.

The algorithm then creates a ranked list of applicants. Our industry experts then use behavioral assessments, reference checks, and blind interviews to create your bias-free shortlist of candidates.

Throughout the entire process, our experts are involved. Machines establish the baseline, but the people bring home the results.

Using AI to augment your hiring process is a smart way to hone your list of prospective employees. However, AI alone cannot select the best person for the job. For that, you need a combination of machine learning and human interaction. Remember, you’re hiring people. They want to feel like a valued part of a team. For that, they need to connect with you directly.

Looking for a more focused, unbiased hiring process? Let’s have a conversation.