Most recruiters say AI finds higher-quality candidates

Once feared as making the role of the recruiter impersonal and robotic, artificial intelligence (AI) today gives recruiters the information they need to source and hire higher-quality professionals.

Those are the findings of a global Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) survey of nearly 800 talent acquisition professionals. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of respondents say AI has changed the way recruiting is done in their organisation, with 69% saying using AI as a sourcing tool finds higher-quality candidates.

When asked to compare the quality of candidates today to five years ago, when AI was still in its infancy, 59% said candidates are more qualified today, and 51% said roles are filled in a more timely manner.

According to the survey, talent acquisition professionals are welcoming AI as a tool. Nearly half (48%) say big data and AI are making their roles easier, with 40% saying the main way it helps is by providing valuable insights, and 27% saying it has freed up their time.

“AI helps us dramatically enhance outcomes by finding patterns and relationships to better understand what a successful person looks in a particular position,” said Jacob Zabkowicz, Korn Ferry vice president and general manager, RPO, North America. “For example, in a search for a global automotive maker, we discovered that in one country there was a significant movement of executives from the luxury goods sector to the automotive sector – a relationship that wouldn’t have been obvious without AI.”

Of the 14% of respondents who say AI has made their jobs more difficult, most say they have too much data and they don’t know what to do with it.

However, to further solidify AI’s role in recruiting, most (83%) respondents say they have at least some understanding of how AI can impact the recruiting process, while 87% say they are excited about working with AI even more in the future.

“Data for data’s sake is not a solution for smart talent acquisition practices,” elaborated Franz Gilbert, Korn Ferry vice president of Product Innovation. “Recruiters need to refine their skill sets and work with the right kind of AI tools that will provide them with critical information such as compensation analysis and supply/demand reports on particular job categories in specific regions. We use AI to provide hiring managers with tangible insights, not simply industry rules of thumb or anecdotal stories about similar searches.”