Like most professionals, tech recruiters are using AI to be more efficient and help speed up the hiring process. At the same time, candidates must consider ways to use AI in their own job searches.
Those seeking to transition to a new job in software development need to understand how AI is used on both sides of the equation. Here’s what to know and why it’s important.
How recruiters use AI in hiring
A primary challenge for hiring professionals is managing the sheer volume of applicant data. Companies also strive to provide a good candidate experience, guiding job seekers through the recruiting process efficiently and offering easy access to the information.
AI can help streamline recruitment in both ways, said Pragya Gupta, chief product and technology officer at Isolved, a human capital management software developer headquartered in Charlotte, N.C. Other areas ripe for AI to help include the following:
- Candidate sourcing.
- Candidate screening.
- Candidate matching.
- Job description generation.
“Overall recruitment experience is one of the biggest areas where there’s a lot of innovation going on,” Gupta said.
One example of AI in hiring is to introduce a job candidate to the organization and vice versa. When a job seeker lands on a company’s career site, a chatbot prompts them to answer some initial screening questions. What type of position are they interested in? What are their career goals? Based on the candidate’s responses, the chatbot directs them to relevant job openings.
Job seekers, meanwhile, benefit from recruiters’ use of AI because it streamlines the process, such as increasing the likelihood of receiving timely updates from an organization.
“The feedback loop has shortened a lot, which is fantastic — both for the company offering the job, [and] for the candidate [who is] applying,” she said.
How developers can take advantage of AI recruiting tools
For job seekers, a major challenge has always been how to write a solid resume that stands out from the crowd and makes it to the top of the recruiter’s pile of potential hires. That’s still the goal, even when a company uses AI in its recruiting processes.
When software developers engage with companies that use AI to screen resumes, they should keep it simple, Gupta advises. CVs that feature lots of graphics and complex layouts might be more difficult for AI to analyze. Avoid excessive jargon and uncommon job titles that AI could misinterpret. Software developers should use generally accepted terms for the tools, languages and frameworks they list.
It’s also important for candidates to highlight any AI skills they’ve acquired, noted Amy Sparling, managing director of talent acquisition at West Monroe, a business and technology consulting firm headquartered in Chicago.
“If [software engineers] have any experience working with AI or any certifications in AI, that’s a great way to stand out as a candidate,” she said.
However, developers who use AI could get into trouble further along in the hiring process when they’re being tested on their skills. Sparling cautions against using AI to help with a coding assessment unless the employer has specifically permitted this. Often it is obvious when this happens, so programming candidates should avoid it, she said.
How AI-driven recruitment helps developers behind the scenes
AI-driven recruiting practices can also benefit developers when they apply for software jobs
For one, AI can help candidates that aren’t good at marketing themselves, said Michael Morris, CEO and co-founder of Torc, a software developer-focused talent marketplace developer headquartered in Boston.
AI can evaluate a candidate’s experience and alert recruiters to highlight that person even if the candidate is unaware of how relevant their skills are to a specific position. For example, if an individual lists “DevOps” among their skills but does not further elaborate, depending on how AI is trained it could deduce that this person is familiar with CI/CD and build procedures.
“Just because you didn’t tell us that you’re good at that stuff, we know [you are thanks to AI],” Morris said. “It allows us to make sure we’re not missing skills because you use a certain word, or a certain description, or certain criteria. It allows us to make sure we’re not missing great candidates.”
Source – https://www.theserverside.com/tip/How-developers-can-benefit-from-AI-in-job-hiring