Christine Ng is the head of talent and people at Quantum Motion, where she leads strategy around the employee lifecycle including talent acquisition and general HR. This includes trialling and implementing AI tools to make her function’s processes more efficient.
“AI tools should be used when they can enhance your efficiency and productivity,” she says. “Certain tools can supercharge and become indispensable to your work. This is particularly true in people-focused roles, where many tasks and processes are manual, time-consuming and prone to human error.”
In our Startup Life newsletter, Christine shared her top tips for using AI as part of the hiring process.
Don’t get swept away by shiny new products
The tools you use should complement your hiring journey and the candidate experience you want to deliver. Assess your hiring journey and identify your pain points.
- What are your blockers?
- Where could you be more efficient?
- What tasks are being done manually and consuming valuable time?
Research tools that address those challenges — you can Google it, check out Product Hunt or ask your network. Most tools offer demos allowing anyone to explore their features and benefits.
Level up your employer branding
This is key to attracting top talent. Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT can help you create content, support you with copywriting or generate call-to-action points as well as relevant hashtags for social media. Importantly, once the AI has generated ideas, always iterate and build on the suggestions to include your company’s tone of voice.
Pay attention to the language
How you write job descriptions influences how potential talent views you and the role. AI platforms — such as Textio, Grammarly and Simplified — can help optimise job descriptions; you can get them to reduce gender bias, for example, or remove any industry jargon. There are also applicant tracking systems like Workable and Jobvite that include AI-generated job description tools in their platforms.
Use AI for the selection process
For roles with a high volume of applications, you want support with CV filtering and candidate ranking. Tools that can help include Hirevue, Arctic Shores — which leverages AI and gamification for psychometric assessments — and RecruitmentSmart.
Don’t forget about the people
HR is all about people, so don’t think you can replace your entire function with AI. Yes, candidates are leveraging AI to support their application process by getting ChatGPT to write their cover letters or optimise their CV but, ultimately, they do that to get to the point where they can talk to a real person. AI should support the team to do their best work — it is a research assistant, not an employee replacement.
Be mindful of the risks
There have been cases which suggest that using AI for screening and selection processes shows bias against female candidates. As AI becomes more prevalent in recruitment, discussions around the ethical use of the technology will become crucial. Ensure your use of tools leads to a transparent and fair recruitment process, not discrimination.
On the subject of ... using AI for hiring
1. How do you assess candidates who are using AI to fill in their job applications? Christine recommends this newsletter to gain insights into the ever-changing world of talent.
2. How to keep ahead of the curve as AI impacts recruiting. Another Christine recommendation!
