Artificial intelligence is infiltrating everywhere… including the recruitment sphere. A trend fully embraced by HR coach and speaker Philippe Zinser, who has created a new dedicated training program. Interview.
Hello Philippe. With the emergence of generative AI and tools like ChatGPT, can anyone be a recruiter today?
Philippe Zinser: I’d be tempted to say yes! The experience acquired over the years is now almost accessible to everyone with the tools available on the market.
Whether it’s writing relevant job offers linked to company culture, targeting candidates through specific searches, or designing interview guides… All of this is now possible in seconds with AI. This represents more of an opportunity than a threat for recruiters.
What do you mean?
Philippe Zinser: It’s impressive how much time AI saves. Today, a recruiter who starts using it can save one day per week. And that can quickly rise to two or even three days!
I understand this might be scary, but the risk of not embracing it is quickly becoming obsolete. All professions are now affected and must rethink their approach. Recruitment is part of this.
What are the main use cases for AI in this field?
Philippe Zinser: For communication, writing and analyzing job offers, AI is good 95% of the time. What used to take half a day now only requires a few minutes.
However, where AI doesn’t yet have its place is in interviews. The final decision-making will remain a human affair. But for almost everything else, we won’t be able to do without AI anymore because it’s such a productivity gain.
What are the limitations nonetheless?
Philippe Zinser: AI learns from what we give it. The basic rule is therefore not to share personal and strategic information. I’m also often told about the lack of empathy. I would nuance this: there are people in HR who have less empathy than an AI! And given how fast this is progressing, I think current flaws will soon be ancient history.
We must understand that there’s no going back. Hence the importance for HR professionals to train themselves so that AI is no longer a great unknown. And to test – that’s the key.
Aren’t candidates reluctant to only interact with AI during a recruitment process?
Philippe Zinser: Many people are indeed not ready for this. But in this context of economic slowdown, companies hold most of the cards. If they decide to switch to AI, candidates won’t really have a choice.
Hence the importance of also investing in employer branding to maintain a human side, while automating lower value-added tasks.
Who is this new training aimed at?
Philippe Zinser: Recruiters in the broad sense – all people who might be required to do recruitment within their organization. We’ll talk about AI but also growth hacking to effectively connect with target people.
More and more is being asked of recruiters, and the solution to cope is to be well-equipped. AI works a bit like an intern: it will learn very quickly, but it doesn’t get everything right all the time. This requires control and vigilance.
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