How conversational recruiting can supercharge talent acquisition

Forget the long and tedious application process. Imagine a future where candidates can have real-time conversations with a friendly AI assistant, get their questions answered, and navigate the hiring journey with ease. This is the power of conversational recruiting, and it is revolutionising the way HR professionals attract top talent.

Traditional hiring methods are riddled with inefficiencies. Static career websites overwhelm candidates with generic information, while lengthy applications and the time-consuming task of manual scheduling bog down recruiters. This not only frustrates potential hires but also eats into valuable time that HR professionals could spend on building relationships and making strategic hiring decisions.

The key lies in striking a balance. Human interactions remain crucial, but AI can automate mundane tasks that drain resources. Conversational recruiting software like Paradox’s Olivia empowers HR professionals to focus on their core strengths: building relationships and making strategic hiring decisions.

Transforming the candidate experience

Conversational recruiting allows candidates to apply through a quick and easy chat session. Using keywords and uploaded resumes, Olivia can identify the most relevant jobs and guide them through the process seamlessly. For some high-volume positions, this entire process can be completed in minutes, from application to a confirmed interview, saving valuable time for HR professionals and making the hiring process more efficient.

One of the most straightforward yet impactful uses of AI in recruitment is interview scheduling. Conversational AI can revolutionise this process. This technology integrates with calendars, suggests interviewers’ available times to qualified candidates – from a simple phone screen to a multi-person, multi-location interview day, and even sends interview prep materials. Rescheduling becomes a breeze, managed entirely by Olivia. This optimisation allows HR professionals to focus on more strategic tasks, such as interview coaching, ultimately leading to better hiring decisions.

Always-on communication is another significant advantage of AI. While human recruiters cannot be available 24/7, AI can handle basic inquiries, share content that tells your company’s story, and address common FAQs at any time. This capability allows recruiters to focus on more complex interactions that require a personal touch, ultimately improving the overall candidate experience.

Impact on key talent acquisition metrics

Conversational recruiting is not just about efficiency; it is about delivering a positive candidate experience that translates into better talent acquisition metrics such as candidate conversion, time-to-hire, and employee retention. Moreover, the cost savings realised through automation directly benefit the organisation’s bottom line. According to Paradox, the return on investment of using AI tasks like interview scheduling alone can result in “50,000 hours and millions of dollars saved annually”.

Paradox is at the forefront of conversational recruiting, offering a suite of tools that empower HR professionals to automate tasks and personalise the candidate experience. Olivia, their AI assistant, has already been helping global organisations like McDonald’s, Singtel, UOB, Scoot, NCS, and General Motors streamline their hiring for both high-volume and high-skilled professional roles.

Take the example of Singtel, a telco serving over 770 million customers that needed a hiring process that matched the speed of their network. With nearly 25,000 employees across Asia-Pacific and around 4,000 new hires annually, Singtel faced a complex and cumbersome hiring process. Enter SIEA, Singtel’s virtual assistant powered by Paradox. SIEA screens and schedules candidates automatically, significantly reducing administrative workload.

Joshua Teo, Head of Strategic Resourcing and Talent Acquisition at Singtel, elaborated, “Before Paradox, we had over 20 steps in our hiring process. With Paradox, we’ve cut out 75% of those processes.”

“The assistant helps candidates find appropriate jobs, applies screening checks, and streamlines CV management. We love that Paradox has increased efficiency, provided 24/7 access, and achieved the fastest interview scheduling in nine seconds. Rescheduling rates have also dropped from 19% to 10%.”

READ MORE: The Paradox of AI: How it creates a winning candidate experience

Similarly, NCS Group, a leading IT service provider in South-East Asia and a subsidiary of Singtel, wanted to attract top talent in the highly competitive technology landscape. Lance Foo, Senior Director of Talent Acquisition at NCS, noted, “For every day we’ve behind schedule in finding talent, we’re behind schedule in supporting our clients and delivering solutions.”

NCS implemented Francs, their virtual assistant powered by Paradox, to streamline their hiring process. Francs is available 24/7 to screen and schedule candidates automatically. “Before Paradox, we dedicated three accounts full-time to scheduling, dealing with about 500 interviews per month,” Foo said. Since implementing Francs, NCS has processed more than 24,000 applications. “The integration with SAP SuccessFactors has been a huge time saver. Our time to schedule has decreased from 24 hours to four hours, and candidate cancellations have dropped from 30% to 4%,” Foo added.

By embracing AI to automate the mundane, HR professionals can focus on the human touch, building stronger relationships, and attracting the best talent their organisation has to offer. Conversational recruiting is not just about the future; it is the present. It is a transformative approach that balances the efficiency of AI with the irreplaceable value of human judgement, driving better hiring outcomes and a significant competitive advantage in the marketplace.