With pressure on recruiters and the job market remaining tight, the call for AI is big in recruitment land. AI tools are popping up like mushrooms, but it only really becomes a gamechanger when you don't deploy it as a standalone tool, but build and train it as an additional colleague. In this blog, you will discover what AI agents are and most importantly: what you can do with them.
TL;DR | AI agents are more than chatbots: they perform tasks independently, make decisions and adapt to your organisation and processes. For recruiters, this means less manual work. For candidates, it offers better guidance, even outside office hours. You can deploy AI agents to answer questions, help candidates find the right job, screen for suitability, process applications and support candidates in the recruitment process. Since you can set up and train AI agents yourself, there are many more applications to consider. AI agents do not replace recruiters, but give them the space to do what they really make a difference.
What is an AI agent for recruitment?
If we ask the world's best-known AI tool itself, an AI agent is "a piece of software that can independently perform tasks on your behalf, using artificial intelligence. The big difference between 'regular AI' and an AI agent is that the AI agent does not just respond to queries, but also takes action and performs tasks on its own.
So you can think of an AI agent as a digital assistant who, based on its purpose, figures out for itself what needs to be done and picks up those actions. In addition, AI is self-learning, so your digital colleague will also become increasingly productive.
Specifically, for recruitment, this means that AI agents can take over a (part of the) process, and that benefits both sides. Recruiters spend less time on manual work and candidates are helped and supported 24/7. This is not only more efficient, it is also a nicer experience for everyone in the process.
The difference between an AI tool and an AI agent
An AI agent is much more than a chatbot that answers questions. Whereas a chatbot responds according to a fixed script to what someone types or answers, an AI agent has a real conversation with follow-up questions and responses that respond to what the candidate indicates. An AI agent can do this because it knows the context and is trained on your tone-of-voice. In addition, an AI colleague is able to make decisions and process actions on their own, for example inviting a candidate for an interview and scheduling it in the recruiter's calendar.
Another big difference: a powerful AI agent you can build and train yourself. That means that these AI colleagues fully adapt to your way of working and processes, whereas most AI tools simply have one flow that is not specified to your organisation.
What can AI recruitment colleagues do for you?
What can AI recruitment colleagues do for you in practice? These are the applications we see most often now. But because you can build and train AI agents yourself, there are many more possibilities.
Answering candidates' questions
It happens every day: with strong campaigns, you have attracted candidates to your work-at-home site and there they have become enthusiastic, but before they apply, they actually have a question. If you don't answer these quickly, chances are they have already lost interest or even applied next door. A quick answer often makes the difference between a candidate who drops out and one who applies.
With an AI agent who captures all questions and - based on everything you have taught him - answers them, you can be sure that's fine. Because this AI colleague never has a day off, doesn't need to sleep and is never too busy to speak to a candidate. In addition, the AI agent can directly help a candidate submit the application. So with this new colleague, you improve the candidate experience - count on candidates being happy with a super-fast answer to their question - as well as conversion.
Helping candidates find the right vacancy
Do you know the 'paradox of choice'? This is a psychological concept that states that people can become overwhelmed with a large amount of choices and are more likely to drop out. If you have a long list of vacancies on your recruitment site, you run the risk of candidates not seeing the wood for the trees and clicking away from your site. A shame!
To avoid that, you can deploy an AI colleague to help candidates find the right job. Let this digital colleague ask the candidate what wishes, ambitions or needs are and the AI agent will come back with a proposal of one or a few vacancies that meet them. Again, candidates are happy with the guidance and recruiters are happy with the higher intake.
Screening candidates
Many employers and recruitment agencies have now switched from traditional application forms to low-threshold response options, such as lead forms in campaigns or 'call me' widgets on the site. As a result, more responses are coming in from candidates, but this innovation also comes with a challenge: you have little information about these candidates and spend a lot of time manually following up, even with candidates who turn out not to be a good fit.
You solve this with an AI agent performing an initial screening when someone applies. For example, ask questions about someone's experience, qualifications or availability and let your AI colleague rank candidates based on their suitability. The recruiter sees this ranking directly in the ATS and can focus on the best-suited candidates. That saves a lot of phone calls, phone calls and e-mails!
"With the MrWork AI Agent, I save 1.5 days per week. Previously, during peak periods, there were up to 90 responses waiting for me to call after, and that easily took me 2 full days. Now, because the AI Agent already performs an initial qualification, all I have to do is follow up on the relevant candidates. I peaked that in half a day." - Diangeny Felesie, recruiter at Okeedo
Apply via AI colleague
You have to strike while the iron is hot, and this is especially true in recruitment. If a candidate is talking to an AI colleague anyway - for answering a question or finding the right vacancy - it's best to run the application through the AI colleague right away too. So instead of sending someone who is about to apply for a job to an application form (because chances of them dropping out or 'I'll do it later'), have the AI colleague ask the questions you would otherwise have them fill in on the application form. Your digital assistant then processes the application neatly in the ATS, so that you as recruiter can start working on it immediately.
Candidate support during the recruitment process
Applying for a job is an exciting process for many candidates. A helping hand then is nice! With an AI application buddy, you can assist candidates during their procedure, for instance by helping them prepare for their job interview.
Martin de Ruiter, CCO at MrWork, shares a real-life example of such an AI colleague: "One of our clients noticed that candidates were often unprepared at their job interview and then set up an AI colleague to help candidates prepare for their interview, fully automatically. 80% of candidates took advantage of that help and appeared at the table better prepared."
AI agents in recruitment: not a replacement, but a reinforcement
Smart AI colleagues can take a lot of work off your hands and improve the candidate and recruiter experience. This allows recruiters to focus on the work where they make a difference: connecting people. Thus, AI agents are not replacements for recruiters, but reinforce each other.
When will you add smart AI colleagues to your team? You can try them out for free!
