Morten Agerbæk Riber from Odense, is 27 years old and educated in Communication. In his spare time, he enjoys playing squash, being a barista, creating crooked DIYs and travelling abroad with his girlfriend. His life is pretty good – The only things missing is that he doesn’t yet have a permanent job.

Morton has done a number of temp and contract jobs, however, he is still actively seeking a  permanent position, so that he can get out of the unemployment benefit system completely. Since Morten graduated in 2014, he has been busy applying:

“I have applied for about 200 jobs, so I have gradually formed an opinion on what a good recruitment process is,” he says. 

Along with the job search, Morten has been in various internships and salary subsidy positions. He has also worked on improving his professional profile through courses:

“I really want to work with digital communications and have therefore taken courses in Google Analytics and Adwords.”

Vague and unrealistic job descriptions

“One thing I’ve come to realize during my job search is that companies often use clichés, or just list a lot of things they want you to be able to do. It’s rare that I come across a job description that is really targeted and specific,” he says, exemplifying:

“If I read a job description posted by a small library in the outskirts of Denmark and they write: ‘you are a world champion in social media’, then I can’t help but think ‘if I were a world champion in social media then I probably wouldn’t apply for a job here!’. If instead they had been more realistic and honest, and maybe even had a little self-irony, then I would be more interested in the position.”

Morten is not the only one who experiences that companies often resort to clichés in their job descriptions. A large study from Jobfisk.dk shows exactly this point. Similarly, according to the 311 job seekers who answered the survey, they judge companies by their ability to write clear and comprehensive job descriptions, and on average they rate them as mediocre.

Design is important

Morten’s usual procedure when applying for a job is to first check out the company’s website, Facebook and LinkedIn page: 

“I do this to get an impression of the company so that I can decide if I want to apply and how to best target my application.”

In this initial process, the visual elements of the companies are of great importance:

“If a website or job description looks nice, it just adds a little extra to my motivation to apply for the job. If, on the other hand, it is poorly made, I might be slightly hesitant and wonder ‘how professional are they?’ It’s important to me that I get a feel for the company in their job description – both in terms of text and design.”

Read more about why it pays off to think about the visual when recruiting: Value-based Recruitment Makes Sense – and Profit.

Transparency in the process, please!

When looking for a job, Morten more often that not receives confirmation that the application has been received. However, it sometimes lacks when it comes to the written rejections:

“Sometimes I end up wondering what happened to a given position I applied for. Then I might get a rejection three months later. Or sometimes not at all.”

Although it can be demotivating to read rejections, Morten still appreciates knowing where he stands and how far along the process the employer is:

“It is a pity to get a refusal, but then at least you can move on and focus on something new. It is also very nice when they write on the job description, or in the email following the application, when they are planning to hold the interviews. When that day comes, and you are still not called to an interview, you know that you probably won’t get that job.”

In addition to ongoing and relevant information, Morten appreciates when the recruitment processes are efficient:

“I appreciate it when the process doesn’t drag out and when I know what to expect.”

HR-ON participated in a research project which demonstrates the future of artificial intelligence recruitment in the future

Is artificial intelligence better at finding your next employee than you? Not yet, but this will soon be the case for a wide variety of job types. And this could have a decisive impact on how you will recruit in the future. HR-ON has participated in an project with the Southern University of Denmark (SDU). The aim of this project was to explore the possibilities of developing an artificial intelligence solution for recruitment. According to HR-ON Director, Ali Cevik, it will not be long before artificial intelligence is implemented in HR-ON’s recruitment system.

“It is natural development of our system that has already automated a large part of the recruitment process, where everything that was previously handled manually – receiving the applications, sending response emails, invitations for an interview and so on until the actual employment – now runs all by itself,” he says.

Artificial intelligence can quickly and more precisely whittle a large amount of applications down to a manageable pile. This helps companies to save time and also ensures they do not disregard good candidates. 

The algorithm finds the best candidates

HR-ON participated in this project with SDU because they have a large amount of data (job vacancies and applications) as well as information on how this data is evaluated by hiring committees. The purpose of the project is to develop an algorithm that can match the applications with the job description. They go about this in a number of ways. One way is by finding links between job listings and applications. Another way is by calculating LIX numbers and finding keywords and associated keywords.

HR-ON has thousands of job listings and hundreds of thousands of applications. This large amount of data makes it possible to do very accurate analyses. Using ‘machine learning’ they can analyse the user behavior which leads from job advertisement to employment. Artificial intelligence therefore becomes smarter by looking at historic behavior patterns in a large amount of data.

“Artificial intelligence can see some connections and see through the jungle of data contained in the applications. It can do much more than just sort. It will be able to quickly sort hundreds of applications and spot opportunities that you cannot see yourself,” Ali Cevik explains.

For example, factors such as lower grades may not necessarily be an obstacle to a successful recruitment process. 

“In this way, the system can actually be even better at ensuring diversity and breaking down prejudice,” Ali Cevik says.

We still need humans

Although artificial intelligence will help a great deal, Ali Cevik does not anticipate that AI will handle the entire recruitment process independently. The AI system will do the first ‘sieving’ and remove a large number of  weak applications. This will leave a more manageable number of application for the hiring committee to focus on. At the very last sorting stage we will certainly still need human input.

“Artificial intelligence will never be able to tell you who to hire,” Ali Cevik says.

An artificial analysis of an artificial working day

As of yet, no-one has found a solution for using artificial intelligence to select the perfect candidate portfolio from an unprecedented amount of applications. However, there are several companies in the United States working with different solutions. 

The company ‘42floors.com’ realised that they were drowning in applications. Therefore, they began using an artificial intelligence system to scan the applicant field:

“We can start with 4000 candidates and within a few days get it down to the top two or three percent. And 48 hours later, we’ve hired one,” says Jason Freeman, Founder of 42floors.com.

He chose to introduce a digital system because he had had enough of taking time away from his other duties as a director by reading through almost endless piles of applications. The system he chose is developed by a relatively new company called ‘Interviewed’. They select their candidates through scans and give them simulations of tasks from the first working day. Next, they analyze the applicant’s personal characteristics and create a psychological profile that predicts whether they will fit into the business.

“It is not perfect, but it is faster and better than the human method,” he concludes.

IT giants are competing for the best

Artificial intelligence is not just the future of recruitment, but of a wide range of areas. IT giants are competing with each other to buy the most promising system. According to Forbes, US recruitment agencies now spend a billion dollars annually to secure the smartest heads of artificial intelligence for the IT industry. The vast sums come from Amazon, Google and Microsoft, far ahead of all other competitors in the game.

Apple reportedly spends far less money on artificial intelligence recruitment. Although this may be because the company does not employ recruitment agencies as much. Also Apple generally has a secretiveness that is unheard of elsewhere in the IT industry. Whatever the reason, Apple is ranked 98th on Forbes’ list of investment-ready IT companies in artificial intelligence. Amazon, on the other hand, is a clear fore-runner in Forbes’ survey. In a year, Amazon has posted 1178 positions in artificial intelligence. Google ranks second with 563 posted positions.

“Demand for artificial intelligence far exceeds anything else,” says Chris Bolte, Director of Paysa, the company which collected the figures for Forbes.

“The most interesting thing is the size of Google and Amazon’s investments compared to the rest of the market,” he continues.

A small tick reveals your feelings

Another part of the future of artificial intelligence recruitment is video applications. An American company is working on the scanning of videos for small imperceptible facial features that show what a candidate is feeling when, for example, they talk about their old workplace. It also scans for whether people are using active words like ‘can’ and ‘will’ or negative phrases like ‘can’t’ or ‘need’.

The company ‘HireVue’ bases their technology on an inventory of 10,000 facial expressions that can last up to 1/25th of a second. 

Artificial intelligence can also help with the soft skills

Although it is becoming more common to use artificial intelligence to help with the selection of candidates to be interviewed, Ali Cevik from HR-ON does not think it will make the job market less humane, on the contrary, he says:

“There is always a fear that machines will take over, and then everything will become inhumane, but I actually think that with artificial intelligence we will be even better at identifying the soft skills. Artificial intelligence can better qualify the process so that we will not pour money down the drain.” 

FIVE IMPORTANT POINTS ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE:

Fortune has compiled five insights into hiring that they believe recruiting with artificial intelligence should be based on. The insights are based on research as well as on companies’ own studies.

1. First and foremost, the artificial intelligent recruitment needs to eliminate education qualifications as a criterion. Google now hires a higher proportion of employees without any degree than it did in its young years, when it mainly targeted young people from elite universities. This is how artificial intelligent recruitment should also be able to appoint highly qualified candidates with no degree, rather than less qualified with impressive papers. 
2. Secondly, it should not focus on intelligence and social skills or appearance and health. A University of Pennsylvania study shows that passion and persistence alone create long-term success. 
3. Next, experience and previous top positions should not be valued too highly. Past experience does not necessarily mean success in future work, and former top managers are rarely team players. And in modern agile companies, team players rather than lone-stars are what’s really needed.
4. Fourth, the artificial intelligence recruitment must take into account that it is not necessarily the best idea to put an employee from a competitor into a similar position in your company. The decision could also be made based on how well the candidate is at taking down time. 
5. Last but not least, this does not mean that the candidates have photos of themselves on Facebook with a beer in hand. It is quite widespread and does not affect his or her ability to work. On the other hand, the artificially intelligent recruiting machine must be a bit politically correct. People who make prejudice comments or write about drugs on social media will be flagged as weaker than average employees.

It is Get advice from an expert for your next IT recruitment

IT specialists are among the most sought after candidates on the job market right now.

In fact, they are so sought after, that 59% of the top executives in the IT industry have had trouble attracting qualified workers in recent years, according to Børsen.

So what should you do, when the need for a new developer or IT supporter arises?

In this article, you will get advice from a specialist in IT recruitment, Garny N. Srisgandarajah from Recruit IT. 

Her take-away points include:

• Be realistic with your ‘wishlist’ for the candidate
• Focus on chemistry between the candidate and the department
• In the listing, promote not only assignments but also technology
• Save the good candidates

From desire to reality

According to Garny, it is difficult, with the way the market is today, to find the right candidates to fill specific positions. The challenge lies in finding a match – transforming the company’s ‘wishlist’ for an ideal IT specialist into concrete candidates.

“It is not one specific type of IT employee who is particularly difficult to find, it is just difficult to find IT people in general,” Garny says, elaborating: “Given how the the market is these days, we experience a huge demand for .NET profiles. This does not mean that a .NET candidate fits several of our .NET positions, as different demands are placed on the technology, experience, personality and so on.”

As an example, positions in start-up departments or new work areas can be a challenge to fill, as special demands are made with regards to personality traits as well as to extensive experience in technology, architecture, project management and more. 

Get off to a good start

When it comes to IT recruitment, your network is the obvious place to start, Garny says. Often, it is best for candidates to be first contacted by a recruiter they already know. This recruiter can gain a more in-depth knowledge of the candidate’s personality and strengths.

When it comes to assessing candidates’ technical skills, Garny says there are no shortcuts:

“As an IT recruiter it is important that you have knowledge in IT, as well as an interest in keeping yourself up to date. Otherwise, it will be difficult to ask the candidates the right questions so that they can assess their competencies.”

Chemistry or competencies?

Although the pool of potential candidates is smaller in IT, Garny does not believe that the challenge is much different to in other industries. The challenge lies more in matching human values with the job listing:

“Companies do, of course, have some requirements and wishes for the candidates’ competencies, but the candidate with whom the hiring committee has the best chemistry may not have all the required competencies.”

Therefore, it is sometimes necessary for companies to assess whether chemistry or competences is the first priority. And here, Garny recommends starting with chemistry, because it is important that both the candidate and the department thrive in their daily work. It is easier to learn and develop skills, than it is to change the chemistry.

Focus on the task

According to Garny, many IT specialists are happy and able to immerse themselves in a task. For this reason, she believes that companies should focus their career opportunities and job listings on the specific tasks and technologies that the candidate will face.

“The candidates have to be passionate about what they are going to be doing – otherwise IT will be really heavy. They must be motivated to solve the challenges they will face,” Garny says, elaborating: “We usually get our graduates on the exciting assignments. It is rarely the high salary that makes people choose a job in IT.” 

Finding managers and heads of IT departments

At times, Garny finds that certain tasks may be more difficult to assign to IT specialists. The position of manager or head of an IT department is a position that can be difficult to fill. 

“This can sometimes be a challenge, as developers will usually be interested, but there are not many developers who are extrovert and who have the skills required for sales. It can be difficult to find candidates who are also passionate about that part of the job.”

Keep a list of strong candidates

When Garny embarks on a new recruitment assignment, one of the first things she does is to look for the skills that the company requires. She first uses social media, looking at other companies working with the same technologies. She uses both LinkedIn and Facebook to find potential candidates and start the initial dialogue.

Once she has spoken to the candidate and received a resume, she saves it (with permission from the candidate) in case they match another position.

“We screen our candidates in person, and then we submit their resume and profiles into HR-ON to accumulate a list. We use HR-ON as a database for our candidates, where we can sort candidates by tags and competencies.”

In this way, Garny avoids discarding a candidate who doesn’t fit a particular position or business. Instead, the candidate is added to a list of talented and interested candidates who can be called in quickly if a relevant position is posted. 

What is the most important piece of advice for IT recruitment?

– and how do you effectively use job listings as a headhunter? Garny answers this, in the video below: