The robots are coming — and for your job search, that might be a good thing.
As the emphasis on recruiting shifts to finding the right “fit” for a company’s culture, robots are being used more commonly to screen candidates. Those human traits that matter so much at the office? AI is the first line of screening companies use to assess human qualities, drawing on research to analyze everything from word choice and microgestures to the tone of social media posts.
Luckily, the use of AI isn’t limited to just recruiters and hiring managers. Candidates can capture the power of AI throughout their job search to find better open positions. Here are three ways to put bots to work for you.
- Know how AI is reading your application.
Recruiters are relying on AI to help them surface quality candidates amid the stacks of resumes they get each day. According to industry experts, AI is streamlining everything from candidate sourcing and screening to outreach and interviews. On one hand, this does help reduce unconscious bias in resume screenings and job postings. On the other hand, it means candidates need to find ways to stand out from the crowd — to a robot.
Key to catching the eye of a screening bot? Understanding how they scan resumes and profiles to find the right fit. AI’s strength lies in its ability to comb through mountains of data from all different sources — LinkedIn, social media, your application, and more. The more data the better: these bots are looking for patterns that can help them understand a candidate’s humanity. Using software integrations like SuccessFactors, companies are developing more advanced profiles of the candidate they need to fit an open position perfectly. Therefore, your task is to provide enough job-related information to help a bot match you to that description.
Start by filling out your LinkedIn profile — all of it. Then, look for other places where you can highlight your professional and personal qualifications. These bots aren’t just looking for your work history. They will also seek insight from your social media profiles. According to one study, pictures of drinking on social accounts don’t imply bad job performance. These photos have become so common that screening them would eliminate tons of qualified candidates. However, bigoted comments or posts about drugs were linked to subpar performance. Figure out exactly what data is going to be fed into the machine, and curate your online presence accordingly.
- Feed your vision into an AI matching program.
Remember, AI bots are a tool. The results you get from using artificial intelligence are only as good as the user. Therefore, you need a clear vision of what you’re looking for in your job search to get the very best results.
What does your ideal job look like? Be honest with yourself. Factor in the work culture, the hours, how much you need to travel—even perks like is there a pool table in the break room. From there, you can put AI to work for you finding a position that truly fits that profile. Tools like Google for Jobs and Beansprock can help you hone in on open jobs that are perfect for you.
Beansprock pulls in thousands of new jobs from public listings and job sites to feed you openings based on your specific guidelines. You provide things like preferred company size, what kind of culture you’re looking for, skills you have or want to learn and more. You can also connect your LinkedIn profile and define how often you’ll get matches. Then, Beansprock will give you open listings as well as pertinent information: where the office is, what the salary range might be, etc. Ta-da! A job board full of listings curated just for you.
Google for Jobs is similar, but with the scale and power of Google behind your search. Google for Jobs pulls open positions from virtually all of the major online job boards, including LinkedIn, Monster, WayUp, DirectEmployers, CareerBuilder, Facebook and others – even listings from a company’s careers page. To cut down on the number of listings, Google for Jobs lets users refine their search by date posted, the type of job, experience required, when the job was posted, and job titles. It also cuts out duplicates for you. After you craft the perfect job search query, Google Alerts takes over: you can save that as an alert that updates you when new jobs match the query. This gives you a steady stream of open positions to sort through each day.
Spend less time wading through open positions, and more time applying to jobs that are the right fit for you.
- Put a bot to work.
Not quite sure what you’re looking for yet? If you’re still getting clear on what your ideal job might be, virtual assistants can help. There are many bots out there helping skilled workers to find their next job. Yodas is a bot that brings back listings — and it’s own assessment of the employer — based on a series of questions and your skills. Open to software engineers, this can be a good place to start if you’re not sure what you’re qualified for and looking for some feedback.
Similarly, Jobo is an HR chatbot that can help you narrow down jobs based on your skill set. Provide Jobo with your LinkedIn address and resume, and Jobo will crawl for jobs that fit your profile — alerting you when there’s something available. EstherBot will help turn your resume into an interactive chatbot that interacts with potential employers. Still in development, the goal of EstherBot is to automatically answer questions about professional experience and cultural fit that recruiters often have—and that jobseekers can’t often answer on a résumé or LinkedIn profile. Dux Soup for LinkedIn is a bot that can take on some of the networking for you. Used by sales reps, Dux Soup can capture leads for your job hunt too — see what recruiters are viewing your profile, and personalize outreach to them.
The hysteria that robots are coming to steal jobs will always exist. Beat the bots by putting them to work for you instead!
