{"id":61298,"date":"2018-10-26T11:29:14","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T10:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bullhorn.com\/uk\/?p=61298"},"modified":"2019-03-01T21:27:29","modified_gmt":"2019-03-01T21:27:29","slug":"how-to-use-chatbots-to-engage-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bullhorn.com\/uk\/blog\/how-to-use-chatbots-to-engage-candidates\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Use Chatbots To Engage Candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"

In today\u2019s competitive market, recruiters constantly are seeking ways to improve candidate engagement and attract the best talent for their clients. While chatbots were developed in the 1960s, their use has become increasingly more common in recent years. In fact, global business research company\u00a0<\/span>Gartner<\/span><\/a> made the bold prediction that by 2020, the average person would have more conversations with chatbots than with their spouse. So, what can this technology do for your recruitment agency, and how can you make the most of it?<\/span><\/p>\n

What exactly is a chatbot?<\/b><\/h3>\n

A chatbot, such as recruiter-tailored\u00a0<\/span>Mya<\/span><\/a>, is simply a fast automated system designed to closely replicate a conversation with a human. They are programmed to use natural language processing to understand and respond to particular statements and questions. For example, if asked, \u201cDid you receive my references?\u201d a bot could reply with \u2018\u201dYes, they were received yesterday. Thank you.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

More sophisticated bots use machine learning, meaning the more they \u2018speak\u2019 with humans, the better able they are to answer future questions and replicate human speech. Undeniably, as Art Papas highlighted in\u00a0<\/span>his keynote at Engage London 2018<\/span><\/a>, these advances are transforming the way we work: Just think, how many of life\u2019s interactions can already be handled by a computer? Although chatbots are often described as being artificially intelligent, none are yet at the stage where they can comfortably pass as a human without detection, so recruiters needn\u2019t worry about being replaced.<\/span><\/p>\n

How can chatbots help recruiters?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Chatbots can be used to automate a significant proportion of your top of funnel interactions. This means each candidate gets timely, personalised responses to their application at every touch point of the recruitment process. Major businesses such as Sky are <\/span>picking up on this trend<\/span><\/a>, recently introducing an Ask Jeff ChatBot to allow applicants round-the-clock assistance. Recruitment agencies are following suit, such as executive search firm\u00a0<\/span>SCGC<\/span><\/a> \u00a0who are using bots to help engage applicants for more junior roles. However, there is still some way to go. According to the 2018 Recruitment Trends survey<\/a> close to half of recruiters (48 per cent) aren\u2019t using automation tools, such as chatbots.<\/span><\/p>\n

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48% of #recruiters aren’t using #automation tools like #chatbots<\/a><\/div>\n

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Key areas where the candidate experience can be enhanced by bots include: <\/span><\/p>\n