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Will Talent Sourcing Become Automated within the Next Decade?

Jonathan Kidder

AI Automation will never be able to take over the human connection within Talent Acquisition but it may automate certain processes within recruiting. This is a scary concept to discuss in our community. Many Sourcers do not like to consider what will happen in the recruiting industry within the next decade. A question that I have pondered recently is:

 

Will Talent Sourcing become fully automated within the next decade?

 

The current rate at which companies and HR teams have been adopting automation is substantial. Talent Sourcing involves a lot of manual searching and completing tasks for example: searching, outreaches, follow-ups, scheduling, and much more. A major part of my day involves data-entry and assisting applicants through our process. A lot of what I do involves mundane tasks that could get automated with the help of technology. 

 

There’s 4 Level’s of Automation in Recruiting:

Shally Steckerl has defined the 4 levels of Automation. The 4th is intelligent automation which would completely automate recruiting and sourcing with the use of AI intelligence. We might get to that level within our lifetime but, I doubt we’ll get there within the next decade.

  1. Basic Automation: Simple tasks, no special knowledge needed.
  2. Process Automation: More complex – Microsoft 365 or Chatbots.
  3. Integration Automation: Most difficult in-house, some human intervention (IFTTT).
  4. Intelligent Automation: (AI) Advanced Robots doing multiple steps, no humans.

 

What the recruiting industry is currently automating:

We have technology that allows candidates to submit a recorded video of themselves answering screening questions. There’s algorithm tools that can rank and search for applicant profiles based on required skill sets: DNNae, Hiretual, & Seekout offer these search features. With the help of email drip campaigns you can fully automate and track follow-up email messages to candidates. With these tools you can fully automate your email outreaches. Combined with applicants who have applied and cold passive email you could potentially automate the entire process and auto schedule final round interviews over Zoom. 

 

What’s being automated?

 

Why are these processes being automated?

 

We are seeing things change within the sourcing space fairly quickly. With these trends I could see Talent Sourcing taking on a new meaning within the next decade. Talent Sourcing could involve assisting applicants through the process at the end of the funnel and focus more on the candidate experience further than at the beginning of the funnel. 

 

Will Talent Sourcing be needed in the Future?

Depending on the future of education and how it may change. We may have industries that will still have a difficult time finding applicants. AI matching tools will continue to improve and assist Sourcers with finding talent online. It will become quicker to find a slate of active profiles and there will be tools that will automate outreaches completely. I could see the top of the sourcing funnel becoming fully automated with the help of tools and ATS systems. Sourcers will instead focus building touch points within the hiring process to have a better (person to person) connection. 

 

Human Communication will never go away

Because of the human factor there will still need to have a human assisting with the recruiting process. Communication is going to play a role in the process no matter what year. We can push applicants through the process but we will still need to have a call to walk them through our complicated process. This includes screening for technical based questions and answering questions on the culture/environment. To a certain extent you could automate this by using video messaging or chatbots. Chatbots like Alexa or Siri could eventually be programmed to ask and answer phone screening questions. I could totally see this happening within the next decade. 

 

Could AI Virtual Assistants replace Recruiters?

The movie HER is the future take on AI technology and the human dating element. A rather lonely character yearns for human connection. He discovers a dating app that allows him to have a relationship with a computer. While this is an obscure take on the future it may not be that far off. Recruiting could be done with the help up of AI intelligence and chatbots to screen and submit applicants. 

 

 

So, what will change in the next decade in talent sourcing?

Human connection and the candidate experience. Talent Sourcers will still be needed to assist applicants through the process but may play a different role when it comes to searching and outreach. I could see technology changing the recruitment industry completely. It could remove barriers and the need to do mundane search and sourcing tasks. Technology will improve the recruiting process and make our profession more human relationship focused rather than searched focused. 

 

Recommended Reading:

DNNae LinkedIn Automation for Recruiters Review

The Best Recruiting Tools Every Sourcer Needs

Where Should Beginners Start in Talent Sourcing?

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