Artificial intelligence is also affecting the world of Human resources and recruitment. There is tons of articles and blog posts touching on this topic around the interwebz.

Today, it's probably safe to say that there is an AI-powered solution for almost every part of the recruitment funnel. Everything can't be automated - but there are some very good reasons why recruiters and managers should embrace AI.

Some companies use chatbots as a way to to engage visitors on their website. You have probably seen those messages popping up that goes 'Hi there, need help to find what you're looking for?' This is an efficient way to increase the number of candidates completing the application, and if used in the right way - it can have a positive impact on your candidate experience.

In terms of building relationships with candidates, and also in-line with the above - there is a company called Beamary which focuses on treating candidates like customers. It's a candidate relationship platform that proactively builds relationships with passive candidate. This means that the AI and machine learning elements of the platform identify 'passive' candidates, and even suggest what times best to reach out to those candidates.

Why is does these things have a positive impact on the candidates experience? Because AI-assistants will make sure applicants get regular status-updates on their application, give appropriate feedback and will always be available to answer simple questions in an extremely timely manner.

Even tough I haven't tried this particular platform myself - I think Beamery is a good example on how companies is using AI in recruitment to create better human relationships with candidates. These type of platforms is currently being used by the biggest tech companies out there, like Facebook and Criteo.

What will the new year bring in tech recruitment?

#1 Increased volume hiring

In 2017, roughly 60% of most recruitment teams predicted that their volume hiring will increase during 2018.

A recent survey by Indeed found that hiring will continue to increase in 2018: 61% of recruiters expect to hire more people in 2018 than they did in 2017, while 29% expect to maintain current headcount, and only 10% are planning to reduce their hiring.

Increased hiring means busier recruiting teams and the need for additional resources such as investment in recruitment tech that addresses your specific pain points..

#2 Focus on conversation rates in sourcing, not numbers.

SocialTalent’s latest Global Recruiting Survey found the average recruiter sourced 225 candidates for a single hire, an overall conversion rate of 0.4%. Top performing recruiters, on the other hand, were 150% more efficient. They sourced 91 candidates on average for one hire for an overall conversion rate of 1.0%.

In 2018, one of the top recruiting trends will be a focus on quality over quantity.

Talent acquisition leaders are less impressed by absolute numbers and instead will be looking for how well their recruiters can optimize their conversion rates and reduce time to fill to outperform their competitors in landing talent.

People who are in high demand - as almost all good software developers, data scientists and infrastructure engineers are - they do not behave like 'job seekers'. If you set up your recruitment process / system / methods on the idea that they are job seekers, you're going to have a tough time. In IT, a combination of rapidly changing markets, high demand for and short supply of talent means thousands of open, unfilled roles are costing companies -- and the economy -- money every day. For example, only in the US, the value of the approximately 263,586 unfilled IT jobs posted by employers adds up to $20.1 billion.

Stockholm is the home of billion dollar startups in Europe, and by one measure the Swedish capital is second only to Silicon Valley as the birthplace for the world's most successful internet companies. On a per capita basis, Stockholm has 6.3 billion-dollar companies per million people (compared to the Valley with 6.9)

The Swedish start-up scene has shown incredible energy over the past few years as Stockholm became one of the hottest tech hubs on the planet. Five companies exemplify this surge: Spotify, Skype, Mojang, King and Klarna. These “unicorns” – the name given to start-ups worth more than a billion dollars – have all come out of 'Little Sweden' and it sure has inspired a new generation of entrepreneurs who now dream of achieving worldwide success.

Fun fact:

The Nordic region alone, representing only 0.3 percent of the world’s population, makes up for 33 percent of the planet’s billion dollar exits.

If your interested in learning more about tech recruitment, or if you're looking to stay up-to-date with the latest trends in recruitment as well as technology - this blog is for you.

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