The March of Chatbots into Recruitment: Recruiters’ Experiences, Expectations, and Design Opportunities

Abstract

Organizations’ hiring processes are increasingly shaped by various digital tools and e-recruitment systems. However, there is little understanding of the recruiters’ needs for and expectations towards new systems. This paper investigates recruitment chatbots as an emergent form of e-recruitment, offering a low-threshold channel for recruiter-applicant interaction. The rapid spread of chatbots and the casual nature of their user interfaces raise questions about the perceived benefits, risks, and suitable roles in this sensitive application area. To this end, we conducted 13 semi-structured interviews, including 11 interviews with people who are utilizing recruitment chatbots and two people from companies that are developing recruitment chatbots. The findings provide a qualitative account of their expectations and motivations, early experiences, and perceived opportunities regarding the current and future use of chatbots in recruitment. While chatbots answer the need for attracting new candidates, they have also introduced new challenges and work tasks for the recruiters. The paper offers considerations that can help to redesign recruitment bots from the recruiter’s viewpoint.

Criteria and Guidelines for Human-Centered Work Design in a Digitally Transformed World of Work: Findings from a Formal Consensus Process

“…Regarding the criterion of fair evaluation processes, current research on chatbots, for example, indicate that they can facilitate recruitment processes. However, to make these evaluation processes fair and appropriate, recruiters need to pay a lot of attention to pre-defining their choices for the chatbots [ 124 ]. Looking at emerging human–artificial intelligence collaboration highlights, among others, the need for human decision-making authority and technical system transparency and reliability of technology [ 125 ].…”

“…This illustrates, for example, controversial comments on the connections between technical system transparency and fair evaluation systems, as well as time elasticity. While technical system transparency is seen as an important basis for informational self-determination, it can, at the same time, contribute to information overload and work intensification, and thus impair time elasticity, since it can increase both the amount and the complexity of information that employees have to deal with [ 124 ]. Employees using unofficial workarounds to deal with inadequate information systems may experience positive effects with regard to the scope of job control as well as time elasticity.…”

Smart Chatbot to Assist Users of Employment Websites in Job Search, Skill Development, and Networking Opportunities

“…In summary, this study provides valuable insights into the evolution of the job search process and the reasons why it is critical to assist all job seekers in the contemporary labour market. The creation, analysis, and assessment of chatbots customised for career advancement and job search support have been thoroughly studied in the past by Koivunen and etal [2] . The purpose of these chatbots is to assist users with job listings and application procedures, comprehend user inquiries, and offer tailored recommendations.…”

Exploring the Role of Chatbots in the Recruitment Process in Latin America

“…Based on the work of Koivunen (2022), three categories of chatbots have been identified: attraction, customer service and interview. Interview chatbots: to obtain candidate information and perform personalized interpretations and competencies through a virtual job interview.…”