In the coming years, those 10 million workers and would-be workers who are grappling more or less structurally with job search and selection will have to reckon with artificial intelligence recruiting agents. They will be the ones sifting through resumes and creating the shortlist of candidates who will then be involved in interviews conducted directly by the heads of personnel. That’s a bit of what Claire, the first Ai agent created by Milan-based tech company nCore HR, founded in 2019 by Enrico Ariotti and Aldo Toja, is doing.
The Path of Agent Ai
The Ai agent was conceived in a vertical manner precisely to carry out the entire selection process up to the interview with the HR manager. Claire “talks” ifirst of all with the employer and gathers all the information necessary to draft the most effective advertisement, also offering suggestions on how to perfect it. Subsequently Claire publishes the ad on the main job platforms and, in parallel, launches a proactive search, analysing millions of data on potential candidates. Thus, Claire’s agent n does not just analyse the resumes that have been received, but directly contacts the profiles aligned with the search, provides them with all the information about the position and constant updates on the selection process through e-mails and messages. It offers feedback and administers tests and analyses to assess soft skills and motivations, updating the company’s human resources team in real time, which can then refine the search. Once the shortlist of candidates has been created, Claire organises the video interviews: at that point she has completed her task and can leave it to the company’s hr manager to meet the candidates directly. The interview process is then completed and the candidates are interviewed
Over 45s most active in searches
As explained by a survey commissioned by nCore HR to the Research Dogma Institute, entitled Cambiare lavoro in Italia: esperienze e attese, ithe market of those looking for work – whether it is their first job or a new opportunity – involves around 10 million people, 40% of the active population of 25 million individuals according to Istat data. According to the research conducted on a sample of 800 employed or unemployed Italian workers between the ages of 18 and 65 who have sought or changed jobs in the last three years or will do so in the next three, those looking for work are mainly the over 45s: it is therefore not the young who are most active in the search, but adults between the ages of 45 and 65, who account for 54% of the total. This trend confirms the Istat picture of a country with an increasingly mature workforce, where 6 out of 10 people are over 40. The motivation for looking for a new job is economic, but not only: 43% look for work to get a better or more secure salary, 32% to find a job that is more motivating or close to their interests, and 25% for opportunities for professional growth. The results of the searches tell of a very lively labour market, as they often end successfully, so much so that 43% of those who have looked for work in the last three years claim to have been hired. In spite of this, one third of the sample feels likely to change jobs again in the next three years, a sign of a highly mobile market.
Channels used in searches
Among contact channels, the personal relationship remains the most popular (46%), followed by the telephone (35%). Next to these, around 40% of candidates said they used digital modes, such as video interviews, social, WhatsApp or company platforms. A minority, 2 in 10, were those who said they were satisfied, with the fairly satisfied answer prevailing. The most improvable area concerns the interview: only 16% were very satisfied with the relationship with the recruiter, and just 17% felt fully comfortable during the meeting. 34% of the participants took tests or practice tests. There is a strong openness towards artificial intelligence in recruiting: almost 50% of respondents say they are curious about or in favour of its use, trusting in faster, neutral and transparent processes. A quarter, however, say that an interview with an Ai agent would make them uncomfortable. In short, it seems that the ideal is a mix of Ai to reduce the time of the more ‘technical’ phases of the search and selection process and human recruiters to conduct the interviews and close the selection process.