Simplify Recruiting With a Smart HR Chatbot
In hiring, questions aren’t limited to the interview. Candidates are eager for updates and information throughout the entire process. Using convenient channels and chatbots can turn a somewhat interested candidate into your next employee.
Chatbots have become increasingly popular as a tool for human resources (HR) teams. Not only are they ideal for handling common questions and providing quick responses, but when connected to a company's backend system, they can also send real-time updates and personalized information to candidates throughout the application process. However, an HR chatbot’s usefulness extends far beyond recruitment.
In this post, we'll explore some of the most interesting and creative ways HR teams can use chatbots to improve the applicant’s experience, simplify operations and save time. We'll also recommend some of the top chatbot providers on the market.
Whether you're looking to enhance your recruitment efforts or improve your existing processes, read on to discover the exciting possibilities of chatbots in HR.
- What is an HR chatbot?
- 7 HR chatbot use cases
- Top 3 HR chatbot providers
- HR chatbot examples for inspiration
- Top things your recruitment chatbot should have
What is an HR chatbot?
An HR chatbot is a computer program that uses artificial intelligence and natural language processing to simulate human resources conversations with job candidates.
There are two main types of HR chatbots:
- Rule-based chatbots, which follow pre-defined rules to answer questions it identifies.
- AI chatbots, which use machine learning to analyze user inputs and improve their responses over time. Advanced chatbots can also integrate with other systems and data sources to provide more personalized and context-aware responses.
While rule-based chatbots are simpler to set up and maintain, AI chatbots offer a more sophisticated and user-friendly experience, and are better suited to complex HR processes and interactions.
Of course, your needs and budget will be the deciding factor when it comes to choosing a chatbot provider. To help you make a decision about what type of bot you need, take a look at the following use cases and determine which ones are most valuable and important to your team.
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- Saves your team from repetitive questions
- Collects contact information and documents
- Filters for interesting applicants
- Keeps applicants in the loop
- Schedule calls and interviews with your human team
- Receives cancelations or sends rejections
- Collects feedback and ratings
1
Saves your team from repetitive questions
HR chatbots are particularly useful for answering common questions from job applicants. These questions can range from basic inquiries about the job, company, or application requirements, to more complex questions about processing times, compensation and benefits.
By automating these interactions, chatbots free up HR staff to focus on more complex and strategic tasks, while also providing a faster, more convenient user experience for candidates.
2
Collects contact information and documents
HR chatbots can also assist with collecting contact information and required documents from job applicants. With the ability to auto-create profiles, chatbots can streamline the application process by making it easy and efficient for applicants to submit their CVs, cover letters, and other relevant documents.
By automating this process, HR chatbots let hiring managers focus on evaluating candidate profiles.
3
Filters for interesting applicants
HR chatbots can help filter out unqualified job applicants by using a series of questions to learn about their qualifications and experience.
By asking targeted questions and analyzing responses, chatbots can quickly identify the most interesting and promising candidates, allowing HR staff to focus their time and resources on those who are most likely to be a good fit for the position.
4
Keeps applicants in the loop
HR chatbots can keep job applicants informed of their application status by connecting to your internal system and providing updates on their progress.
By sharing information such as whether their application is in review, if a follow-up is scheduled, or if they’ve been rejected, chatbots can help manage candidate expectations. It also shows that you respect the applicant’s need for clarity – which makes a good first impression.
5
Schedule calls and interviews with your human team
HR chatbots can help schedule calls and interviews with job applicants by sharing a Calendly link in the chat, or by offering specific dates and times for a video call.
This approach not only streamlines the scheduling process, but also ensures that candidates have a convenient and personalized experience.
6
Receives cancelations or sends rejections
HR chatbots can help manage job application cancelations and rejections by allowing candidates to check whether a position has been filled or to inform the company if they need to cancel their application, like if they receive another job offer.
By automating these interactions, chatbots can help HR teams more efficiently manage their applicant pool and maintain communication with candidates.
7
Collects feedback and ratings
Chatbots aren’t immune to performance reviews. To get insights into its performance, collect feedback and ratings at the end of the chat.
Use these insights to improve your chatbot’s script or phrasing, interview length, the topic range it covers, and more. Applicants can also use your feedback feature to report issues, such as broken button links and if your chatbot repeatedly misunderstands user inputs.
By collecting feedback in real-time, HR chatbots can provide a more personalized and responsive experience for applicants, helping to improve their overall perception of your company and recruitment process.
Top 3 HR chatbot providers
Userlike - custom AI HR chatbot
It takes training, experience and knowledge to choose the right candidates. Hiring managers achieve this skill through onboarding, professional development and by talking to applicants.
Userlike’s AI chatbot connected to a self-learning knowledge base does the same thing — you train it on your important business data and it improves its responses and understanding the more it speaks to applicants.
To relieve your HR staff, the AI chatbot answers applicants’ burning questions. It can also share updates and important dates, such as the last day to apply for a certain position.
In the chat, the chatbot is able to send and receive documents and share videos, GIFs and more to keep the conversation warm and friendly.
Since Userlike combines human live chat and chatbots, applicants can easily choose to escalate a conversation to an available agent. Agents can either stick to chat messages or start a video call within the same interface to meet applicants face to face.
If you need even more self-support options for candidates, you should know that your central knowledge base can be used for multiple support tools. For example, you can support applicants with a dynamic FAQ on your Jobs page.
Or add automation to your website’s contact form. Once it’s connected to the knowledge base, your contact form suggests answers based on what the visitor is typing in real-time. These automated solutions make sure people quickly get the answers they need and relieve hiring managers from answering the same questions over and over.
- Chatbot type: AI chatbot/contextual
- Automation features: AI chatbot, Smart FAQ, Contact Form Suggestions, smart routing, canned responses, live translations, WhatsApp newsletter (coming spring 2023)
- Compatible apps: WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Threema, SMS, Instagram (as of summer 2023)
- Bot-to-human handover: Yes
- Monthly price: €490 for 10 users (includes Corporate plan and AI Hub add-on)
Paradox AI - prebuilt HR chatbot
If you’re looking for an intelligent solution built just for HR purposes, consider Paradox AI.
Their HR assistant bot Olivia speaks like a recruitment staff member and takes over repetitive questions and follow-up messages so human hiring managers can focus on people, not tasks.
It uses conversational AI and natural language processing (NLP) so applicants can freely type to the bot and receive warm, human-sounding replies instantly. The bot can also screen candidates, schedule interviews, answer questions and send reminders.
However, Paradox AI uses an image of a real woman for Olivia. Their founder’s wife, actually. At Userlike, we discourage using pictures of humans when creating your chatbot because it could set the wrong expectations and frustrate your users.
Olivia is also so advanced that it could actually be mistaken for a human, so it’s up to companies to clarify that it’s a bot.
That being said, Olivia is a welcomed solution to cutting down long hiring processes that can be frustrating and time-consuming for your team.
- Chatbot type: AI chatbot/contextual
- Integrations: SAP, Workday, Indeed, Equifax, Zoom, Gmail and many more HR-related software
- Compatible apps: WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger
- Bot-to-human handover: No
- Monthly price: Price upon request
TARS - simple HR chatbot
TARS has 95, yes 95, pre-made chatbot recruitment templates. These include interview templates, HR services, payroll and more.
These pre-built templates are ideal for those who don't want to invest time in creating conversation flows since they just require minor editing to fit your brand.
For example, you can create multiple chatbots to filter applicants or to check in with your team with a satisfaction or feedback survey.
Based in the U.S., TARS also gives you the option to build a chatbot from scratch and has many tutorial videos on their YouTube channel for assistance.
- Chatbot type: AI chatbot/contextual
- Automation features: Multilingual chatbot, geolocation detection, appointment bookings, analytics
- Compatible apps: Website, WhatsApp
- Bot-to-human handover: Yes
- Monthly price: $83.25 for 5 chatbots, 1k chats; $10 per 100 additional chats
HR chatbot examples for inspiration
DHL Leipzig
First up, an international example we can all learn from: German logistics hub DHL Leipzig keeps applicants in the loop with a WhatsApp chatbot.
Combining the personal nature of WhatsApp with the convenience of chatbots is the perfect cocktail for efficient HR service.
Powered by Userlike, DHL Leipzig’s chatbot helps applicants with questions about open positions, background checks and the best routes for getting to their location.
Users can freely type their questions and the chatbot either detects keywords it recognizes or asks the user to rephrase their question. It even provides several prompts for the user to type, making it easier to get information fast.
L’Oreal Talent
In an effort to diversify its recruitment process, beauty company L’Oréal invested in AI. They created a conversational platform with Mya Systems (now acquired by StepStone ) to help filter applicants for popular positions.
L’Oréal receives over a million applications and hires thousands of employees per year. Mya pre-selects candidates, often picking “atypical” profiles L’Oréal hiring managers wouldn’t consider at first glance. This extra saved time lets recruiters focus on interviews, not combing through applications.
Mya interacts with applicants during the initial stages of the hiring process by answering common questions and screening for availability and visa requirements.
But what are the results? When hiring for an internship program, L’Oréal received over 12,000 applicants. Mya saved the company 200 hours of work filling 80 spots.
Top things your recruitment chatbot should have
When creating a recruitment chatbot, here are the fine details that make a difference:
- An inviting look and feel: Choose a company-appropriate avatar and use buttons, media and other interactive elements to boost engagement.
- Friendly, clear language: Write your knowledge base entries to match your recruiter’s tone, which is often upbeat and professional.
- Direct connection to human agents: Use a chatbot in combination with your live chat software to make escalations simple — or for those crucial first video calls.
- Smart integrations: Connect your chatbot to your internal hiring software to stay on top of progress and eligible candidates.
Looking for the best chatbot candidate? Userlike’s AI chatbot is the right fit for your team.
Instead of using an external chatbot service, Userlike offers holistic customer messaging software with AI features built-in. Your business can stay connected to candidates and customers alike with live chat and chatbots on all the important channels: website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, SMS and more.
With Userlike, you’re not just limited to chatbots when it comes to HR. Learn how you can use your internal human resources knowledge across multiple support tools like a responsive FAQ and contact forms. It’ll save your team time, money and resources — and help you attract talent.
Reach out to our team of chatbot enthusiasts in the chat on our website or email us at support@userlike.com!
