CareerBuilder used artificial intelligence to figure out veterinary technicians could make good prison guards. It's just one way the hiring platform is employing the technology to revolutionize HR.

CareerBuilder

Irina Novoselsky is the CEO of CareerBuilder

• Like many other job functions, AI is changing how HR departments work. The technology can reduce bias in hiring and eliminate more mundane job tasks, but organizations can still be hesitant to adopt it over legal concerns.
• Now, CareerBuilder is using AI to improve the quality of job postings and, ultimately, better match qualified candidates with open positions. The technology is also making it easier for candidates to create compelling resumes.
• In one example of the potential of AI, CareerBuilder found that veterinary technicians could make good prison guards, a currently in-demand position. The applications also helped one of the U.S.'s largest investment banks double the amount of diverse individuals on staff - covering gender, age, and race.
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Job loss is one of the biggest fears that surround the adoption of artificial intelligence. But for CareerBuilder, the technology is actually helping to find people work.

Like many other job functions, AI is leading to massive changes in HR departments across corporate America. The technology can reduce bias in hiring and automate many of the more mundane job tasks. But there still remains a hesitancy to adopt it, given the strict set of employment laws that companies must adhere to and the opacity with which the AI actually comes to a decision.

At CareerBuilder, the employment platform is harnessing AI to reduce the number of vendors that human resources departments typically work with on recruitment, improve the quality of job postings, and, ultimately, better match candidates to open positions.

That can even mean finding jobs that, at face-value, would seem to not be related but actually rely on many of the same skill sets, like veterinary technicians and prison guards. The company is also using the tech to help candidates craft better resumes and make it easier to apply for jobs on mobile devices.

"The HR industry is going through a change that it has never gone through before," CEO Irina Novoselsky tells Business Insider. "We've actually bought the AI to the fingertips of recruiters."

CareerBuilder, which is known for its signature job platform but provides services ranging from background checks to candidate tracking, is relied on by 70% of the Fortune 500 companies, the company says, giving it immense insight into the top hiring challenges that firms face. Novoselsky outlined how AI will only improve CareerBuilder's ability to address those problems.

Reduction in vendors and applications, improvements in hiring

The historic metric of success in HR departments was getting the largest number of applications possible for an opening. That, theoretically, gave companies ample qualified candidates to choose from, according to Novoselsky.

But that largesse also required the typical recruiting team to shift through hundreds of resumes. And once they advanced applicants, the departments often had to work with as many as 15 different vendors in the hiring process, including for background checks and the onboarding process.

"Having a lot of volume was considered a good thing. Now, with the advent of AI and technology, HR functions are having to fundamentally change what they consider successful [to] the least amount of candidates that are the most qualified," Novoselsky says.

CareerBuilder is trying to replace all of that. It offers several applications that can help organizations reduce their catalog of vendors, including tracking the supply and demand for candidates in specific markets. And on the recruitment side, the company is using AI to aid companies in crafting better job postings.

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Businesses, for example, often seek tech employees who can code in Hadoop, an open-source software platform, and Java, a common programming language. Some candidates, however, may only list one or the other on their resume, which could lead HR departments to disregard those applications. Using analytics, however, CareerBuilder found that for 95% of individuals that list one or the other, they actually have the ability to code in both.

The technology can also analyze the job descriptions of existing employees to determine whether an internal candidate is better suited for an opening. There's also the added benefit of alerting companies to individuals they may have never considered for some roles.

There's a large demand, for example, for prison guards, according to Novoselsky. Using AI to analyze the skill sets that are required for the role, CareerBuilder found an unlikely match: veterinary technicians. Both need to exhibit skills like compassion, as well as be able to remain calm in high-stress environments.

"When you say a title, you paint already the image of what the person filling that role looks like," she said. "Removing that image and really doing it based on the underlying skill set" uncovers new possibilities.

Better job descriptions, better matches

The heart of the recruitment process is still the job posting.

It's the first thing many candidates see and can be the make-or-break moment between a qualified individual applying for a role or moving along to the next opening. CareerBuilder is aiming to improve those postings, which can range wildly from highly detailed to overly generic.

Using AI, the company grades a job description on how a candidate would perceive it and provides recommendations on how to improve it, whether that be the need for more specific language, a change to more gender-neutral pronouns, or alerts to wording that may be viewed as socioeconomically biased.

The technology can also notify organizations if they are seeking talent in regions where there aren't enough qualified candidates to meet the demands they are seeking.

"We know every single company across North America and we know every single job they've ever posted," Novoselsky said. "We took all that data and we created something that works on both sides."

The applications have added benefits aside from finding the most talented individuals for roles. CareerBuilder, for example, helped one of the U.S.'s largest investment banks double the amount of diverse individuals company-wide, covering gender, age, and race.

While AI is becoming more common, the technology is still just in its early stages. So while many of the initiatives CareerBuilder is pursuing now, it's likely that even more advanced applications are on the way.