Chatbots is a new tech concept getting a lot of attention in recruiting and beyond. I don’t think that chatbots is the Holy Grail for any one thing in recruiting. I believe that Chatbots will instead become a ubiquitous interface for different parts of the recruiting process.
I’ve looked at a few uses of chatbots and see the main benefits affecting:
- Employer Branding — Help you stand out among the crowd (<1% of company career pages have a chatbot at this point)
- Talent community — Chatbots can sometimes get you candidate profile info more easily (through asking the candidate for micro-commitments of information (e.g. one field of information (like first name) at a time
- Candidate Experience — If done right, a chatbot can make the job search more of a conversation (which can be more natural)
Below are 5 examples of employers using Chatbots in the pre-application process.
1. Zappos
Zappos uses Chatbot app GreyScale as an alternative way for candidates to do a few things:
- To browse jobs — their “Match me to jobs” asks you for which department you’re interested in and then your # of years of experience. They then give you job postings related to those requirements.
- They answer the “Why work here” question and offer deeper links to their cultures and values and company description
- They answer the key questions around benefits, locations, visa sponsorship and status of an application
![](https://blog.ongig.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Best_Chatbot_App_Recruiting_Candidate_Experience_Ongig_Blog_Zappos.jpg)
2. Pitney Bowes
Pitney Bowes uses the Allyo chatbot. Check out how they emphasize the “Search for U.S. Jobs” in the lower right-hand corner of their careers home page. It’s a more visible call-to-action then the old-fashioned search in the middle.
![](https://blog.ongig.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Best_Chatbot_Apps_Recruiting_Pitney_Bowes____Ongig_Blog.jpg)
Clicking the “Search for U.S. Jobs” leads you to the chat box (below) where you can search for jobs (which leads to simple Taleo-based job descriptions). Or, you can ask general questions (like “What is the culture?”
![](https://blog.ongig.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Pitney_Bowes_Chatbot_Allyo_Ongig_Blog.jpg)
3. J.W. Marriott
JW Marriot Miami asks the candidate for small amounts of information to get on their talent community. Check out below — they start off by asking just for their first name. Then they ask for email. We in sales and marketing call these “micro-commitments”. JW Marriot uses the GoBe Chatbot by GoHire.
4. STRV
STRV takes an opened-ended “ask me anything” approach to their chatbot. I tried typing in “salary” and “benefits” and got useful answers .
They use a chatbot from jobpal
![](https://blog.ongig.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Best_Chatbot_Apps_Recruiting_Candidate_Experience_Ongig_Blog_STRV.jpg)
5. CDW
CDW’s chatbot jumps right into a conversation with the candidate to help build up its talent community. They ask for name and phone number first and then ask a set of questions (location, years of experience, timing of your interest in joining CDW, etc.) to narrow down a candidate’s interest.
They then tell the candidate that a recruiter will follow up with them.
![](https://blog.ongig.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Best_Chatbot_apps_recruiting_candidate_experience_Ongig_Blog_CDW.jpg)
Finally, like anything, chatbots can backfire. If you don’t program them well, you’ll come across as me-too employer trying to be flashy without substance.
Also, some states in the U.S. (including California beginning in July of 2019) require that you identify your chatbot as non-human (unless it’s a real person).
Why I wrote this?
Ongig is on a mission to transform job pages and we care about anything that touches a job page.
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