Halloween this year was extra special as SmartSearch was invited up to San Jose to sponsor the most recent event for the Silicon Valley chapter of CSP. The event was located at the LinkedIn campus in Sunnyvale, and the conference room we were in was beautiful.
The topic being discussed was How to Avoid Extinction using Artificial Intelligence, and was presented by Kevin Crews of Airs. SmartSearch was able to sponsor the event thanks to Richard Rue, who extended the invite. This topic really hits home with us as we had a Smart Practices webinar the following week on the same topic of AI and how this tool of the future will help give recruiters a competitive edge if used correctly.
Breakfast, juice, and of course, coffee was laid out in a wonderful spread, and I chatted with some of the early birds while the rest of the attendees trickled in. Richard introduced SmartSearch and me before Kevin went up, and I spoke about some of our many integrations, how we manage the security of our clients’ data, and of course our new Version 21 with a next-generation interface.
Kevin spent the next 2 hours explaining the role of Artificial Intelligence and how this will affect best practices in the future for recruiters. Because Kevin is an ex-recruiter who truly understands the pressure placed upon recruiters for identifying suitable candidates, he explained how AI could help alleviate some of these challenges. One of the big questions a lot of us have when speaking about AI is if this new technology will take over our jobs. Kevin assured us that in the Staffing Industry this tool would be used as an aid and not a technology that will eliminate the recruiting function currently performed by recruiters. He explained that this tool should be embraced and utilized and in doing so will cement our positions rather than take them away as we will become more efficient.
One of the key takeaways I had from this session was when Kevin went into detail about Adaptive type questions, which are a set of questions that either get easier or more challenging depending on your aptitude. These questions are utilizing AI as a tool to better attribute a candidate’s competency for the position for which they are applying. All-in-all, the meeting was engaging, and being able to present SmartSearch to fellow California companies in the Silicon Valley region was a welcome treat during Halloween week.
