Candidate experience continues to top the recruitment agenda. But what moves are staffing companies and internal resourcing teams making to improve this? The short answer: seamlessness and simplicity.

Challenges such as GDPR, coupled with the ultra-competitive recruitment landscape, burdens both in-house and agency recruiters with a tough time ahead. And while this may be deemed a concern, it also poses a huge opportunity.

Now is the time to exercise out-of-the-box thinking; stand out from competitors and respond to the needs of the candidate.

How can you make recruitment simple?

Our voice is one of the most natural interfaces we have, it facilitates a smooth and effortless interaction. Not only is it natural, it’s screenless. In a world becoming increasingly reliant on screens, voice is a welcomed detox.

Triumphant in its success, the smart speaker has witnessed phenomenal adoption across the globe.

Earlier this year, it was claimed that 54.4 million US citizens had access to a smart speaker, indicating a population penetration rate of 22%, with Amazon’s Alexa series leading the way, boasting a market share of 64.6%.

Across the pond, a report published by OC&C, communicated that household adoption of smart speakers in the UK is currently at 10%, with a forecast to grow to 48% by 2022.

With innovation at its core, smart speaker capabilities continue to advance. It’s no longer just about music requests or checking the weather, it’s about speaking to your refrigerator and reordering supplies. It’s about conversing with your car while you’re driving. In fact, almost half of smart speaker owners say that their smart speakers are essential to their everyday lives.

Part of the AI toolkit, voice technology has exploded not just in the domestic sector, but the commercial too.

“As a business owner, voice interface technology will open a Pandora’s box of opportunity. Other organizations are already taking advantage and gaining a competitive edge in the market[…]As voice becomes the catalyst of choice for search and communication, your business must follow suit.”

– Daniel Newman, CMO Network

And by no means is the recruitment industry behind on this movement. Voice technology is set to revolutionise the candidate experience, as well as the recruiting process.

“AI recruiting video interview platforms, for example, use biometric and psychometric analysis to evaluate not only the quality of candidate answers but also voice quality, pace of speech, voice energy, use of fillers, facial micro-expressions and body language.”

– Dr. Terri Horton, TLT Consulting

With voice predicted to make up 50% of search by 2020, agencies far and wide need to think about their digital transformation strategy and where voice sits within this.

But first, the basics.

Where initially does a voice service fit in the recruitment process and how can you begin to implement it?

Technology from organisations such as Broadbean allow candidates to speak to their Alexa or Google Home devices to request job alerts, access further details about location and salary and enables them to apply instantly via email and directly through their device.

Suddenly, businesses have a completely new platform to grow their candidate pool whilst strengthening their employer brand by positioning themselves as forward thinking and innovative. At the same time, candidates can enjoy the novelty of job searching hands-free, waving goodbye to long evenings of scrolling through job boards, career sites and email bulletins.

When asked, 934 out of 1708 (55%) recruitment professionals labelled candidate experience as the number one topic that they would like to learn more about. The Recruitment Events Co. also questioned the demand for recruitment technology, and 78% of respondents pinpointed Candidate Experience tools as something they are in market for.

If you’d like to discover more about Broadbean’s Smart Job Alerts technology could give your company the competitive edge, please get in touch today!