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Five Reasons AI Sourcing Will Replace Boolean Sourcing

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Finding the right talent is harder than ever before. Statistics from the Society for Human Resource Management tell us that 75% of recruiters believe there is a skills shortage among their applicants.

The war for talent means that recruiters must leverage cutting-edge tools and techniques to source the best candidates.

With time these tools and techniques evolve. For a significant period, Boolean search operators were a critical tool that gave recruiters the ability to surface relevant candidates.

Now, AI-driven sourcing is taking the lead.

In this post, we’ll explore those two concepts in more detail. We’ll then offer up five reasons why AI sourcing is superior to Boolean sourcing.

What Is Boolean Sourcing?

Boolean search allows recruiters to combine keywords alongside a series of operators to find the most relevant results. Those operators include AND, NOT and OR.

Recruiters can use those operators alongside brackets and quotation marks to tweak their search results to surface more suitable candidates. Specific search engines and applicant tracking systems also offer a range of additional tricks and tools to help recruiters refine their search even further.

When using Google, for instance, recruiters can start their search with “site:” to perform an x-ray search and surface results from a specific domain. Here’s an example of a typical Boolean search using Google:

As you can see, the Boolean search returns relevant results based on the keywords and operators that were used.

What Is AI Sourcing?

AI sourcing is much more powerful. Recruiters can use AI-powered platforms to search through vast databases in a matter of seconds intelligently. The AI algorithms can weigh and balance several factors to present recruiters with the most appropriate and suitable candidates.

This power is the driving force behind Gartner’s estimation that the business value of AI will reach a staggering $3.9 trillion by 2022

Let’s dig deeper into the key differences between Boolean and AI sourcing.

Five Reasons AI Sourcing Is Better Than Boolean Sourcing

AI-driven sourcing will replace Boolean sourcing in the not too distant future. Here are the five factors driving the explosive growth of AI sourcing.

1. Easier to use

Mastering the art of Boolean sourcing is no easy task. Recruiters will often spend hours upon hours learning the intricacies of Boolean search – and there’s no guarantee that they’re going to get the best results.

AI-driven platforms, on the other hand, are very elegant and simple to use. Recruiters can quickly set up their searches with just a few clicks and rest assured that they’re going to see every viable candidate for their position.

This ease of use means that recruiters can say goodbye to the hours spent learning Boolean search and invest in other areas of growth.

2. See More Sophisticated Results

Boolean searches are powerful, but recruiters have no guarantee that those searches deliver comprehensive results.

This is because Boolean logic only offers up yes or no results – there’s no space for “maybe”. This means that recruiters might find themselves missing out on that perfect candidate due to the inflexibility of Boolean search.

AI-driven logic is much more powerful. Those searches can embrace and understand ambiguity to give recruiters the full spectrum of potential candidates. The most sophisticated AI-driven searches will use natural language processing, for instance, to identify synonyms and the relationships between words.

3. More Free Time for Recruiters

Boolean searches are not only challenging to master, but they can also take a long time to execute. Even the most skilled Boolean expert will have to type out their search and proofread it carefully manually – a single misplaced piece of punctuation can undo a Boolean search, after all.

AI sourcing is much faster. Recruiters can configure their searches in a matter of seconds and leave the heavy lifting to sophisticated algorithms. In the blink of an eye, those recruiters will have comprehensive and high-quality results before them.

This speed means that recruiters can work as efficiently as possible. Recruiters who use the Elevate AI Platform enjoy a 90% reduction in search time. This empowers recruiters to invest their time in what they do best – connecting with candidates.

Technology is making recruitment more human. Looking to learn more? Read our piece on how AI enhances the human element of recruitment.

4. Eliminate Unconscious Bias

Diverse workplaces are more innovative, creative and productive. Those companies also benefit from a stronger employer brand and an enhanced level of employee engagement.

Unconscious bias can become a serious barrier to achieving a truly diverse workplace. The Guardian recently published an insightful piece on unconscious bias in Britain. The article makes it clear that unconscious bias is still an issue within recruitment.

AI-driven sourcing surfaces the most appropriate candidates and presents them to recruiters. While those algorithms can be configured to pay attention to factors like race and gender, they can help recruiters to break free from their unconscious bias.

5. Surface More Suitable Candidates

Boolean searches return a list of results with no further insight. Your dream candidate might be at the top of the list – or they might be buried under several unsuitable candidates.

This means that recruiters spend countless hours tediously sorting through potential candidates. While they might have a pool of potential candidates before them, they’ve still got to find the diamond in the rough.

AI-driven searches can weigh several factors to deliver the most suitable candidates in a logical order. This expedites the search process and means that recruiters are presented with the most suitable candidates.

Recruiters who use the Elevate AI Platform enjoy a 20% increase in suitable candidates, for instance.

Unlock the Power of AI Sourcing with Elevate

Are you ready to say goodbye to Boolean and hello to AI-powered sourcing? Step into the future of recruitment with Elevate’s leading Talent Intelligence platform today.

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Five Reasons to Unlock the Power of Legacy Recruitment Data

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Over the course of 2020, an estimated 1.7MB of data will be created every second for every person on earth. This immense volume of data means that businesses now face critical data management challenges.

Are you prepared?

In this brave new data-driven world, recruiters and hiring managers must carefully manage valuable candidate data to find the right talent quickly and at the right price.

In this piece, we’ll take a closer look at what we mean by legacy data then explore five key reasons you should migrate and rejuvenate this data.

What Is Legacy Data?

Essentially, legacy data is data that is currently stored on obsolete systems or outdated formats. As time progresses, it often becomes more challenging to re-access, search and even migrate this data.

Recruiters and hiring managers will often have valuable candidate data hosted on different systems and formats spread across various areas in the business. This data has very little day-to-day value for businesses.

Why Should You Migrate Your Legacy Data?

Legacy data represents an unmissable opportunity for recruiters and hiring managers.

Now that we’ve got a better handle on precisely what we mean by legacy data let’s explore the top reasons that you should rejuvenate it today.

1. Harmonise your data

It’s not at all uncommon for recruiters and hiring managers to have data spread across various obsolete systems. Businesses will store candidate data in the following areas:

  • Applicant tracking systems
  • Physical filing cabinets
  • Different excel documents
  • Cloud storage systems
  • Local hard drives
  • Shared servers

That candidate data is often stored in different file formats and structures, too. This makes it practically impossible for recruiters and hiring managers actually to use that data in any meaningful way.

Many legacy database systems are also based on Boolean search. This method of searching through your data is inefficient and achieves subpar results, while AI sourcing is much more powerful.

With all of your data in a single space, AI sourcing can make it work for you. You’ll be able to do much more like access unique insights, intelligently sort through your candidates, surface the right talent, lower your cost talent acquisition and generate more suitable, candidates for roles you need to fill.

If you want more information in this area, be sure to read our piece on five reasons AI sourcing will replace Boolean sourcing.

2. Capitalise on your past investments

Data is the new oil, and it comes at a cost. Businesses will often invest significant amounts of money into sourcing candidate data using a blend of these tools and techniques:

  • Job boards
  • Networking events
  • Career fairs
  • Referral programmes
  • Digital advertising
  • Physical advertising

All too often, though, businesses fail to maintain that data once they’ve filled an open position. This means that many companies fail to capitalise on their candidate data investments.

It also means that businesses will pay again and again for the same candidate data. This is a very costly way to work, and it pushes your cost per hire much higher than it should be.

If you store your data in a single space and use the appropriate AI sourcing techniques and tools, you’ll extend the ROI of your data collection initiatives and reduce your average cost per hire.

3. Grow your talent pools

The well-documented talent shortage outside of the Coronavirus is the most significant emerging risk for businesses around the world. 54% of companies reported talent shortages last year.

In order to tackle this risk, recruiters and hiring managers must carefully maintain and feed healthy talent pools. These databases empower businesses to organise their talents into distinct groups and nurture each group more effectively.

Growing those talent pools is a significant challenge, though, and you must capitalise on every opportunity to add quality candidate data to them. Migrating legacy data is a great way to stop your talent pools from running dry.

Looking for more information? Check out these six reasons you should develop an alumni talent pool.

4. Prepare for an increasingly data-conscious industry

As the digital world continues to mature, so does our shared understanding of online privacy protection. Most people – including your candidates – now take several steps to protect their digital information.

As one academic study focused on online privacy puts it, “personally managing and protecting online privacy has become an essential part of everyday life.”

The simultaneous emergence of GDPR and other data protection regulations also means that it’s now trickier than ever for recruiters to collect and collate accurate candidate data.

This is why your legacy data is a goldmine.

If you migrate this data effectively, you’ll be able to incorporate valuable and GDPR-compliant data back into your systems. This can give you the edge over your competition and help you to connect with proven talent.

5. Activate your passive data

Data is one of the most precious resources available to your business: you can’t afford to leave it to gather dust. As the renowned data scientist Donato Diorio said: “Without a systematic way to start and keep data clean, bad data will happen.”

By migrating your legacy data today, you’ll be better able to incorporate it into your existing talent pools and using tools like Elevate’s AI sourcing to sort through it intelligently. The more data you have, the more comfortable you’ll find it to fill your open roles with great candidates.

Elevate gives you the power to work smarter and faster by providing immediate visibility to the talent you need. Request your Elevate demo today to learn how our solution can help you to unlock the full value of your legacy data.

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