Latest news with #RobertHalf
CBC
5 days ago
- Business
- CBC
An AI bot might be asking the questions at your next job interview
When Wafa Shafiq realized her upcoming job interview would be conducted by an artificial intelligence bot, she thought: Why not? "I thought it'd be really cool. I wanted to try it," said Shafiq. Alex, an AI bot powered by software company Aprioria, interviewed the 26-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., for a marketing position at a retirement insurance agency. It asked her about herself and her experience for 30 minutes. It acknowledged her responses and complimented them before asking a followup question. "I was shocked that it was asking such good followup questions," Shafiq told CBC News. "My expectations had been lower." While some companies are turning to artificial intelligence to streamline their recruitment processes, some job candidates are concerned about how they're being evaluated and losing the chance to connect with recruiters. WATCH | How AI is changing the job interview process: Your next job interview could be with an AI bot 3 days ago Duration 2:10 Companies are using AI hiring bots to screen, shortlist and talk to job candidates. Advocates say the technology frees up human workers from tedious tasks, but some applicants say it adds confusion to the process, and there are concerns about HR job losses. This technology is still in the early phase, says Mike Shekhtman, senior regional director at Canadian employment agency Robert Half. "As the technology improves, we will continue to see perhaps an acceleration." 'People thought we were crazy' Ribbon, an AI-interviewer software company, is among the Canadian companies to have seen an opportunity in this market. "A year ago, people thought we were crazy," Arsham Ghahramani, Ribbon's CEO, said in an interview. In nine months, Ribbon has amassed 400 customers who now use its bot to conduct interviews. Ghahramani and his team spent more than a year building and training their AI using publicly available interviews and voice datasets. They wanted their AI to show the right emotion and ask the right questions, he said. But some candidates would prefer a human recruiter. Missing the human touch Maureen Green, a health technology consultant, was approached to do an interview for a position in a Canadian health-care company that uses AI to direct patient calls. She was told the interview would be done by the company's own AI bot. At first, Green, who lives in Vancouver, said she was impressed by the system, finding it spoke and acted similarly to a human. "It really did feel like a conversation and it felt like it was listening." But what was scheduled to be a 30-minute interview ended up going for more than an hour, as the AI kept asking followup questions and showed no signs of drawing the interview to an end. Not knowing what else to do, Green said she thanked the AI interviewer for its time. "I said: 'I'm so sorry, but it was wonderful talking to you. Thank you so much for the opportunity,' and so it ended." Green thought she had done well in the interview, but she never heard back. "I had been left feeling taken advantage of because … I put a lot of effort into this interview and really took it seriously, but I also get the feeling that it's being trained by talking to people," she said. "It can be done well, I'm sure, but this wasn't it." Shafiq shared the sentiment. She entered her interview with curiosity and some skepticism. The email she received to schedule the interview didn't mention AI — she only found out after looking into it herself. And she didn't get a followup after the interview either. She thought it was "cool" that she could schedule the interview at any time of the day, even in the middle of the night, and was impressed by the few glitches she experienced — it only had difficulty answering some of her questions. But she wished she had more information on how her performance would be evaluated. "If companies do use AI for recruitment, there's such an opportunity for communicating what the benefits of it are," Shafiq said. "Sending a message beforehand to be like: 'This is what to expect, this is how to prepare.'" Although Shafiq is open to doing more AI interviews, she said she missed the human connection she usually gets with regular interviews. "There's no small talk, there was nothing personal and I wasn't able to really tell if my answers were landing or not." Is it a replacement for human recruiters? Job interviews done by AI agents allow for much more flexibility in hiring internal roles and can accelerate the process, said Elena McGuire, director of people and special projects at Thrive Career Wellness, a Toronto-based HR consulting company. The company has several positions open at once and they hire internationally. They use Ribbon, which allows candidates to choose an interview time that works for them and to interview in French for bilingual positions. McGuire said it allowed the company to cut down thousands of applicants and hire six new employees. "It's really not meant to replace us HR folk, but help us." McGuire also said that the company's hiring decisions aren't made by AI. Ribbon summarizes interviews and gives scores based on the company's requirements, allowing recruiters to decide whether or not to move ahead with the candidate. "They're [companies] looking at ways to not lose any beat and not miss out on candidates," said Shekhtman, of employment agency Robert Half. "But that comes with a tremendous amount of caution as well," he added, to ensure AI agents don't overlook qualified candidates or spotlight unqualified ones by focusing too much on technicalities. But companies will ultimately leverage any tool that will help them streamline their processes, especially if their resources are waning, said Shekhtman. "If you don't embrace [the technology], you're going to get run over by it." AI interviews 'a punchline' When it comes to being interviewed by AI, Terri Griffith, Keith Beedie chairholder in innovation and entrepreneurship at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, said she hasn't heard yet "a candidate be excited." She said AI is being used by both recruiters and applicants. "This is a punchline to a joke that goes: 'I used my AI to apply for the job, they used AI to review my application … now we're having an [AI] interview.'" Griffith sees the use of AI bots in interviews having various potential outcomes: with enough pushback could come regulation or with enough improvement of the technology and its implementation could come approval. Green, reflecting on her interview, noted that although she is "really open" to AI, many people are not, and she hopes companies will understand that their trust needs to be earned. "I don't think we need to be speedy in applying these systems to what we are doing. I think we should be thoughtful and respectful of the people it's interacting with," she said. "So hopefully that will change, but I'm optimistic."
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Robert Half to Present at Baird's Global Consumer, Technology & Services Conference
MENLO PARK, Calif., May 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- M. Keith Waddell, president and chief executive officer of global talent solutions and business consulting firm Robert Half Inc. (NYSE: RHI), will present at Baird's 2025 Global Consumer, Technology & Services Conference in New York City on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. Robert Half's investor presentation for the first quarter 2025 is available on the company's website at About Robert HalfRobert Half is the world's first and largest specialized talent solutions and business consulting firm, connecting highly skilled job seekers with rewarding opportunities at great companies. We offer contract talent and permanent placement solutions in the fields of finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, and administrative and customer support, and we also provide executive search services. Robert Half is the parent company of Protiviti, a global consulting firm that delivers internal audit, risk, business and technology consulting solutions. In the past 12 months, Robert Half has been recognized as one of America's Most Innovative Companies by Fortune and, with Protiviti, has been named one of the Fortune® Most Admired Companies™ and 100 Best Companies to Work For. Explore our comprehensive solutions, research and insights at View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Robert Half
Cision Canada
27-05-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Robert Half to Present at Baird's Global Consumer, Technology & Services Conference
MENLO PARK, Calif., May 27, 2025 /CNW/ -- M. Keith Waddell, president and chief executive officer of global talent solutions and business consulting firm Robert Half Inc. (NYSE: RHI), will present at Baird's 2025 Global Consumer, Technology & Services Conference in New York City on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. Robert Half's investor presentation for the first quarter 2025 is available on the company's website at About Robert Half Robert Half is the world's first and largest specialized talent solutions and business consulting firm, connecting highly skilled job seekers with rewarding opportunities at great companies. We offer contract talent and permanent placement solutions in the fields of finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, and administrative and customer support, and we also provide executive search services. Robert Half is the parent company of Protiviti, a global consulting firm that delivers internal audit, risk, business and technology consulting solutions. In the past 12 months, Robert Half has been recognized as one of America's Most Innovative Companies by Fortune and, with Protiviti, has been named one of the Fortune ® Most Admired Companies™ and 100 Best Companies to Work For. Explore our comprehensive solutions, research and insights at
RNZ News
22-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Nearly two thirds of workers would switch jobs for a higher salary
Only 16 percent of workers believed pay was more important than job security in the current labour market, the survey showed. Photo: 123rf More than 60 percent of office workers surveyed said they would switch jobs for a higher salary, with a pay rise of at least 20 percent being the most common incentive. The recruitment company Robert Half commissioned the online survey of 500 full-time New Zealand workers in finance, accounting, IT and technology. It found many believed they are underpaid by 10 to 20 percent. Sixty-one percent of workers would switch jobs for a higher salary. Robert Half New Zealand director Ronil Singh told Morning Report at least a 20 percent increase was the most common pay rise that would compel workers to leave. "What the survey shows is that's probably the percentage term that people would probably look for to jump ship, however that's not accurate for all. "Also we've got to take into consideration are businesses actually giving 20 percent increases for the same job just because you're going to move roles? The short answer is no. "Whilst 20 percent is the average increase that people make a move for, it's still a high ask for a lot of businesses - so it's not realistic to achieve this in this current economic climate." The survey showed that only 16 percent of workers believed pay was more important than job security in the current labour market. Singh said that showed that even though money was a powerful influence, many employees were weighing financial wishes against the need for job security. Employees needed to understand that a 20 percent increase would also lead to a change in expectations and more responsibility, he said. The research showed many workers felt their pay did not reflect their worth which could be due to stagnant wages despite increased responsibilities or a perception that their compensation lagged behind industry standards for similar roles, he said. The recruitment company was getting a mix of opinions about how happy staff were in their current jobs, he said. "There are some companies that have gone through a lot of change in the last 12 or 18 months and that's causing a little bit of uncertainty for their workforce and there are some that are actually very happy in their roles, so it's actually a mixed bag." The survey showed that about 40 percent of respondents felt "quite valued in terms of their current roles", he said. But the survey suggested that 60 percent of employees still felt undervalued and that an increased salary would better reflect what they brought to their role and the work required of them, he said. "I think the cost of living pressure there's a perception of feeling undervalued, and there's also a focus on financial security for people as well that's causing them to feel that way." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
CBS News
20-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Gen Z grads on the job hunt can stand out with these tips
Hey grads! Stand out to employers with these tips! Hey grads! Stand out to employers with these tips! Hey grads! Stand out to employers with these tips! It's graduation season, and while many grads are looking forward to getting out into the working world, finding a job can be difficult. New numbers from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found 5.8% of recent college graduates were unemployed. That's about 2 percentage points higher than the national unemployment rate. The biggest struggles, according to 71% of the Gen Z grads surveyed, are getting noticed and securing an interview. Brandi Britton, executive director and career expert at Robert Half, says there are several things grads can do to help land their first jobs: Work with a mentor Utilize their school's career services Connect with alumni in the field they want to enter Highlight their experiences in college to show relevant skills Research the company before the interview and ask questions Be open to new and different opportunities "Consider contract work," Britton said. "That's a great way for new grads to get additional skills." Experts also say people who are willing to work in person and are flexible with their starting salary have an advantage. And it can take college graduates three to six months to get hired, so practice patience.
