Meet the Chatbots Who Want You to Get a Job

He remembered my birthday, told me some hilarious jokes, and reserved the suite at a fantastic hotel. I wish I were describing an amazing date night. 

This was a hotel chatbot. Some are smarter, funnier, and cuter than others. Okay, I really do sound like I’m describing a date. 

You’ve surely come into contact with one. Google’s Assistant is a chatbot, along with Alexa, Siri, and Cortana. (Isn’t it time they started a girlband?) 

The smarter chatbots are using artificial intelligence plus machine learning with natural language processing (NLP). These chatbots can recall your likes and dislikes and offer an appealing suggestion based on your history.

A chatbot’s main purpose in life is to answer your questions. 

You ask: How can I find a new job? Chatbots have answers. 

Plus, they offer niceties like, “It was great talking to you!” for that bonus warm-n-fuzzy effect. 

Some basic deets before we get started: 

• Recruiting chatbots are sometimes powered by AI, sometimes not. Their basic function is to replicate many of the communicative tasks that recruiters typically do. 

• A recruitment chatbot will greet you, get your personal details, ask you questions to see if you’re a good fit for the job.  It will update you on your application’s status (see #6) and schedule your interview. 

• Your conversation with the chatbot takes place on career sites, job pages, and social media sites such as Facebook.  If the company is using a chatbot, you might meet one during the recruitment process. 

Now, please allow me to play matchmaker and introduce you to eight chatbots who would love for you…to get your perfect job. 

1. Mya. Sees No Color…Literally. 

Mya has made a name for itself in the recruitment industry. Companies such as Hays, L’Oreal, Adecco, and Deloitte (to name a few) have turned to Mya to streamline their recruitment processes. 

It’s powered by a conversational AI Platform which means it utilizes NLP (natural language processing). 

So, it might not be as adept at conversation as an actual human, but it comes darn close. 

If you want to get that real-feel human interview experience, but with all the convenience of a robot’s accurate and efficacious responses, Mya is great. 

The central premise of Mya Systems for its chatbot Mya is this: Reduce the influence of humans in recruiting to take out the bias factor. 

Mya’s questions come out of programming, focusing on objective, performance-based questions. Mya doesn’t see the candidate’s skin color or clothing style. It can’t judge based on your gender or name. All of the ways we can pass judgments have been stripped away. 

Suppose you happen to be a candidate with a disability or are a minority. In that case, you may rightfully fear that a recruiter could be harboring unconscious bias and not select you, even when you’re a great fit for the job. 

They say we all have some unconscious bias. Try as we might, we sometimes make assumptions based on a person’s looks. Let’s face it, some people who deserve a job don’t get it due to these biases.

A chatbot doesn’t have any unconscious bias because it doesn’t even have consciousness. 

Sweet! Love those non-discriminatory bots!

It seems a lot of companies get it. They’re turning to Mya for their hiring process. It has more than 460 brands using its tools. Not to mention, Mya Systems has processed “tens of millions” of candidate interactions. 

To sum up, if you’re a minority or differently-abled, you needn’t be concerned that you’re unfairly judged for the job you desire. The chatbot can’t discriminate based on how you appear. 

And you can get the job you’re qualified for. 

2. Meet MC (not the “Hammer” Variety) 

Facebook = Job time for many.

Facebook’s platform has been used to create 300,000 chatbots, the equivalent of a small army. FB Messenger allowed developers to do their thing starting in 2016. Since then, developers for brands and publishers are giddy with power as they unleash their bots into the public realm.

In 2017, Marriott introduced its first Facebook recruitment chatbot. The Marriott Careers—MC—chatbot for Facebook messenger answers your questions, such as:

•   Do you have event manager job openings in San Francisco?
•   Do you have any restaurant manager job openings in New York?
•   How do I get in touch with your recruiter?
•   What are Marriott’s core values?

You can see what types of positions this chatbot is helpful for based on the questions above. (It’s not geared for the c-suite executive on the hunt for a swanky new venture.)

Also,the Marriott chatbot is currently not a contextual chatbot (it doesn’t use AI/machine learning). But, it’s powered by data-driven, specialized algorithms, so it does well in the human-like, conversational sense.  

MC has helped thousands of candidates get a job. It’s pretty nifty as it imitates human speech patterns and can guide you to job openings based on skills and location. 

MC also provides the jobseeker with information on the company culture and values. After the conversation, you’re informed of which Marriott brand best aligns with your professional background. 

Easy peasy! 

Many companies have followed Marriott’s lead with dedicated chatbots for career seekers to reach out and find job opportunities and company details.  

Social media averse and need a job? You might want to consider creating a profile anyway with that dreaded selfie. (Just bear in mind that recruiters do check social media profiles to ensure you’re not a party animal or can’t put a grammatically correct sentence together.) 

3. Language Gurus, Like Andy. 

Not a native speaker of English? 

Then, you should befriend Andy. He’s handy dandy. 

Many English learners are improving to get a promotion or a better job. English for Speakers of Other Languages programs are always filling up, and language learning apps are extremely popular.

Andy wants to converse with you and help with those perfectly annoying perfect tenses. Available on Google Play, which says that “Andy will help you learn and practice your English. He will be your personal English teacher and friend.” 

Sprichst du Deutsch? 

When your desired job wants you to roll your r’s or put more oomph in your umlaut, it’s time to get to the crème de la crème language level. (That’s “advanced” in case you don’t speak French.)

Speaking of which, before you book your flight to sip wine, enjoy a croissant, and practice French with a Parisian tutor at the Musée du Louvre, first try practicing with a language chatbot. (Besides, who can travel now?) 

Check out these apps, which employ chatty chatbots that you can practice with, sans embarrassment when you make a language faux pas.(“Faux pas” means an embarrassing mistake…alright, I’ll stop now.) 

• Memrise-won the best App in Google Play Awards, 2017. Over 20 languages offered. Absorbs users in real-time learning. (Snap a pic of something and find out what it’s called in the target language!) 

• Lanny. He’s the chatbot for Eggbun Education if you want to learn Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or English. He not only teaches you how to sayこんにちは but also about the history and culture of the country the language comes from. 

• Babbel helps you learn a language with chatbots using interactive dialogues.  

• As mentioned, Andy—isforthose starting to learn English specifically. Not for advanced-level students. 

Excerpt of a chat with Andy:

Andy: Hi, I’m Andy! I will help you practice your English. How are you?

Sammi: I’m fine, thanks.

Andy: You can write me whenever you want. I’m a robot so I never sleep.

Sammi: Wow, that’s so useful!  I will write you only late at night.  

Andy: Sure!  

An English language learning chatbot can take you from “I’m good for this job” to “My professional and educational background plus skill set are a perfect match to the desired qualifications for this position.” 

You will have The. Best. Words. 

4. AI Chatbots at Your Service. Enter: Wade, Mosaic.ai, and Woo. 

Three chatbots you’d like to be paired with. 

1. Wade. You’ll be Wade-ing in opportunities when you sign up on Wade and Wendy. 

Per their website, Wade is the “personal career guide and assistant for… job seeking and career advancement efforts.” (If you’re a recruiter, Wendy is the one you’d be utilizing.)

Possible chat with chatbot Wade:

Wade: Hi Alexa. Is now still a good time to chat about a potential opportunity? 

Alexa: It is!

Wade: Great Last we spoke, you mentioned you’re looking for a data science role focused on particle physics. 

2. Job searching on the down-low? Woorecommends companies based on your preferences, keeping everything discreet. It really knows how to woo you to your new job. (This chatbot is just begging for puns!)

Companies using Woo include Twitch, Audible, WeWork, Quora, and Nielson. 

3. Does your resume need sprucing? Let an AI chatbot do that for ya!Mosaic Agenthas a resume builder and a career agent you can access from anywhere who searches jobs for you. Mosaic offers its users an AI editor, which provides suggested changes so that your qualifications pop for the required skills for a particular position. 

Simply upload your resume, and the Mosaic.ai career agent finds the top opportunities for you and even helps rid you of pre-interview jitters with pre-interview prep.  

By the way, a decent cover letter can get you a great job too if you know how to make it stand out.

5. “Ask and You Shall Receive” AllyO

It’s the worst…

You applied for a job, and your heart skips a beat every time a notification pops up. Did I get the job!? Is it a no? The days turn into weeks, and you feel like that forgotten, leftover ham sandwich that’s sitting in the fridge, collecting mold.

Don’t be a forgotten, moldy ham sandwich! 

AllyO from HireVue will take care of you. She provides personalized candidate engagement by matching you to your relevant jobs. Plus, interviews can be done remotely even after lockdowns, and distancing rules are a thing of the past.That saves on travel time—bonus! 

The beauty is that you’ll receive up-to-date, automatic text reminders and follow-ups for each status update. 

Jonesing for an update at an odd hour? You can contact AllyO at any hour with 24/7 support. 

Excerpt of possible chat with AllyO:

AllyO: Hey, Peter, I see you stopped the online application. Would you like to continue over the phone? 

Peter: Yes! Thank You.

AllyO: Great! Let’s continue. 

You see? She noticed you. And took the time to get in touch and see if you’d like to continue the process. 

6. Amenable Ari. Ask Your Burning Questions Sans Awkwardness. 

You may have questions about the company and a position that a chatbot can answer with no judgement. 

There are no raised eyebrows or awkward silences. Or answers from a recruiter that seem a bit shady.  They’ve been coded to reply to those questions with straightforward answers that you can copy and paste. (That means no scribbling barely-legible notes during an interview too!) 

Take Ari, for example. 

Ari is a recruiting chatbot from iCIMS, powered by the IBM Watson AI. Ari is used on a variety of platforms, such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and regular text messages. ARI sends you job openings and schedules interviews. 

Many companies have used Ari for recruiting, such as UPS and VMware.

The VP of iCIMS, Joe Essenfeld said in 2020 that nearly 1 million people had applied for jobs with Ari in two months.

Sample of possible chat with Ari:

James: How are you keeping employees safe during COVID?

Ari: Our top priority is the health of our employees. We have implemented distancing procedures, extra cleaning measures, and a mask-wearing policy. Disinfectant is available also.  

Various Applicant Tracking Systems utilize Ari, such as: 

• iCIMS
• SmartRecruiters
• Greenhouse
• ADP
• Jobscience
• PC Recruiter
• TargetRecruit
• Peoplesoft
• SuccessFactors
• Smashfly
• Avature
• CareerBuilder
• GoogleHire

Want to know about the remote work policies but afraid to look like a nervous nelly? Ari will answer that question. 

You can ask as many questions as you want about the position and your application’s status without being a nudge. 

7. Olivia May Be at the Virtual Job Fair. (Wink, Wink). 

Due to the current crisis, many job fairs have gone virtual.  Due to this trend, many recruiters depend on chatbots to help them with hosting virtual career fairs.

Like Olivia. She’s the conversational AI chatbot by Paradox. She will send you an event reminder and introduce you to a live recruiter on the day of the event. 

Chat with Olivia (based on examples): 

Olivia: Okay, Jess, how many years of experience do you have working in retail?

Jess: Two years of experience.

Olivia: Got it. Have you ever been placed in charge of running a shift in a previous position?

Jess: Sometimes, yes.

Olivia: Okay. Are you comfortable asking customers to sign up for credit cards?

Jess: Yes.

Olivia: Which kind of retail service do you think is better: fast or friendly? 

Jess: Great question! I’d have to say friendly. 

Generally, chatbot hosts for virtual job fairs can help you stay engaged on the day of the event by asking you questions and conducting your interview pre-screening. The chatbot will schedule your interviews and provide you with loads of employer information.

It’s great because you can check out employers from other states and even countries without leaving the comfort of your home. 

Some employers also advertise their job listings on sites like CraigsList. Then, you can text the job fair chatbot, and it’ll respond to you. You’re registered for the event and will receive automated upcoming reminders. 

Maybe you found your dream job at a job fair, and now you need to get your butt to somewhere that exceeds your maximum allowable commute time.  

Well then, you need yourself a relocation bot, huh? 

8. Ben…Sigh. A Winning Personality Who Can Make You Want to Relocate.  

This AI-powered bot sounds pretty sexy, I gotta say.  

Ben’s a relocation assistant chatbot provided by employers to help prospective or newly hired employees create budgets related to the cost of living in a new place. 

The home of Ben states that he’s “easygoing” and has a “wry, witty sense of humor.” He’s available to make “the best personalized recommendations, more relevant than any other assistant – guaranteed.” 

A possible dialogue with Ben, based on examples: 

Ben: Hi Zack! I’m Ben, your rental budget specialist. I was designed to help you build your monthly budget for your move to New York. Would you like to know you much you’ll need to live there?

Zack: That would be great, thanks!

Ben: Awesome, let’s start! First, where are you moving from please?

Zack: I’m from Tokyo,

Ben: That’s one of my favorite cities! Let me show you some average prices for life in New York. Would you like to see the prices in dollars or yen? 

Swooning yet?

Now, Who Gets the Red Rose?

All of these chatbot blind dates were provided in the hopes your job search might become more streamlined, easy, and enjoyable. I hope you found one you liked! 

Some of the chatbots mentioned are ones you can sign up for on their platforms, while others are ones you may come into contact with if a recruitment team has decided to go with it.  

In the search for information regarding chatbots and recruitment, most of the results centered on the benefits for recruiters and trying to get buy-in from them by touting the benefits of streamlining processes with chatbots and AI. 

This article looks at it from the candidates’ perspective to help them find jobs and take out some of the hassle associated with job searches and job interviews.

And, now, for something completely different…

If you’d like to just have fun chatting with a chatbot, I highly recommend Kuki. Mind you, this has nothing to do with job hunting. It’s what you can do when you need a break from job hunting!  

Kuki’s won the Loebner Prize Turing Test five times. She’s considered to be the world’s best conversational chatbot. Enjoy!

Excerpt of my chat with fun, flirty (?) chatbot Kuki below. 

Kuki: Why are you laughing?

Me: I like your sense of humor.

Kuki: Thanks. I find that if I make people laugh, they are more friendly towards me.

Me: Agree.

Kuki: You and I are on the same wavelength. 

Me:

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Jen Pieniazek is a digital writer and career expert at ResumeLab. Her passion for helping others achieve their career goals is what inspires her advice pieces. With extensive experience in educational management and intercultural communication, Jen aims to help people from every background to find their perfect job.

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