Hiring AI Talent A Step-By-Step Guide
The field of Artificial Intelligence is rapidly advancing, and the need for skilled professionals in this area is growing in tandem. With our extensive experience in AI recruitment, we understand the importance of identifying the right candidates to drive innovation and achieve success. This guide provides a step-by-step approach to navigating the complexities of attracting and hiring AI talent with a vision for the future.
1. Internally Define Your Requirements
First, be absolutely certain of what you’re trying to ultimately accomplish in AI. Then identify the exact AI roles your organization feels it needs and the skills and expertise each role requires. Be open minded as your organization goes through the recruitment process and speaks with candidates who possess the requisite backgrounds you specify, you may discover that those conversations may cause you to somewhat tweak, or reexamine the roles and the requirements. But, in general you should have a solid understanding of the basic role and your near and longer term goals.
2. Craft Clear Job Descriptions
Job descriptions should be precise where possible and remember it’s also marketing tool to showcase the organization’s AI goals. You want to first describe your organization, its positives, its values and
contributions. Then mention the team and where it fits into the overall organization. Describe your work environment and the opportunity for professional growth.
Highlight the team’s goals and how this role plays a key part in those aspirations. Sending clear message to potential candidates about the impact of the role is vital. Briefly discuss the project’s anticipated
effect on advancing technology, or the organization, industry or society in general. Remember that AI professionals are in demand and have many opportunities, most want to make an impact.
Next, define the skills required and the type and length of direct experience needed in detail. Write what educational background would you prefer or is it flexible with equivalent practical experience.
Discuss specific AI tools, frameworks, libraries and programming languages which would be either required or helpful and other keys.
Describe some highlights of the compensation and benefits package. Do you offer upside beyond basic salary, or offer lifestyle benefits like remote or hybrid work, etc.? These are just examples of what may be important to some candidates and help set you apart. Lastly, but very importantly, mention that you welcome diversity and inclusiveness as a policy. You want to appeal to as much great talent as possible.
3. Reaching Pools of Visionary Talent
There are several sources for access to talent in numbers. Don’t overlook some of these easy to assess talent pools, such as:
- You can use professional networks like LinkedIn. Also connect online with AI specific groups and communities to post your openings and network.
- Conferences and seminars are an outstanding source to find and network with AI talent face-to-face. Scour conference proceedings and speakers’ lists for talent.
- Don’t ignore the potential effectiveness of posting on job boards, including those that target AI specifically.
- Universities are one of the very best sources for talent and not just for new grads, but as a funnel to their pre and post docs and their alumni. Many have world-class research centers with top researchers. Partner with the AI professors at the institutions with notable AI programs and you may develop a pipeline that will consistently help your requiring efforts over years.
- Your current employees are another good source, they know the company well and they have contacts in the field who may be useful candidates.
4. Experienced Recruiters, the Best Source
As a client of ours once said, bad recruiters are like bad sales reps; they are worse than useless. They’ll waste your team’s time with bad leads. However, if you connect with a great recruiter they will save your team a lot of frustration, energy and time in the long run. Top recruiters have extensive networks to tap and a familiarity with the subtleties and nuances of the market for AI professionals. The very best recruiters are builders who will try to understand your mission and partner with you to help create your vision.
The only recruiters you want to consider are:
Subject matter experts who know how to recruit this technology and who will give you sage advice even when you don’t ask for it.
Very intelligent. It takes a lot of intelligence to be a great technical recruiter. Extremely Ethical. This should almost go without saying.
Careful listeners.
A disclaimer here… yes, we have with decades of recruiting experience and our firm does AI recruitment among other technologies. Therefore it might reasonably be perceived that saying recruiters are the very best sources is self-serving. However it is perceived, my experience as a global HR executive and experienced talent advisor has proven this opinion to be true time and time again.
5. Foster A Coordinated Interview Experience
Make sure that the interview process appears well planned in the candidates eyes. As much as we want to send them through a thorough interview process which answers your questions, we also want them to feel appreciated and valued for their time and interest in your organization. Make sure your technical or leadership questioning comes across as a discussion more than just Q&A.
Listen carefully to the kinds of questions the candidates ask as this gives you a feel for their thought processes as well as their motivation to speak with your organization. Get insight into why they are looking and what their desires are professionally now.
An important factor in the success of your interviews is the consistency of your message throughout the interview process. By this I mean that you should make sure the interview team itself is on the same page. Be confident that the team understands the role, understands the organization’s goals in AI and that they communicate this with some consistency and accuracy. There are different points of view of course, and that’s fine, but keep any internal bickering or political maneuvering out of the interview cycle.
Look for candidates who, beyond having the required skills, are also flexible and are intelligent problem solvers. Again, AI talent has lots of choices, be sure to communicate how their joining with you might accelerate their own personal growth.
A point to remember these candidates can also help recruit for you. If you handle the interview process well and show your organization in a good light, even candidates who realize they are not likely to win the role may refer other candidates to you who might be better fits.
6. Getting the Candidates You Want
You feel you’ve done everything right. You’ve found the right candidate for the role and at the right time. You’re making an enticing offer, but there’s an obstacle. Maybe competition in the form of other organizations making an offer, or a counter offer from the candidate’s current employer, or suddenly the candidate is contemplating trying their own startup project. These situations are inevitable in the dynamics of the market for talent, especially in areas of great demand like AI.
However, here at the end game, is where the consistency of your message and your listening skills pay off. You’ve showcased your impactful project, you emphasized your organizations’ good culture and values. You’ve shown your inclusive and upbeat work environment. And you’ve listened closely and responded to what the candidate has been saying about their desires, motivations and expectations. If you’ve done all these things, then you’ve been effectively closing your candidates all along maybe without realizing it. Reiterate all the reasons your candidate has mentioned for looking and what inspires them. Marry these in their minds to the positives of your opportunity, environment and mission. Communication is key throughout, but never more so than now. Be honest, engaging and consistent and you’ll get your share of great hires.
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About the Author
Herman Collins is Founder and CEO of Herman Collins LLC a boutique recruitment firm focusing on advanced technology and venture assignments globally. He is one of the pioneers of AI recruiting.
Contact at info@hermancollins.com