A.I | Sainsbury's rec boss: 'Chatbots are the future'

“Name one recruiter who will get up at four in the morning to speak to prospective candidates?” exclaimed Sainsbury’s Group Head of Recruitment Strategy, Chris Wray to a packed crowd at the UNLEASH HR trade show, after revealing that in a trial of chatbot technology, the company discovered that over 1,000 prospective candidates applied for roles between the hours of 4am and 8am.

Under Wray’s guidance, Sainsbury’s recently completely re-designed its online application process to meet the demands of the modern millennial candidate-driven market. “I looked at our system and to find even a single job, I had to click through six different links. Six links! I spoke to the team and I said - we need a complete redesign to focus on a Google-like experience.”

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The change led to a ground-up re-think of the process, which ultimately led Wray’s team to invest in the concept of offering candidates an automated online video option within the interview process.

The move was a massive success, with 86% of candidates opting for a video interview over a standard phone call. The move also improved candidate satisfaction levels, which rose to 93%.