Agentic AI is a powerful technology with significant potential to transform HR practices to improve candidate and employee experience. Powered by large language models (LLMs), AI agents can be prompted (instructed) to carry out tasks to narrow specifications, and can even work in tandem with each other to handle complex tasks and provide a more enriched, seamless experience. Agents can be used throughout the entire talent management lifecycle, including for sourcing and selection and onboarding and training. In this blog post, we explore how agents can be used at each of these stages, including how we are leveraging AI agents at SeeTalent.

Sourcing candidates

AI agents can be used in multiple ways to source candidates. This includes identifying the relevant qualifications and KSAOs needed to perform in a role from relevant information and even fully crafting job descriptions, including benefits tailored to the particular role and jurisdiction. AI agents can also be used to fully automate the job advertisement workflow to make positions live on preferred job sourcing sites. 

Outside of job advertisements, agentic AI can also be leveraged to screen databases for candidates who have the necessary skills, attributes, and qualifications for the role, with research suggesting that AI agents can be more successful at resume classification than traditional machine learning based approaches. They can then be invited to formally apply for the role by either a human or with a fully automated process.

Likewise, a similar approach can be used for internal mobility, where incumbents can be matched to open roles by AI agents based on factors such as their performance, skills, experience, and qualifications. 

Selection

AI agents can also be leveraged in a number of ways during the selection process, including to find time for hiring managers and/or recruiters to meet with candidates based on common availability. AI agents can then send invitations automatically, freeing up time to focus on meaningful candidate interactions. Agents can also be used to answer candidates’ questions based on information sources like company handbooks and policies. 

One of the most revolutionary applications of agentic AI in selection, however, is conversational assessments. Here, AI agents can be used to assess a candidate’s skills and/or psychometric profile through a conversation-based interaction. 

Our SeeTalent Work Sample Tests do exactly that – candidates engage in a series of realistic, dynamic conversations with one or more AI agents that play the role of a key stakeholder they are likely to encounter in the role. These conversations assess a candidate’s ability to perform in the role, and the language they use in the interaction can also be used to infer attributes like personality and values. 

While emerging evidence suggests that AI agents may be able to infer personality traits from interactions with users and provide explanations that align with psychological theory, there are concerns about the reliability of evaluations from AI agents. Specifically, research has indicated that large language models do not perform equally well across traits and have lower test-retest reliability than we would expect from selection assessments. They can also result in biased outcomes or assign higher scores than would be expected, reducing the utility of the measure.

With SeeTalent’s work sample tests, this isn’t an issue – our assessments are scored using proprietary machine learning algorithms that combine subject matter expertise with data-driven insights. These algorithms produce much more predictable and consistent outcomes compared to scores generated by AI agents, meaning that outcomes are much more controlled and interpretable because they are not affected by chance. Our scoring and assessments are also rigorously tested for validity and reliability to ensure their psychometric integrity and are tested for adverse impact. 

Candidate feedback

After candidates have completed an assessment, AI agents can be used to interpret their scores and provide customised feedback. To do so, agents can draw from a number of data sources to better interpret the scores and provide feedback, including technical manuals.

Using agents to provide feedback enables it to be much more flexible and personalised than using pre-defined feedback. Additional layers of insights can also be added, such as how different attributes may interact with each other. Feedback can also be much more tailored for the role, company, or sector, for example, maximising the value of the feedback for the candidate as well as hiring managers and recruiters. For instance, this feedback could be used to inform interview questions or provide insights on the training that a candidate might need during onboarding, as well as how they might fit in in an existing team.

With SeeTalent’s AI-augmented reporting, in addition to these key benefits, candidates, hiring managers, and coaches can also ask questions about the psychometric profile. Indeed, our reporting comes with proprietary conversational AI, a psychometrics expert that allows you to dig deeper into test scores and work with reports. This expert can answer questions on the candidate’s profile, how the assessment works, how the candidate might cope in certain situations and more, providing deeper insights than has ever been possible from static reports. 

Onboarding and training 

AI Agents can be leveraged for onboarding and training to provide a more personalised experience that allows employees to go at their own pace and ask questions. Some of the ways agents can be leveraged for training include:

• Breaking down large documents and feeding candidates information a section at a time
• Creating dynamic practice scenarios based on the training material and employee’s understanding of the content
• Providing feedback on understanding and progress
• Answering questions about and providing clarifications on the training material

Agents can be prompted to have a specific personality, meaning training will be delivered in line with company values. 

Streamline your hiring with SeeTalent

SeeTalent’s conversational assessments and augmented reporting provide an enriched candidate experience and deep, personalised insights on candidates to help you find the right talent and support their future development. 

Get in touch to find out how SeeTalent can help you streamline your talent acquisition with agentic AI. 

Author: Airlie Hilliard