What HR Managers Should Know About AI Recruitment Tools

What’s new in Bluco’s recruitment system?

Forget CVs, forget cover letters! Nowadays, candidates apply through WhatsApp, using text messages, images, or voice and video recordings. Our startup then creates a profile for candidates and synchronizes it into a company recruiting with ATS software. This process only takes a few minutes for the candidate.

Could this system introduce bias in the selection of candidates?

Absolutely not. The information provided is not used for automated selection: the recruitment teams are the ones who select the candidate. Bluco collects a candidate’s answers more fully and more efficiently, so recruiters can actually know more about the candidate, and make even more objective and fairer hiring decisions. The idea is to facilitate the process, not to replace the recruiter – and keep it all confidential, in line with the European AI Act.

Illustration of Bluco: from CV to voice messages

Candidate messages are purely declarative. How can we ensure that the candidates have the required skills?

Yes, it's declarative, like a CV, but with many more checkups. For a sales position, for instance, a high proportion of candidates claimed to be English bilinguals, so we asked them for a 30-second voice message. For truck drivers, we asked for a certified photo of their driving license. None of this data is kept after the recruitment process.

What does this solution bring to the applicants and the employers?

It significantly increases the number of applications: one just needs to scan a QR Code (on an advertisement, an Instagram page, in universities, etc.) or click a button on the company’s career page to start a WhatsApp conversation with the company, identified by its name, logo and verification tick. But most importantly, recruiters save a huge amount of time in processing applications, as WhatsApp streamlines all the other steps of the process. Scheduling appointments for interviews is automated, for example: candidates provide their availability on WhatsApp, and the software connects to the recruiter’s calendar to automatically create the event.

Who uses Bluco today?

We offer our solution to both businesses that synchronize Bluco with their ATS and those that use it independently as a recruiting platform. Our clients include Porsche, Trenord railways, and Free Telecoms. We are also working on adapting our solution to iMessage for the American market, where WhatsApp is not widely used.

What impact have HEC academics had in developing Bluco?

Well, in my first year of my Master I took Laura Sibony's course on art, culture and AI, and that was a turning point. She was one of  the first to explore AI’s impact in these fields and revealed to me the possibilities it offers. The following year, I enjoyed many AI-related conferences as the trend took an upward turn. Finally, Stéphane Madoeuf's “Digital Innovation and Acceleration” program featured discussions on ethics and data protection that deeply influenced my professional career.