Arc launches HireAI to make finding software developers easier

Arc, the jobs platform created especially for software developers looking for remote positions, wants to make recruitment easier with the launch of HireAI. Powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4, HireAI does much of the manual work of finding the right candidates from the 250,000 developers on Arc, including resume screening and mass outreach.

To use HireAI, companies upload their job description. Then it provides a shortlist of candidates, refining preferences with each match so companies get more accurate results.

Arc founder and CEO Weiting Liu, who also launched Codementor, a remote learning platform for software developers, told TechCrunch that the “noise-to-signal rate” is especially high when looking at global remote candidates. “Since Arc’s launch in 2019, we’ve seen countless hiring managers and recruiters being frustrated with the amount of time it takes to sift through hundreds of resumes and manual outreach to find the right candidates,” he said.

Before HireAI, companies using Arc needed to submit their job requirements by completing a detailed job form. Then Arc used its own machine learning algorithm to find the best candidates, or candidates would apply to positions themselves. The platform’s recruiters would further curate candidates for its clients to review. HireAI, which employers can opt-in or out of (or use in tandem with manual screening) automates the onboarding process by generating job descriptions through “conversations” with an AI recruiter, and providing instant matches.

By streamlining or automating tasks like writing job descriptions, candidate screening and outreach, AI-powered tools like HireAI frees up time to focus on more strategic parts of recruitment, Liu said. These include meeting with candidates to see if they are a good cultural fit, building relationships and pitching positions with each individual’s career goals in mind. Liu added that AI-powered tools like HireAI can potentially encourage diversity, equality and inclusion because recruiters don’t see the age, ethnicity or gender of candidates until they get the best matches.

“It is important to note that while AI tools can handle many responsibilities traditionally assigned to recruiters, they are not intended to replace human recruiters entirely,” Liu noted. HireAI was soft-launched internally on Arc a few days ago and Liu said early data shows that companies are two times as likely to interview developers who have been matched with them through HireAI.