Prospective job candidates want immediate answers. Yet hiring managers and recruiters need time off, and even large-scale, global companies don’t have the available staff to answer questions around the clock. Enter the AI chatbot. These ‘automated conversation agents’ can handle many of the early questions candidates have about available jobs and the skills required for particular jobs.

In the fall of 2017, for example, Marriott launched MC, a Marriott Careers chatbot for job seekers available through Facebook messenger. By asking questions of the chatbot, people can find out if Marriott jobs that fall in their skill set are available in their geographic area. They can also ask questions about the culture at different organizations within the brand.1 Most importantly, they can do it when they are commuting home from a job they are considering leaving, or over the weekend. When people can’t get fast, simple answers about a job opportunity, they tend to move on. This is especially true of highly-prized passive candidates.