How Google DeepMind used LinkedIn data, insights, and human intelligence to support its hiring strategies
SUCCESS STORY
Using data and insights to increase candidate engagement and uncover unique skills
Recruitment professionals who regularly fill technical roles will understand the competitive nature of technology markets. However, imagine having to write a job description for a role that doesn’t yet exist and find the biggest and brightest individuals in the world, from a diverse yet small talent pool.
Behind the best technology and research organisations is an army of gifted, sharp and intelligent professionals, who are eager to explore the depths of their minds, stretch their understanding of their specialist subject, and shape the future.
It’s these dedicated professionals who lead AI advances at Google DeepMind. The AI research laboratory – a unit within Google – prides itself on hiring the best people in the world, a challenge the recruitment team embraces wholeheartedly.
The team quickly recognised a data-driven approach was essential to identify top talent in the fast-moving AI space and partnered with LinkedIn – which uses data, insights, and analysis – to influence recruitment and hiring strategies. It wished to increase its talent pipelines, boost brand awareness, and hire great people.
THE CHALLENGE
Engaging diverse talent to fill niche roles through tailored and targeted messaging
According to LinkedIn’s latest tech talent report, since 2015, the skills required for many jobs have changed by 25 per cent. By 2030, this number is expected to rise to at least 65 per cent. LinkedIn’s 2023 AI at Work report says that businesses will need to thoroughly understand the skills they have and the skills they need to implement the right hiring strategies. Moreover, the key to great recruitment is identifying which skills will matter most in a fast-paced and changing environment.
Google DeepMind has partnered with LinkedIn for five years. The company is growing year on year, and its talent acquisition team is navigating an ever-changing environment especially given the dynamic nature of the global AI arena and the competition for talent in the market. It recruits for highly specialised roles and places diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) front and centre, ensuring it continually builds diverse teams of world-class talent.
But when you have specialised roles to fill that require ultra-niche skills, how do you find the individuals you need from a diverse pool of candidates? How do you encourage the most profound minds in the world of AI to apply for a job that doesn’t have a title because the job doesn’t even exist yet? How precise does your recruitment strategy have to be because the advanced skills you need to hire are not available in infinite numbers?
To address these challenges, the team needed a comprehensive solution that delivered an in-depth analysis of the skills available, enabling it to make informed decisions based on a deep understanding of the market.
THE SOLUTION
Adopting a considered approach to accelerate recruitment strategies
Google DeepMind is a data-driven organisation, yet acutely aware that human insight and connection are key to successful recruitment. To achieve the best results, it adopted a hybrid-intelligent approach to its hiring strategy.
Nicky Vallelly, Talent Acquisition Leader at Google DeepMind, recently contributed her thoughts on AI and recruitment in LinkedIn’s latest The Future of Recruiting 2024 report, which states that AI skills are increasingly appearing on LinkedIn profiles. Nicky explained: “My team recognises that in order to consider how to attract this talent, it’s vital we do our research and uncover what drives this talent pool: what motivates them, what challenges they face, what they need to be successful. This insight is critical in informing our approach – and the LinkedIn Talent Insights tool helps us gain this understanding.”
Developing an engaging candidate outreach strategy
With LinkedIn’s advice and guidance, Google DeepMind’s talent acquisition team regularly conducts in-depth analysis of its InMail strategies. Nicky continued: “The LinkedIn team guided us on how to use Talent Insights for maximum impact, to help boost responses and create more targeted searches.”
Furthermore, by working together and adopting a true partnership approach, LinkedIn’s dedicated customer success team was able to help Google DeepMind adapt its processes to achieve positive outcomes. Mike Carne, Talent Attraction at Google DeepMind, commented: “Using LinkedIn, we’re able to find quality candidates and optimise a process to move forward at a good speed. Our team looks at the data continually. So, if our response rates are dropping, we can work out what’s going on, spot trends quickly, and take action to fix that.”
Targeted comms and searches = boosted DEI recruitment
The talent acquisition team embraces a culture of experimentation and innovation. Nicky explained: “You have to experiment. Some things will work, some won’t, but you will always take away some learnings, even if it’s one small piece of advice.”
Using comprehensive data to influence hiring strategy
Google DeepMind continues to regularly examine its hiring strategy and practices. Mike continued: “We took the time to ensure we utilised every feature that could give our talent acquisition teams an advantage when sourcing and identifying quality candidates. Our LinkedIn team provided us with country and industry-specific data for some niche talent areas to help frame our sourcing strategy, and as a result of this, we have made some incredibly important and exciting hires.”
Main product used:
THE RESULTS
Highly engaged candidates
In the last 18 months, Google DeepMind has had major success with its InMail campaign, generating high open and response rates from candidates.
High acceptance rates based on exceptional employer branding
Google DeepMind leverages LinkedIn to very successfully position relatable and relevant narratives to the right people at the right time.
Filtering through the application noise
The Google DeepMind team know how to maximise employer branding and LinkedIn tools to filter through the application noise to achieve solid results.
“We have collaborated with LinkedIn and our approach aligns nicely.”
“Taking advantage of LinkedIn’s smart features and tools speeds up the process and ensures we are operating at pace.”
About Google DeepMind
Google DeepMind is a unit within Google dedicated to building AI responsibly to benefit humanity. By solving some of the hardest scientific and engineering challenges of our time, it is working to create breakthrough technologies that could advance science, transform work, serve diverse communities and improve billions of people’s lives.
INDUSTRY:
Research Services
No. OF EMPLOYEES:
501-1,000 employees
HEADQUARTERS
London, UK
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