Recruitment Marketing Public

The AI Chatbot Assistant is a vital part of your Talent Acquisition team - helping candidates find answers to their questions, helping them track down the ideal role within your organisation, or perhaps simply helping them to connect with you by joining your talent network.

Whilst the AI Chatbot Assistant is automatically taking care of this, your time is freed up to work on higher value activities, focusing your attention on your candidates and other stakeholders in the Talent Acquisition process, and delivering excellent experiences to those who interact with your employer brand.

This article focuses on the configuration of your AI Chatbot Assistant.

Other related articles:

• Enabling your AI Chatbot Assistant on your careers site
• Enabling AI Responses from your AI Chatbot Assistant 

Understanding chatbot terminology

The following chatbot specific terminology is used frequently during this article, and it is helpful for you to understand these terms:

• Capabilities: These are the activities or tasks that the candidate can complete via the chatbot. Examples of capabilities may be to "ask questions", "search for jobs" or "register for talent networks" .
• Prompts: These are suggested inputs that the candidate can make to the chatbot to trigger a particular capability. For example, a prompt of "search for a job" may be used to trigger the activity to search for jobs.
  

  The screenshot below shows how prompts are presented to the candidate via the chatbot:

  
  

• Responses: These are the replies that the chatbot sends to the candidate via the chatbot window.
• Slots: These are the pieces of information which need to be collected by the chatbot to be able to perform a capability. For example, for a job search, the chatbot may need to fill two slots - the search keyword and the search location.

Configuring the initial chatbot settings

The first step to set up your chatbot is to complete the initial configuration, which includes giving the chatbot a name and avatar, as well as setting up the welcome message, which is presented to website visitors when they interact with the chatbot for the first time.

1. From the main menu, under Company click Settings.
2. Under Miscellaneous click Chatbot.
3. On the tab labelled Settings click the pencil icon in the right hand corner. 
   
4. Complete the fields as appropriate:
   1. Avatar: Upload the image that you would like to use as the avatar for the chatbot. The avatar is displayed at the top of the chatbot, and is also shown to the left of any messages or replies that the chatbot makes to the candidate. The image will be automatically resized to the correct dimensions.
   2. Name: Enter the name that you would like to use for the chatbot. The name is displayed at the top of the chatbot messages, and is also utilised when the replies from the chatbot to the candidate are formatted for screen readers.
   3. Identifier: This value will be populated automatically and should not be changed.
   4. Alias identifier: This value will be populated automatically and should not be changed.
   5. Welcome message & prompts
      1. Enable (only works on web based chatbot): Indicate whether you would like to display a welcome message when the candidate interacts with the chatbot for the first time.
      2. Welcome message: Enter the welcome message that you would like to display to the candidate.
      3. Welcome prompts: Enter up to three welcome prompts that are presented to candidates when they interact with the chatbot for the first time. If the welcome message is enabled, the prompts will be displayed below the welcome message. 
   6. Privacy
      1. Require candidate consent: Indicate whether the candidate needs to review and accept your privacy policy before interacting with the chatbot.
      2. Privacy policy: Enter the text which should be shown to the candidate when they are prompted to review and accept. The text can include hyperlinks to other web pages.
   7. Error message: Enter the message which should be presented to the candidate if the chatbot is unable to fulfill their request. This message may be superseded by capability specific failure messages.
5. Click Save.
   

Available chatbot capabilities

The chatbot supports the following capabilities:

• Join Talent Network: Allows candidates to register their interest in joining your talent network. Basic personal information is collected from the candidate, and a candidate record is created within your Recruitment Marketing CRM.
• Free Text Job Search: Allows candidates to search for jobs via a conversational interaction. Depending on the input from the candidate, the search may be keyword or location driven, or a combination of both. Jobs which match the candidate's input criteria are presented within the chatbot window for the candidate to review.
• Apply For Job: Allows candidates to begin an application to jobs which they've found via the Free Text Job Search capability above. Clicking the "I'm interested" button triggers this capability, and allows basic personal information to be collected from the candidate before passing them over to the ATS to complete their application journey. This capability is equivalent to the candidate completing a basic Apply call-to-action on the career website.
• Cancel: Allows the candidate to enter the word "cancel" to immediately end the current capability they are interacting with.
• No capability recognised: This capability is triggered when the candidate's input doesn't match any of the other enabled capabilities. In this scenario, provided that AI Responses are enabled, the chatbot will attempt to utilise the FAQ library to respond to the input ability. 

To check which capabilities are available to you as part of your product package, please speak to a representative of the Customer Success team.

Other capabilities which may be present within your system:

• Apply with Short code: This capability is used by the Text Engage module.
• Search job with postcode (deprecated): This capability has been superseded by the "Free Text Job Search" capability and should not be enabled if the "Free Text Job Search" capability is enabled.

Managing chatbot capabilities

A number of capabilities may have been automatically created when your company was first created during implementation of the Recruitment Marketing module.

To view any existing capabilities:

1. From the main menu, under Company click Settings.
2. Under Miscellaneous click Chatbot.
3. Click the tab labelled Capabilities.

To update an existing capability:

1. Click the pencil icon under the Actions column.
2. Update the fields:
   1. Name: Update the name used for the is capability
   2. Enabled: Toggle the checkbox to enable or disable this capability within the chatbot.
3. Click Save.

To update the configuration of a specific capability, refer to the detailed instructions below for that particular capability.

To add a new capability:

1. Click New in the top right of the Capabilities tab.
2. Complete the fields:
   1. Name: Enter a friendly name for this capability
   2. Capability: Select the appropriate option from the drop down list, ensuring that you are not creating a duplicate capability.
      
3. Click Save.

Configuring inputs

A number of the capabilities require the candidate to provide specific information, which is needed for the chatbot to be able to complete the specific activity. We refer to these as "inputs" (and they are more technically referred to as "slots").

When a capability requires inputs to be configured, the following needs to be completed:

1. Click the link under the Input column on the Capabilities grid.
2. Click New in the top right hand corner of the screen.
3. Complete the fields:
   1. Identifier: Select the appropriate system identifier for this input from the available list, ensuring that you are not duplicating an identifier that has already been used for this capability.
   2. Name: Enter a descriptive name for this input.
   3. Prompt: Enter the message that the chatbot should present to the candidate to elicit this piece of information.
   4. Show this input in workflow: Indicate whether you would like to utilise this input as a logic criteria within a workflow.
   5. Enabled: Indicate whether the candidate should be prompted to complete this input.
4. Click Save.

Note: To provide a more personalised experience for the candidate, the input that they provided for their First Name can be utilised in subsequent input prompts, by including a merge field for this value within the prompt. The merge field should be formatted as follows: %{first_name}.

Multiple choice inputs

If the selected identifier is "multiple_choice", a number of additional options will be available on the "Edit input" screen:

• The chatbot should validate submissions to this slot - toggle the checkbox to indicate whether the chatbot should only accept valid inputs.
• Failed validation prompt - enter the message to display to the candidate if they enter an invalid input.
• Valid responses - enter a comma separated list of the valid responses for this input.

Ordering capability inputs

Where a capability requires one or more inputs, the chatbot will prompt the candidate for these inputs in the order that they have been configured within the settings.

To change the order of the inputs, use the up/down arrow under the "Actions" column to move the input to the desired position.

If utilising the "First Name" merge field, ensure that the input that collects this information is presented to the candidate before any input which uses the merge field within its prompt.

Configuring chatbot responses

Responses are the messages that the chatbot uses to respond to the candidate at the completion of a particular capability.

Generally speaking, most capabilities will have two responses:

• Success: This is the message that the chatbot will return to the candidate following the successful completion of this capability.
• Failure: This is the message that the chatbot will return to the candidate if the system is unable to complete the capability due to an unexpected issue.

On occasion, the capability may have other specific responses, and where relevant these will be discussed in the relevant capabilities below.

The responses can be customised to fit your organisational tone of voice, and to utilise any specific wording you may prefer to use.

To view the existing responses:

1. Click the link under the Responses column on the Capabilities grid.
2. Click the pencil icon under the Actions column.
   
3. Enter the message that you would like the chatbot to use in this scenario.
4. Additionally, you can supply up to 3 prompts, which will be displayed under the responses.
   
5. Click Save.

Configuring chatbot capabilities

Whilst many of the attributes of the available capabilities are similar, there are some nuances in the configuration of each, so you should refer to the specific section below for the capability you are looking to configure.

Join Talent Network

This capability allows candidates to register their interest in joining your talent network. Basic personal information is collected from the candidate, and a candidate record is created within your Recruitment Marketing CRM.

To configure this capability:

1. If the capability has not already been created, follow the instructions above to add a JoinTalentNetwork capability.
2. Add appropriate inputs for this capability, following the instructions above.
   This particular capability supports the following inputs:
   • First name (mandatory)
   • Last name (mandatory)
   • Email (mandatory)
   • Phone number (optional)
   • Multiple choice (optional): Up to 3 multiple choice inputs are supported
3. Add the required responses for this capability. This particular capability requires the following responses:
   • Success
   • Failure
4. Once the configuration of the above is completed, ensure that the capability has been enabled.

Note: When the candidate enters their email address, they will automatically be sent an email with a vertification code to validate that the email address they have entered is genuine and belongs to them. The candidate will need to correctly enter the verification code before they can complete this capability.

Once enabled, candidates will be able to trigger this capability with inputs such as:

Register for talent network
Join talent network
Sign up for talent network

Free Text Job Search

This capability allows candidates to search for jobs via a conversational interaction. Depending on the input from the candidate, the search may be keyword or location driven, or a combination of both. Jobs which match the candidate's input criteria are presented within the chatbot window for the candidate to review.

1. If the capability has not already been created, follow the instructions above to add a FreeTextJobSearch capability.
2. The required inputs for this capability vary depending on how the candidate initially asks the question which triggers this capability.
   This particular capability supports the following inputs:
   
   • Job search query: this input is the keyword(s) that indicate the type of job that the candidate is searching for
   • Job search location: this input is the location (city, state, country) that the candidate is searching for a job within
3. Add the required responses for this capability. This particular capability requires the following responses:
   • Success: This message appears above the job search results carousel when the search returns one or more jobs.
   • No jobs found: This message is returned to the candidate if their job search criteria didn't result in any matching jobs being found.
   • Failure.
4. Once the configuration of the above is completed, ensure that the capability has been enabled.

Once enabled, candidates will be able to trigger this capability with inputs such as:

Search for a job
Find a job
Find {description} jobs
Search for {description} jobs
Find jobs in {location}
Search for jobs in {location}
Find {description} jobs in {location}
Search {description} jobs in {location}
What jobs are available near {location}
I'm interested in {description} jobs
Can you find me a {description} job

Apply for Job

This capability allows candidates to begin an application to jobs which they've found via the Free Text Job Search capability above. Clicking the "I'm interested" button triggers this capability, and allows basic personal information to be collected from the candidate before passing them over to the ATS to complete their application journey. This capability is equivalent to the candidate completing a basic Apply call-to-action on the career website.

1. If the capability has not already been created, follow the instructions above to add a ApplyForJob capability.
2. When creating the capability, you will also need to complete this field:
   • Will the candidate make a direct application from the chatbot?: Indicate whether you would like the candidate's initial application to be created directly within the integrated ATS rather than having the candidate redirected to the ATS apply process at the conclusion of this capability. Only applicable to ATS integrations which support this functionality, which currently includes PageUp and Workday.
3. The inputs for this capability are automatically captured. No specific configuration is required.
4. Add the required responses for this capability. This particular capability requires the following responses:
   • Success
   • Failure
5. Once the configuration of the above is completed, ensure that the capability has been enabled.

Note: When the candidate enters their email address, they will automatically be sent an email with a vertification code to validate that the email address they have entered is genuine and belongs to them. The candidate will need to correctly enter the verification code before they can complete this capability.

As this capability is triggered by the candidate clicking the "I'm interested" button, there are no specific inputs which trigger this capability directly.

Cancel

This capability allows the candidate to enter the word "cancel" to immediately end the current capability they are interacting with.

1. If the capability has not already been created, follow the instructions above to add a Cancel capability.
2. There are no inputs required for this capability.
3. Add the required responses for this capability. This particular capability requires the following responses:
   • Success: It is recommended that you provide examples in this response of other actions that the candidate could undertake with the chatbot, and include some prompts.
   • Failure
4. Once the configuration of the above is completed, ensure that the capability has been enabled.

Once enabled, candidates will be able to trigger this capability with inputs such as:

Cancel

No capability recognised

This capability is triggered when the candidate's input doesn't match any of the other enabled capabilities. In this scenario, provided that AI Responses are enabled, the chatbot will attempt to utilise the FAQ library to respond to the input ability. 

1. If the capability has not already been created, follow the instructions above to add a FallbackIntent capability.
2. There are no specific inputs required for this capability.
3. Add the required responses for this capability. This particular capability requires the following responses:
   • Success: This message will only be returned to the candidate if the chatbot was not able to provide a response via the AI Responses functionality.
   • Failure.
4. Once the configuration of the above is completed, ensure that the capability has been enabled.

As this capability occurs when no other capability is triggered by the candidate's input, there isn't a specific phrase or input which triggers this capability.

For information on enabling AI Responses from the chatbot, refer to Enabling AI Responses from your AI Chatbot Assistant.