Will AI and VR make interviews fairer? Or something out of 1984?

In the first of a two part series, Marketing Moves CEO Mel Day examines whether tech-based recruitment will eliminate subjectivity alone, or take personal freedom with it.

Interview Secrets to Success

We’re forever being told the behaviours that increase our chances of getting a job at interview – what to wear, what to say, what to do and so on. All tips and tricks to seemingly get round the interviewer.

Similarly, it seems that applicants who exaggerate their achievements or have the best social skills / powers of persuasion are the ones that interviewers need to be most aware / wary of.

Whatever the perspective, all these pieces of advice tell us one thing: an interview is not objective.

Something then needs to change. And technology might just be the answer.

Personality Profiling with AI

For example, there is readily available software which analyses an applicant’s social media profiles and based on the words they use in their updates it builds a character profile for the hiring company – a mix of DiSC and The Big Five.

Oddly, things like personality tests are most commonly used on people once they are through the door – ie existing employees. Perhaps the expense is deemed too high for a great raft of people who will never make it. Yet we all know an example of someone who left in week one – with either hirer or hiree saying emphatically that it was clear that it wasn’t the right fit.

So this software neatly kills two birds with one stone.

Can AI call time on Exaggerated Expertise?

Everyone’s CV states which degree they received and how good they are in their chosen field. But how many of us are asked to prove it before we join? And as every hiring manager will know, only certain character types underestimate their ability. The majority of people do the opposite.

In the coding world, developers upload code to platforms such as GitHub. There is now software that analyses their work and tells the employer how good they are – a bit like a credit score. As software speaks in code, it’s relatively easy for it to analyse an applicant’s uploaded code and score it by looking for errors.

Virtual Reality Interviewing

Can you really know how anyone reacts under pressure? Using VR, recruiters are able to watch how someone solves a time-sensitive puzzle – often replicating a workplace environment. Taking it one step further, public-facing employees such as customer service representatives are literally faced with angry customers and their responses monitored.

It’s often when two people lose their temper that you really see how people behave – and it’s a known tactic in interviews for interviewer’s to try to get under the skin of the candidate to see if they can lose their cool – often with disastrous consequences.

Healthy Relationship?

Ever wondered why Google bought FitBit for $2.1Billion? And then some users threw their units away? Because health is a huge factor in any kind of business – insurance, travel, mortgages and food for example. And people don’t want an insurance company to know their heart rate or blood pressure when they take out life cover.

Similarly, hiring healthy people is hugely advantageous to companies. It’s also cheaper than making them healthy with free gym memberships – less sick leave is just one of many proven benefits. So monitoring a candidate’s pulse and blood pressure in an interview is just one mooted technique which might be used in tomorrow’s interviews to level the playing field.

Are Some Animals More Equal Than Others?

Of course, some might say that it’s being “levelled” too much – in other words slanted too far in favour of hirers with disregard for sensitive personal data like something out of 1984.

Next month I’ll be examining what the drawbacks to each of the above is. Until then, I’d love to hear your feedback – please do leave your thoughts by commenting below.