AI Being Used to Assess Job Candidates

[sanantone]

Well, this is the creepiest technological development I've seen in a while. DeepSense, a company based in San Francisco and India, provides AI services to companies looking to hire. Their software scans applicants' social media accounts to predict personality traits. This is done with or without the applicant's knowledge. 

HireVue assesses candidates' video interviews. Their algorithm compares tone of voice, micro facial expressions, and word clusters with people previously identified as being high performers. 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/artificial-...1537435820

[burbuja0512]

As if the job process weren't bad enough. Seriously. You have to write your resume to match the keywords that are in the job posting or risk getting screened out by the HR's software. Then, some companies do a video interview, which is basically you recording yourself with questions that you get only a few minutes to answer. (I've done a couple of these and can attest to the fact that they are awful. Nothing like speaking to a computer screen and not seeing any sort of reaction or having any eye contact.)

Based on my experience and skills (and perhaps ego..) I would consider myself a top candidate in my field. And I just accepted a position at a company because I felt that I would be working with humans. My boss and his boss are amazing people and the HR process was friendly and informative. I would be that the best talent is looking for the same. The more barriers between a people and a company = more time for another company to call me and offer me a better position.

[jsd]

recording yourself with questions that you get only a few minutes to answer. (I've done a couple of these and can attest to the fact that they are awful. Nothing like speaking to a computer screen and not seeing any sort of reaction or having any eye contact.)

I get bad anxiety in interviews, probably more of a social anxiety. I might do better in this situation, but I understand that for a majority of people this is probably terrible. I'm assuming the questions are still asked of you on the spot and you have no time to prepare?

[burbuja0512]

recording yourself with questions that you get only a few minutes to answer. (I've done a couple of these and can attest to the fact that they are awful. Nothing like speaking to a computer screen and not seeing any sort of reaction or having any eye contact.)

I get bad anxiety in interviews, probably more of a social anxiety. I might do better in this situation, but I understand that for a majority of people this is probably terrible. I'm assuming the questions are still asked of you on the spot and you have no time to prepare?

To give you some background, I am in sales and do public speaking all of the time, from one-on-one presentations to speaking engagements of almost 1000 people.   I am NOT afraid of interviews and am paid to talk for a living, but these things terrify me.

You are put in a digital "room" where you hit a button stating you are ready to go.   Then, the question pops up and you're on!  Start to answer.   You have x number of minutes and answer correctly or forever hold your peace.     Well, that's only partly true... the first one of these I did, did not provide the option for a retake.   However, the one I did more recently did allow a single retake, which does ease the nerves considerably.

For someone like me who is used to public speaking, I actively engage my audience and I respond to their feedback.  If I see that something I say isn't interesting, I can tell by the look in their eyes and I adjust accordingly.   This sort of thing feels like you're talking to thin air, not to mention the question of how long do you talk?    I can answer a question in a couple of sentences, but maybe they've allotted 5 minutes for that question.  Should I ramble on or just shut up and move on?  Alternately, maybe they gave me a minute for a lengthy response and I have to manage my reply while seeing the time bar quickly go down.   


I don't want to scare you or anyone else.   The pre-recorded interview does not suit my particular style, but it might work well for someone who doesn't do well with social cues.   It could make you less nervous if you aren't used to realizing when the listener isn't interested and don't know how to change subjects accordingly.   I think of my 18 year old step-daughter.   She's mildly autistic (used to call it Asperger's) and has no clue how to read people.   This might work for her.    Not having someone there would probably make her feel less pressured and her lack of eye contact wouldn't hurt since many people don't know how to look into a camera very well.   

Anyway.. just my 2 cents.   I will say that the most recent video interview, I ended up getting the job, so I must have gotten better from the first time I did it.    Ha ha if I had to do one again, my best advice to myself would be to take a drink or an anti-anxiety med first.


Would love to hear if others have had experiences with that...  wonder if I'm the only one who got freaked out.

[quigongene]

I'm assuming the questions are still asked of you on the spot and you have no time to prepare?

I had to take a video interview to get my current position. It asked the question, then gave a minute to get your thoughts together (which made me more anxious b/c there was a countdown timer). The interesting part was the retake. There was no timer on the retake, so you could take 5 minutes and think about your answer. This might be considered cheating to some, I guess, but I saw nothing saying I couldn't do this, and they hired me.

[sanantone]

I had to do video-based scenarios when I applied to a police department. They showed you a situation, and you were given some time to formulate a response. I can't remember how many seconds, but you could go to the computer and ask for more time. Then, you talked at the screen as a camera recorded you. It was very awkward. I failed the first time, but passed the second time. The key was pretending that they were real people responding back to you. You had to keep a conversation going for a little while even though you're talking to a screen.

[jsd]

Oddly enough, I don't mind public speaking or presentations or anything like that. I can "turn on" enough charisma to do a decent enough job and sort of enjoy it. But for some reason I completely shut down in interviews. I'm coached interview skills and best practices to those under me, and have seen so many of these folks have success with it. I just can't practice what I preach.

Anyway, thanks for the detail! I am not surprised at all to see other folks chiming in who agree with you that these are terrible. For me personally it still seems slightly better than a traditional interview, but I definitely understand why that is not a popular opinion!

[cookderosa]

As if the job process weren't bad enough. Seriously. You have to write your resume to match the keywords that are in the job posting or risk getting screened out by the HR's software. Then, some companies do a video interview, which is basically you recording yourself with questions that you get only a few minutes to answer. (I've done a couple of these and can attest to the fact that they are awful. Nothing like speaking to a computer screen and not seeing any sort of reaction or having any eye contact.)

Based on my experience and skills (and perhaps ego..) I would consider myself a top candidate in my field. And I just accepted a position at a company because I felt that I would be working with humans. My boss and his boss are amazing people and the HR process was friendly and informative. I would be that the best talent is looking for the same. The more barriers between a people and a company = more time for another company to call me and offer me a better position.

yes! That's the right attitude.