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AI + Video = A new interview paradigm

AI assessing your humanity during interviews? It's now a thing. Here's what should know about the fast-changing world of human talent.
joanna-bloor

joanna-bloor

5 Min Read

How do you feel about AI analyzing the way you interview—and hiring managers using that data to evaluate your hire-worthiness?

When the Amplify Lab team saw the tweet, they gasped. I guess that you did, too. (Oh, and this technology solution has been around since 2017.)

I believe that the world of human talent is going through a fundamental shift. The shift calls on both the hiring managers and candidates to adopt a new way of thinking, and I want to help people make this shift.

Is it right or wrong that HireVue exists? That’s a valid question, but it’s not one I’m ready to comment on. What I want to share is why there’s a need for a product like this. I want you to be well versed in the crazy landscape of human talent today—so you can ace the interview no matter what.

So let me jump in.

• There were 17 Billion resumes submitted in the United States in 2017
• The average job listing receives 250 applicants

I shared these stats in this article. That’s the truth of the sales funnel we all go through. Intimidating, isn’t it? There’s a numbers problem in hiring; for candidates, finding and applying for new jobs has become easier than ever.

One of my clients recently went through the process of sourcing talent and building a team of 30 people. She got 1,000 applicants and ran 250 interviews to get down to the 30 hires.

Let’s do the math. Assuming she spent a paltry 60 minutes on each interview, it took her 250 hours to complete all of them. That amounts to 8 weeks of back-to-back meetings if you’re going at them full tilt. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

I showed her the video at the beginning of the article. Would she use HIreVue? Her response was yes. But with a strong caveat that the results would be one of the many indicators of success. Wouldn’t you do the same if you were in her shoes?

There’s one other problem in the talent world besides numbers. It has to do with humans.

The market is shifting from a skills economy to a knowledge economy. Jobs building the same thing over and over—the backbone of the industrial world—are being replaced by jobs designed to deliver personalization and service.

To succeed in these new roles, employees need to tap into their humanity and exercise their critical thinking. So how then, other than the interview, does a hiring manager find out about the humanity of you?

And here we are, with a company that’s trying hard to offer a product that makes the discovery process more manageable. 

I’ve worked at companies while they were experiencing rapid growth. And honestly, I probably would have considered using technology like HireVue. That’s not to say that I don’t have serious questions about the whole, “AI will see if your face tells us a story of a nice person” idea. I don’t know yet what’s right. But I do know this about the market forces at play in the human talent world:

  1. We have a numbers problem.
  2. We have a human problem.

I told you at the beginning that I want to help you come out on top no matter who or what is involved in the hiring decision. So here’s my advice.

  • If you’re in the job market, assume that one of your interviews may be leveraging this technology or something like it. The good news is that you already know how to prepare for this reality: you’ll do the same prep-work you would for an in-person interview. When you interview in person, the person sitting across from you is noticing everything; from how you enter the room to all your tiny facial movements. People do that and often unconsciously.
  • Turn off the computer and close the tool you’re using to edit your resume. Now go and practice answering questions about why you’re uniquely awesome OUT LOUD TO ANOTHER HUMAN. The best way to ensure that you interview well? Practice. (And if you need help with articulating your awesome, I’ve got you covered here, here, and here.)

IT’S TRUE. YOU’RE OPERATING IN A SCARY NEW AI-ASSISTED WORLD WHEN IT COMES TO JOB INTERVIEWS. BUT YOU’VE GOT THIS.

PS. And if you’re a company thinking about using technology like HireVue? Do us all a favor and be transparent that you are. You want every candidate to have the best possible opportunity to show you why they’re awesome, too.

PPS. In typical brilliant human fashion, I learned this week that some very smart people are “gaming” the keyword scan on resumes by copying and pasting the entire job description into (but hidden) their resumes. Humans – give us a limitation and we figure out a way around it.