Job Interviews Have Always Been a Game of Cunning, but AI is Taking Them to Another Level

Interviews are crucial for both employers and candidates to reveal their strengths. However, as LinkedIn career expert Andrew McCaskill explains, you need to learn your role well and go out there with your lines prepared. With the rise of AI in recruitment, the game has only just begun.

The first filter for your resume is already AI. Recruitment processes have become increasingly automated in recent years, with applicant tracking systems (ATS) now handling the initial screening of candidates. This automation allows recruiters to save time and money by filtering out candidates who “supposedly” don’t meet the requirements.

Candidates quickly responded by optimizing their resumes with techniques designed to outsmart these algorithms and pass this initial filter. Ravin Jesuthasan, co-author of The Skills-Powered Organization, says both sides are using AI in the hiring process, so “it feels like this is an arms race that is just going to keep accelerating.”

An interview coach. Candidates are also using ChatGPT as a mock interview coach to help them overcome the embarrassment of talking to others about their merits. Using AI in this way helps candidates prepare answers to questions they may not have anticipated, allowing them to project a more confident image during interviews.

AI-assisted interviewing. With the rise of remote interviewing and advancements in AI voice interfaces, more candidates are turning to AI for assistance. However, as Business Insider reports, recruiters aren’t entirely welcoming this trend.

According to Business Insider, candidates are increasingly using ChatGPT’s voice features to answer interview questions live with a trained model. They also use Nvidia’s AI, which allows them to simulate natural eye contact with the camera, masking the fact that they’re reading responses from their phones.

The screening process is broken. Recruiters themselves admit that the candidate screening process is flawed. As Lindsey Zuloaga, chief data scientist at recruiting platform HireVue, said in the Tuesdays with Trailblazers podcast, “A lot of the efforts to cheat come from the fact that hiring is so broken. You’re just like, ‘Oh, my God, how do I get through? How do I get seen? How do I get assessed fairly?’” Endless selection processes are becoming untenable for candidates.

The Adecco Institute notes that recruiters are debating whether the use of AI in this way is unethical, especially when it comes to passing technical or programming tests, or if it’s simply a legitimate tool like wearing the right outfit or sending a thank you email after the interview. “Customers have different views on whether using ChatGPT is even cheating,” Zuloaga said.

The solution: Don’t demonize AI. Zuloaga suggests approaching the AI dilemma with transparency, focusing on getting to know the candidate rather than subjecting them to a “trick test.” “Hey, we want to hear from the real you. Although tools like ChatGPT can be really useful in preparation for an interview, please speak from your own experience,” she told Business Insider.

Zuloaga confirms that it’s not difficult to deceive a recruiter during a video call, but says recruiters are increasingly focused on the fluency of the conversation. “Are they speaking comfortably and fluidly about things they actually did?”, she asks. Genuine answers, Zuloaga said, typically involve candidates walking through their experiences and the problems they’ve solved.

Image | The Jopwell Collection (Unsplash)

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