Zoom has been used for job interviews, but what happens when there's no one on the other end?
Zoom has been used for job interviews, but what happens when there is no one to interview with? Can algorithms evaluate job applicants better than humans? A Virginia Tech study says yes.
Automated video interviewing (AVI) allows HR managers to screen more applicants while narrowing the list of candidates to the best candidates for the job before meeting in person. It can also reduce hiring time, save companies money, and give candidates a chance to promote themselves beyond their resume.
These practices are becoming increasingly common, raising concerns about fairness and bias. However, the Virginia Tech study concluded that AVI can be an effective and objective tool.
In automated video interviews, candidates are presented with a predetermined list of questions, and their answers are recorded and evaluated by an algorithm. Although algorithms are a type of artificial intelligence, they are not fully AI.
Lewis Hickman, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech, and his team specifically looked at the AVI personality assessment and its reliability and validity. The algorithm looks for subtle behaviors that suggest personality traits, such as verbal cues and nonverbal cues, including facial expressions.
“People were judged to be more conscientious by giving longer answers and using longer or more complex words. This suggests that they have thought more deeply about their answers. “People who spoke faster were rated as more extroverted,” Hickman said.
Research has found that automating the personality assessment process standardizes interviews and ensures applicants are evaluated equally.
It also removes the human element from the interviewer, as computers have no moods.
“If you had a human being rate an interview, you would differentiate people based on maybe they forgot to bring their coffee to work this morning and are grumpy because they don't have caffeine.'' You might judge, “Maybe my dog died and he was in a bad mood,'' Hickman said.
“We can score interviews in a way that is very similar to the aggregation of judgments from multiple people. So what this tells us is that these AVI scores for interviews are actually “It could be better than just one person evaluating an interview,” he said.
In theory, AVI eliminates judgments based on gender, race, and even attractiveness.
The Virginia Tech study is cautious and suggests that further research is needed to determine whether the AVI personality assessment has negative effects on certain groups and to ensure the legality and ethics of its use. Suggests.
Another concern is job seekers' understanding of the AVI process. Another report in Harvard Business Review found that candidates were confused and didn't know how to use AVI to evaluate themselves.
Research led by Hickman has been published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, and he recently won the Jeanneret Award for Excellence in Individual or Group Evaluation Research from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.
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