Dr John Sullivan Talent Management Thought Leadership
A whopping 20% of candidates use AI to improve interview scores, and it may exceed 50% in 2 years (my prediction). Why such a rapid increase?
From the candidate’s perspective, AI has been wildly effective in deceiving even corporate recruiters. But also because the ethical barriers against its use have vanished. And there are now multiple vendors that will guide any candidate on how to use AI during interviewing and the entire hiring process.
You must begin assuming that most of your remote interviewees are cheating with AI!
Because your corporation has done nothing significant to limit the tsunami of AI-assisted candidates, that unfortunately means that you have been hiring a significant number of candidates who have inflated their interview scores with an assist from AI. So if you’ve been disappointed with the performance of your recent crop of new-hires, now you know why.
What You See… Isn’t What You Will Actually Get (With AI-Boosted Interviews)
In the past, what you saw and heard from a candidate during video interviews was an accurate representation of the candidate. But today, you must realize that the person you are witnessing during your remote hiring conversations will most likely be significantly different (and less capable) than the actual person that you end up actually hiring.
This is possible today because candidates now have access to AI-driven “candidate enhancement software” (software that allows a candidate to inflate their desirability). This now means that even unsophisticated candidates can use vendor-supplied AI software to boost the hiring desirability of their resumes, cover letters, background checks, and, yes, during remote interviews.
The Top Reasons – Why AI Enhancements Will Cause Remote Interview Usage To Decline Rapidly
There are multiple reasons why smart recruiting leaders should curtail their use of remote interviews (especially finalist interviews). The most powerful justifications include:
- Their AI-supplied interview answers will fool you into hiring less qualified candidates (who appear more capable than they really are) – because the interview assessment step is awarded the most weight in the entire hiring decision. It’s important to get every element of interviewing right. The AI-supplied interview answers may artificially enhance the capabilities of the candidate in several ways. First, if they have been provided early enough, the candidate can practice them. Next, the answers may be posted live on another screen outside of camera range, so that the candidate can use them during the actual interview. And finally, “the person” that is answering your questions may actually not be a real person at all, but instead, an avatar that will provide the best answers directly to the interviewer’s screen.
- You won’t be able to spot the AI enhancements used during remote interviewing – the existence of AI-enhanced interviews might not alarm you if you assume that your recruiters and your hiring managers will be able to spot them. However, because technology in this space has been improving rapidly, it would be a huge mistake to assume that any typical recruiter or hiring manager will be able to “catch” any or all of these AI interview enhancements (even with AI identification software).
- Do you really want to hire candidates with these values? – If values and character are important at your corporation, it’s important to realize that those who are secretly enhancing their interview scores through the use of AI are actually just low-character individuals who are willing to defraud their employer both before and after they are hired. So everyone must take this deception seriously.
- Altered candidate images will make body language assessments even more inaccurate – because AI can alter both the video image and the voice that your interviewers are experiencing. AI can alter the image to make the candidate appear younger, remove voice accents, improve their smile, and even make their image look thinner and taller. And if you rely on these visual and verbal cues (many are potentially discriminatory), these alterations will change the interviewer’s assessments of the candidate’s body language, attitudes, as well as their facial and verbal expressions.
- Remote interviews are less effective at selling top candidates – Obviously, the final closing of the chosen finalist is the most important step in the hiring process; unfortunately, because of the lack of human interaction during remote interviews. It becomes more difficult to build a trusting relationship and maintain chemistry between the candidate and the manager. This is often necessary in order to land the most in-demand candidates.
- AI cheating will increase because candidates won’t need to be an AI expert to cheat – In the past, candidates have had to know a lot about AI in order to appear more desirable throughout the hiring process. Unfortunately, that is no longer true for hiring managers. There are now emerging startups (like Final Round AI) that will help candidates at every level come across as stronger, even under the most sophisticated corporate hiring processes.
- For 100% remote jobs, you may end up hiring a North Korean – although using remote interviews for fully remote jobs will obviously save you a lot of travel money, without a single face-to-face interview for a remote job. There is a significant chance that you will hire someone who has played no part in the interview process. So hiring an unknown candidate may even turn out to be illegal.
In Addition To Avoiding Remote Interview Problems, In-Person Interviews Also Provide Many Other Benefits
In addition to avoiding the top negative aspects of remote interviewing. In-person interviewing has many advantages. Which include:
- Many managers believe it’s easier to assess soft skills in person – with the return to the office movement. Soft skills, interpersonal skills, and candidate fit have become even more important. And because many hiring managers are more comfortable assessing them in person, the increased use of in-person interviews becomes even more important. Note: You can learn more details about how to assess soft skills here.
- Showing up reveals their commitment – because it takes extra effort and out-of-pocket expenses to show up to each on-site interview. The fact that the candidate shows up for one or more in-person interviews helps you assess each candidate’s commitment.
- Your candidate selling approach will be more effective – Witnessing the cohesion of the team and how well they work together may be a key selling factor for the candidate. And if you have impressive facilities and equipment, seeing them will also help to bolster your case. Many hiring managers also believe that human chemistry is developed during each face-to-face meeting. It is necessary to accurately assess and build the trust of top candidates.
- The most memorable communications are in person – unlike video conversations, most in-person communications are much more memorable. The interviewer can easily see the candidate’s face and their subtle body language. And remember, if your new-hire must meet with customers face-to-face, it’s wise to test their interpersonal skills during a real face-to-face interaction.
- Off-camera assessment is possible – when a candidate visits your facility. You have an opportunity to see how they interact with your employees outside of the formal interview process. Companies like Zappos have used this “behind the scenes” assessment to get a more honest view of their top candidates.
- More team members will be able to assume ownership of the hire – because with a face-to-face visit, the candidate will be able to physically interact with many more of their potential team members. More of your team members will likely “buy in” to the hire because they had a chance to meet and assess them.
- In-person interviews can also be recorded – because the in-house recording of the in-person interview can now be less obtrusive. It is now possible to record a face-to-face interview so that a refreshed view of the interview is possible, but also so that others who could not be present can view the interview later on.
The Damage Done By AI Fraud Will Far Outweigh The Benefits From Remote Interviewing
Of course, there will be many in-house arguments about the value of switching at least your finalist interviews to the in-person model. However, in my experience, if you calculate and quantify an effective business case, the cost of the damage that will occur with remote interviewing will far outweigh any consideration for continuing them as a routine recruiting practice for key jobs. The negative aspects of in-person interviewing might include:
- Many candidates will prefer remote video interviews – but you can expect some candidate resistance. Because remote interviews are so much easier to schedule and attend, many candidates will prefer them. However, I have found that the top candidates demand at least one face-to-face interview in order to more accurately assess their team, their manager, and the cultural environment in which they may be working.
- Face-to-face interviews will increase your interview dropouts and ghosting – because of the significant time and the hassles related to getting to the interview site. You will find that your candidate dropout and no-show rate will rise significantly when you require in-person interviews.
- Your hiring process will take longer – face-to-face interviews will lengthen your time to fill because of the many delays associated with scheduling face-to-face interviews. And on the corporate side, there are delays associated with scheduling open conference rooms for those interviews.
- Your recruiting travel cost will, obviously, go up – if you fly in top candidates for face-to-face interviews. Your candidate’s travel expenses will increase significantly.
Note: You can learn more details about how to improve their effectiveness when you use remote video interviews here.
Final Thoughts
Many in recruiting have a history of ignoring the growing influence of AI in recruiting and interviewing. However, in my view, this trend can no longer be ignored. So don’t let AI and interview fraud continue.
And that means that now is the time for smart recruiting leaders to take the necessary actions to ensure that your candidate selection process is effective at spotting and eliminating “AI-enhanced candidates” so that you can once again hire only top performers.
I should note that there is some corporate action in this area because highly regarded recruiting consultant John Vlastelica has even noted that several major recruiting giants like Google and Deloitte have now begun to address this growing AI remote interviewing problem.
Thanks for taking the time to read and share this article.
Notes for the reader
This is the latest article from Dr. Sullivan, who was called “the Michael Jordan of Hiring” by Fast Company.
You can subscribe to Dr. Sullivan’s weekly Talent Management articles here or by following him on LinkedIn.
