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Written by Nathan Hewitt

How bots can help you get hired in a pandemic

The use of AI in recruitment is not new. However, experts say it will play a bigger role as job markets heat up post COVID-19.

Natasha Boddy | Work & Careers reporter, Aug 18, 2020 – 9.14 am
Original article: https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/careers/how-bots-can-help-you-get-hired-in-a-pandemic-20200722-p55efz

How did you deal with a change in your life?

What motivates you?

Are you able to share a valuable lesson you’ve learnt from a prior colleague?

They sound like the questions you’d ordinarily get asked in a job interview – except this particular interview is being conducted by a hiring bot. Welcome to the new world of job interviews, where robots are the ones doing the hiring.

Although Ai being used in recruitment is not new, experts predict it will continue to rise in popularity as job markets heats up post COVID-19.

On average, job seekers are having to apply for 20 to 25 jobs before securing employment, said Trini Nixon, regional director of talent management at recruiter Hudson.

She said AI was growing in popularity as a recruitment tool, being a much faster and more efficient way to screen applicants.

“That in itself creates a more positive and engaging experience for applicants when they’re able to get responses at each milestone. AI can also help candidates put their best foot forward, according to Sam Zheng, CEO of conversational AI start-up Curious Thing.

Interview by text message

“This is because a recruiter may not have time to talk to everybody but an AI does,” he said.

AI can be used to discover many things about applicants. Such as their fit for the role, their personality, their communication skills and their tendency to move around jobs.
– Barb Hyman, chief executive of Sapia, a Melbourne-based tech firm that uses AI to filter job applicants.

In the wake of COVID-19, Sapia (Formerly PredictiveHire) has launched a new function that lets job seekers be interviewed by text message.

Candidates answer a series of questions by text, with their responses analysed by AI, and then get personalised feedback.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but what we can learn from 200 words is a hell of a lot. That’s because it’s about the questions you ask. You have to ask questions which really get to you and your experience – what we call behavioural questions,” Ms Hyman said.

Ms Hyman said chat-based interviews addressed some of the big failures of current assessments of young people: ghosting (not hearing back about job applications), bias and trust.

“In all of these roles it doesn’t matter what you look like. What matters is your traits or your behaviours, are you someone I can rely on, do you get on with people,” she said.

Ms Nixon said although AI did reduce bias, it was important to remember it was built off algorithms.

“We need to make AI continually learn from those mistakes and get smarter and smarter. Otherwise we’re working on an algorithm that’s not correct and that I think has perils that we need to be really conscious of,” she said.

Ms Hyman said feedback from candidates showed they found chat-based interviews much more comfortable than other styles of interviews.

Tips for dealing with hiring bots

When applying for a job where AI is involved, Ms Hyman gives the same advice as she would for an in-person interview.

“Be yourself,” she said. “If you try and game the system, the system will find you out.

“In our case, we can identify when someone has plagiarised. We can identify profanity, we know the top sites graduates use to source answers and we can reveal that to our customers.”

Mr Zheng agreed applicants should not try to game the system.

“Every AI runs with different algorithms and a method like this might ultimately penalise you,” he said.

“For example, at Curious Thing, our AI will notice if a candidate is piling on keywords. That is when they aren’t connected into a well-structured and coherent answer. The best results will come from you being authentic.

Mr Zheng said it was important for applicants to remember AI was essentially information collection tools designed to analyse provided information.


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How Victoria defeated COVID with individual action and data

Action and data

COVID has taught us that on reflection the focus on individual action with a community benefit as a goal is really a focus that leads to the greater good. In our home state of Victoria, Australia now 7 straight days with ZERO new cases. It has been an effort founded on facts and science over misinformation. In Victoria, many sacrificed a lot for their well-being for ALL. If anything, there is now proof, thanks to Victorians, that when we see facts, listen to science and let data show you how to lead that change, you can make it happen.

We’re using this approach to build a new vision for inclusive hiring.

AI, especially predictive machine learning models, are an outcome of a scientific process, it’s no different to any other scientific theory, where a hypothesis is being tested using data.

The beauty of the scientific method is that every scientific theory needs to be falsifiable, a condition first brought to light by the philosopher of science Karl Popper. In other words, a theory has to have the capacity to be contradicted with evidence.

It is how science is able to progress without bias.

There are three decisions that are made by a human in building that scientific experiment.

  1. Forming a meaningful hypothesis
  2. Data collection methodology (experiment set up)
  3. The data you rely on to test the hypothesis

One can argue 2 and 3 are the same as if the methodology is not sound the data collection wouldn’t be either. That’s why there is so much challenge and curiosity as there should be about the data that goes into an algorithm.

Think of an analogy in a different field of science: the science of climate change.

A scientist comes up with a hypothesis that certain factors drive an increase in objective measures of climate warming, eg CO2 emissions, cars on the road, etc. That’s a hypothesis and then she tests it using statistical analysis to prove or disprove that her hypothesis holds beyond random chance.

The best way to make sure you are following a sound scientific approach is to share your findings with the broader scientific community. In other words, publish in peer-reviewed mediums such as journals or conferences so that you are open to scrutiny and arguments against your findings.

Or to put it another way,  be open for your hypothesis to be falsified.

In AI especially, it is also important to keep testing whether your hypothesis holds over time as new data may show patterns that lead to disproving your initial hypothesis. This can be due to limitations in your initial dataset or assumptions made that are no longer valid. For example, assuming the only information in a resume related to gender are name and explicit mention of gender or a certain predictive pattern such as detecting facial expressions are consistent across race or gender groups. Both of these have been proven wrong*.

The only way to improve our ability to predict, be it climate change or employee performance, is to start applying the scientific method and be open to adjusting your models to better explain new evidence.

Therefore the idea that a human can encode their own biases in the AI — well it’s just not true if the right science is followed.

* Amazon scraps secret AI recruiting tool that showed bias against women (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-jobs-automation-insight-idUSKCN1MK08G)

* Researchers find evidence of bias in facial expression data sets (https://venturebeat.com/2020/07/24/researchers-find-evidence-of-bias-in-facial-expression-data-sets/)

To keep up to date on all things “Hiring with Ai” subscribe to our blog!

You can try out Sapia’s Chat Interview right now, or leave us your details to get a personalised demo

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What Everyone Knows About Assessment Centres But Won’t Say

To find out how to use Recruitment Automation to hire faster, reduce bias and save, we also have a great retail industry eBook on Ai in HR.

Let’s discuss the significant issues that talent acquisition teams face with assessment centres every day. As a solution provider operating in the high-volume recruiting space, we’ve identified seven common assessment centre problems.

Firstly, a bit of an explanation.

What is the recruitment Assessment Centre?

Assessment Centres or “Group Interviews” are a popular recruitment tool for those who specialise in high volume recruitment or large enrolment programs. They usually bring together a large number of candidates. This group is then reduced to a smaller group in the final phase of the recruiting selection process.

Let’s talk about the advantages of Group Interviews.

Firstly, group interviews offer significant advantages for high-volume recruitment. They are thought to yield better results. For every candidate interviewed more are hired with greater accuracy. That is, compared to standard face-to-face interviews. They are also quicker. In that, there is far greater efficiency in the number of candidates interviewed per hour. Many large-scale recruitment programs use assessment centres to evaluate candidates against one another using various exercises. These exercises are designed to assess your suitability for the job. They check your performance in your role as well as your knowledge of the company and its culture. Some exercises involve you working individually. Others assess you and your ability to work as part of a group.

For the candidate:

An invitation to an assessment centre shows that you are successful in the early stages of the recruitment process. It usually takes place after the first round of pre-selection interviews and before the final selection. This can be seen as more reliable and fair than an interview alone. It gives you the chance to demonstrate your potential in a variety of environments. Candidates should also be able to learn more about the culture of the organisation and the role of the workplace.

https://gph.is/2HxBOne

For the organisation:

Assessment Centres provide an evaluation method based on multiple evaluations, including occupational simulations. They monitor a candidate’s performance across a range of activities. This is to assess skills, competencies and traits that could be used in the workplace. Many companies use this method to recruit their graduate programs. In other words, to assess potential employees who have little or no professional experience. The bonus is that it also gives employers the opportunity to make a positive impression.

This all sounds great, except for these 7 Big Assessment Centre Problems

Assessment Centre Problem 1 

1. They are a pain to organise.
“No Julie, we do not have an afternoon session on Tuesday just on Monday and Thursday” – sound familiar?

Assessment Centre Problem 2

2. No one wants to be there.
The candidate wishes they had a job already. The hiring manager wishes they had their staff already. The recruiter wishes they were out for lunch. The general tone is: “when will this be over?”.

Assessment Centre Problem 3

3. They are disappointing.
The results are never what you expected – for anyone! Maybe you attend with optimism. More likely you probably think to yourself “how will I select from this dire bunch of candidates???!“.
And every candidate is thinking: “This is ridiculous and unfair and like …totally ridiculous”.

Assessment Centre Problem 4

4. Speaking loud seems to get you noticed.
Seems like whether you are the assessor or the candidate, the person who speaks loud often wins out. Almost always leaving participants to wonder: “Were fair decisions made and were the right decisions made?“.
Loud does not equate to right. Being confident does not equate to right either. Right?

Assessment Centre Problem 5

5. They are all different.
There is little to no consistency or standardisation. For anyone is part of a national or global talent acquisition team – this is somewhat worrying. Particularly when you are recruiting for the same role across multiple geographies. When the bar to enter that role (and your organisation) moves, its a shift in goalposts and everyone knows: “that just ain’t fair!”.

Assessment Centre Problem 6

6. Keeping the paperwork for compliance reasons is terribly time-consuming.
The record-keeping on assessment centres is an administrators nightmare. The spreadsheets to obtain attendance records, then print-outs to capture scoring. And for how long do you actually have to keep every scoring sheet? Is it a year or is it 7?

Assessment Centre Problem 7

7. Calibration is rarely objective and never data-driven.
In concluding the assessment centre, the team calibrate their results together. This is the final decision-making process. Who should we progress to hire and who should be declined?
For anyone who has been an assessor, we all know that this calibration piece is too often based on opinions:  “I believe she will really fit in” “She seemed to be super friendly” “I think she will be a great hire”. Believe, seemed, think.  What is this? A fortune-tellers table in the corner of a dodgy country market? What happened to objective decision making?

 

https://gph.is/g/aQOkMd2

 

Above all, they are ridiculously time-consuming! With so much time being spent on Group Interviews, should we think seriously about how they could be done better? Hours organising and days invested in an event with unpredictable results. Seems crazy! Can we do something to improve this costly and unwieldy process?

Sapia is solving these assessment centre problems.

It is for these reasons that Sapia has launched LiveInterview – the app that specialises in making group interviews:
1. Easier to organise
2. A pleasure to be there
3. Yield better results – especially considering all attendees were preselected using FirstInterview!
4. Totally fair and equitable
5. Consistent and standardised
6. Easy to administer. No record-keeping needed anymore, ever
7. Data-driven objective decision making plus it delivers a better hiring yield.

Assessment Centres have their place.

Now, let’s make the assessment centre shine, and produce the results we expect. To learn more, leave your details here, and we will be in contact.

Watch the video here – LiveInterview for Assessment Centres

Suggested Reading:

https://sapia.ai/blog/graduate-recruitment-during-covid-19-whats-different/

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Scalable career discovery for younger workers

Sapia’s CEO Barb Hyman comments on Australia’s Federal Budget as it relates to the youth.

As Australia rebuilds its economy, investing in the youth is a step in the right direction. However, business and community leaders must guide them towards the right career path, one HR leader said.

“It is comforting and critical that the government has recognised the important need to invest in this younger generation. They are both the worst-affected as a group by COVID in the short term. They are also likely to beat a larger cost of the impact of COVID on the economy and employment opportunities for the next five to 10 years,” said Barbara Hyman, CEO of Sapia.“Despite this, the investment in training only pays off if the individual has a good idea of what jobs they are best suited to. And, we all know, career counselling from school and beyond is pretty much non-existent,” Hyman told HRD.

“The more understanding for the kind of role and environment that brings out the best in an 18- or 25-year-old. The deeper self-awareness they have about their strengths, the more ROI both the government and the individual will get from this massive investment,” she said.

“Scalable career discovery should really be a part of this. R&D backing in this year’s budget should be used. That way, the hundreds of thousands of young people who are making life career choices can do so with confidence. Also, this technology is here now through AI-led personalised scalable career coaching,” Hyman said.

See the full article below.

‘We owe it to the next generation to ensure a strong economy,’ Frydenberg said

The Morrison government is ensuring the next generation won’t be left behind in an economy reeling from the pandemic, Treasurer Frydenberg said.

The Federal Budget 2020 unveiled this week includes incentives to businesses that will hire young Australians, and opens new pathways for upskilling them.

Frydenberg announced a new JobMaker hiring credit, payable for up to 12 months, for companies that will employ workers aged 16 to 35. “It will be paid at the rate of $200 per week for those aged under 30, and $100 per week for those aged between 30 and 35,” he said.

The incentive aims to open 450,000 job vacancies for young workers across Australia. New employees are required to render 20 hours of work per week. Additionally, they must have been receiving support such as JobSeeker, Youth Allowance or Parenting Payment. That is for at least 1 month in 3 months prior to hiring. Read more: JobSeekers are facing rate cuts – and fewer vacancies

Also, the government is also expanding its upskilling programs by allocating $1.2bn to 100,000 new apprentices and trainees. Overall, providing a 50% wage subsidy to businesses that enlist them. Before this, the government had already invested $1bn in creating 340,000 training places for school leavers and jobseekers.

It is also funding the following:

  • 50,000 new higher education short courses in agriculture, health, IT, science and teaching
  • 12,000 new commonwealth-supported places for higher education in 2021
  • 2,000 Indigenous students through the Clontarf Foundation to complete year 12 and pursue further education or find employment

“We owe it to the next generation to ensure a strong economy so their lives are filled with the same opportunities and possibilities we enjoyed,” Frydenberg said.

Read more: JobSeeker plan could cost 145,000 jobs: report

JobMaker credit open to employers hiring younger workers

As Australia rebuilds its economy, investing in the youth is a step in the right direction. However, business and community leaders must guide them towards the right career path, one HR leader said.

Government initiatives for youth!

“It is comforting and critical that the government has recognised the important need to invest in this younger generation. They are both the worst-affected as a group by COVID in the short term. They are also likely to beat a larger cost of the impact of COVID on the economy and employment opportunities for the next 5-10 years” said Barbara Hyman. “Despite this, the investment in training only pays off if the individual has a good idea of what jobs they are best suited to. Furthermore, we all know, career counselling from school and beyond is pretty much non-existent,” Hyman told HRD.

“The more understanding for the kind of role and environment that brings out the best in an 18- or 25-year-old. The deeper self-awareness they have about their strengths, the more ROI both the government and the individual will get from this massive investment,” she said.

“Scalable career discovery should really be a part of this and the R&D backing in this year’s budget should be used. That way, the hundreds of thousands of young people who are making these life career choices can do so with confidence. This technology is here now through AI-led personalised scalable career coaching,” Hyman said.

 

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