Previously, I’ve written about how the world of recruitment has evolved.

It seems that using AI could consign fantastical or over-optimised resumes to the dustbin of history, along with the Rolodex and fax machines.

But how do we go about selecting the perfect (or as close to perfect as possible) candidates from AI-created shortlists?

It should be so easy to learn how to conduct an interview that adds the human element to the AI selection. The web is awash with opportunities to earn recruitment qualifications from a variety of bodies, both respected and dubious. There are so many manuals, guides and blog-posts on the best ways of interviewing. People have been interviewing people for hundreds of years.

And yet…

Why are there no perfect interviews?

We’ve all heard about bizarre interview questions (no explanation needed). We’ve felt the pain of people caught up in interview nightmares (from both sides of the desk). And we’ve scratched our heads and noses over the blogs on body language in face-to-face interviews(bias klaxon).

Even without the extremes, people have tales to tell. Did you ever come away from an interview for your ideal job, where something just felt wrong?

It’s clear that adding human interaction to the recruitment process is by no means straightforward. Highlighting these recurring problems doesn’t solve the underlying question, which is:

“We’ve used an algorithm to better identify suitable candidates. How do we ensure that adding the crucial human part of hiring doesn’t re-introduce the very biases that the algorithm filtered out?”

Start by asking better questions

Searching for “Perfect interview Questions” gives 167,000,000 results. Many of them include the Perfect Answers to match. So it’s not simply about asking questions that, once upon a time, were reckoned to extract truthful and useful responses.

Instead we want questions that will make the best of that human interaction, building on and exploring the reasons the algorithm put these candidates on the list. Our questions need to help us achieve the ultimate goal of the interview: finding a candidate who can do the job, fit with the company culture AND stay for a meaningful period of time.
It’s generally agreed that we get better interview answers by asking open questions. I’d expand on that. They should ideally be questions that don’t relate specifically to the candidate’s resume, or only at the highest level, to get an in-depth understanding.

We should try to avoid using leading questions that will give an astute candidate any clues to the answers we’re looking for. And we should probably steer clear of most, if not all, of the questions that appear on those lists of ‘Perfect Interview Questions’, knowing that some candidates will reach for a well-practised ‘Perfect Answer’. We want them to display their understanding of the question and knowledge of the subject matter. Not their ability to recall a pre-rehearsed answer.

And so, we need to remember that we’re looking for the substance of the answers we get, not the candidate’s ability to weave the flimsiest material into an enchanting story.

Five new interview questions to ask your AI-shortlisted candidates

So, here are some possible questions to get you thinking.

1. We use an algorithm as part of our hiring process to ensure we’re not missing the right candidates. Considering everything you know about us and this rlie, why do you think the algorithm has suggested you might be a good hire?
2. If asked, what would your colleagues in your current or previous role say about your work-related exchanges with them?
3. Tell me about any of your previous personal or career achievements that you feel relate to this role
4. We strive to be as diverse and inclusive as possible. Tell me about the places where you’ve most enjoyed working and the communication styles of people you’ve worked best with. Please expand on your reasons
5. Can you recall a time you’ve needed to make a business decision with incomplete information? How did you move forward?

Of course, you’ll need to frame and adjust those questions to match the role and your company.

How AI for HR helps interviews – and interviewers – get closer to perfection

AI equips recruiters with impartial insights that resumes, questionnaires and even personality profiles can’t provide. Well-constructed, supervised algorithms overlook all the biases that every human has. And that can only be a good thing.

Statistically robust AI uses an algorithm, derived from business performance and behavioural science, to shortlist candidates. It can predict which ones will do well, fit well and stay. We can trust it to know what makes a successful employee, for our particular organisation and this specific role. It can tell us to invest effort with the applicants on that shortlist. However unlikely they seem at first glance.

So we can use all of our knowledge and skills to understand a candidate’s suitability and look beyond things that might have previously led us to a rejection.
AI is the recruiter’s friend, not a competitor. It can stop us wasting time chasing candidates who we think will make great hires but instead fail to live up to the expectation. And it can direct us to the hidden gems we might have otherwise overlooked.

Technology like AI for HR is only a threat if you ignore it.

Don’t be that company that still swears by dated processes because that’s the way it’s always been done. The opportunity here is putting technology to work, helping your organisation evolve for the better. The longer the delay, the harder it will be. So don’t be left at the back playing catch-up.

There are very few businesses these days that communicate by fax machines – and that’s for a reason. In a few years, you’ll look back and wonder “Why didn’t we all embrace Artificial Intelligence sooner?”

Being able to access interview automation just got so much easier inside Tribepad, with Sapia. To explore the use cases for Sapia, let’s chat.

What does this mean for Tribepad users?

Here’s a quick rundown:

Sapia is an interviewing platform that offers every applicant an interview – by mobile chat.

• All candidate first interviews are now fully automated. They answer 5-7 behavioural interview questions by text. With interview completion rates of 90%, the experience speaks for itself.
• Candidates get something back of great value with 99% candidate satisfaction scores.
• Candidate’s answers are assessed, scored and ranked in Tribepad for you to see.
• Lastly, you get to the best talent much quicker with 90% recruiter time savings, against standard recruiting processes.

See solutions here

And now that we are integrated into Tribepad, you get all of these smarts inside your existing Tribepad application. At Sapia, we interview every applicant in-depth and at scale for you. Overall, this is by using a text chat that helps you find the best people fast. Our underlying data science has been accepted and published in international journals.

Tribepad is feature-rich, why do I also need Sapia?

Firstly, no one’s time is served well by screening thousands of CVs. With every additional applicant costs your business an extra $20 in screening if you are doing it the old way, automating the screening process is the commercial decision companies are now making.

• This means you get talent in faster, and that can impact business metrics
• It means everyone gets an interview – without your team having to do any of the grunt work

Sapia is used by a diverse range of business all around the world. Still, most of them have similar challenges of:

• Finding the right people for their most important roles 
• Identifying those people fast and efficiently
• Interrupting bias in hiring and promotion
• Ensuring every person hired amplifies your values
• Creating a candidate experience that is engaging and rewarding.

How does it work for Tribepad users?

Once your vacancy is created in Tribepad, a corresponding interview link will also be created.

Candidates click this link to enter their text-based interview. This is known as the ChatInterview.

As soon as candidates complete their interview their results are displayed inside Tribepad. You also get to see the candidate’s personality assessment. With the pre-assessment already done for you, it makes shortlisting much faster. Thus, by sending out one simple interview link, you nail speed, quality and candidate experience.

As a Recruiter on Tribepad, for what roles should we use Sapia?

The SmartInterview experience is most commonly used for high-volume recruiting. Our customers typically use it in frontline customer-facing roles (like contact centres, customer service) and/or for low-skill roles.

We help manage the disconnect between attraction and retention. This is all done by allowing Recruitment Teams to work more efficiently to hire the best talent. All is done whilst ensuring the applicants feel good about applying for a job role.

Sapia solves the time problem of managing a large applicant pool. It also tackles the quality problem of pin-pointing the best people from that pool. Additionally it solves the candidate experience problem by offering every applicant a fair chance at the opportunity (everyone gets an interview) on platforms they love to use. Simultaneously every candidate gets something of immense value in return for their application.

We already use Tribepad. How do we connect Sapia?

We are glad you are asked! The first thing to note is Sapia is a paid app and sold separately. Next, to explore the pricing that suits your organisation, let’s chat. Lastly, our team can take you through the integration process and describe how the interview automation experience works.

Join the conversation

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

Finally, you can try out Sapia’s SmartInterview right now, or leave us your details here to get a personalised demo.

Being able to access interview automation just got so much easier inside Workday, with Sapia.

To explore the use cases for Sapia, let’s chat.

What does this mean for Workday users?

Here’s a quick rundown:

Sapia is an interviewing platform that offers every applicant an interview – by mobile chat.

• Candidate’s ‘first interview’ is fully automated. They answer 5-7 behavioural interview questions by text. With interview completion rates of 90%, the experience speaks for itself.
• Job seekers get something back of great value with 99% candidate satisfaction scores.
• Candidate’s answers are assessed, scored and ranked – scores are in Workday for you to see.
• You get to the best talent much quicker with 90% recruiter time savings, against standard recruiting processes.

And now that we are integrated into Workday, you can get all of these smarts inside your existing Workday application. Sapia interviews every applicant in-depth and at scale for you – all by using a text chat that helps you find the best people fast. Our underlying data science has been accepted and published in international journals.

Workday HCM is feature-rich, why do I also need Sapia?

Firstly, no one’s time is served well by screening thousands of CVs. With every additional applicant costs your business an extra $20 in screening if you are doing it the old way, automating the screening process is the commercial decision companies are now making.

• It means you get talent in faster, and that can impact directly on business metrics
• It means everyone gets an interview – without your team having to do any of the grunt work

Thus, making it fairer and faster for everyone.

Sapia is used by a diverse range of business all around the world. Still, most of them have similar challenges: 

• Findinf the right people for their most important roles 
• Means to find those people fast and efficiently
• Ability to interrupt bias in hiring and promotion
• Ensuring every person hired amplifies your values
• Creating a candidate experience that is engaging and rewarding.

How does it work for Workday users?

Once your vacancy is created in Workday, a corresponding interview link will also be created.

Candidates click this link to enter their text-based interview. This is known as the Chat Interview.

As soon as candidates complete their interview, you will see their results inside Workday. All candidates are scored and ranked. You also get to see the candidate’s personality assessment, role-based traits and communication skills. With the pre-assessment already done for you, shortlisting is made faster.

By sending out one simple interview link, you nail speed, quality and candidate experience in one hit.

As a Recruiter on Workday, for what roles should we use Sapia?

The FirstInterview experience is most commonly used for high-volume recruiting. Our customers typically use it in frontline customer-facing roles (like contact centres, customer service) and/or for low-skill roles.

Sapia helps manage the disconnect between attraction and retention. This allows your Recruitment Teams to work more efficiently to hire the best talent whilst ensuring the applicants feel good about applying for a job role.

Additionally, Sapia solves the time problem of managing a large applicant pool. It tackles the quality problem of pin-pointing the best people from that pool. It also provides an answer to the candidate experience problem by offering every applicant a fair chance at the opportunity on platforms they love to use. As an added bonus every candidate gets something of immense value in return for their application.

I already use Workday, how do I connect Sapia?

We are glad you are asked! The first thing to note is Sapia is a paid app and sold separately. Furthermore, to explore the pricing that suits your organisation, let’s chat. We can take you through the integration process and describe how the interview automation experience works.

Join the conversation

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

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