Talk to the bot: Will your next job interview be with AI?

Job seeking and preparing for interviews is already a tiring task. Now, imagine that crucial interview that decides your potential recruitment to your dream company being conducted not by a human but by artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Even if this is too hard to believe, this can become a reality in the near future. While some companies have already been deploying AI for scanning job applications for years, this trend is being adopted by more and more recruiters since the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent survey by Resume Builder has forecast that nearly four in 10 companies will use AI for conducting job interviews by 2024, reported CBS News. What are AI job interviews? What has the survey found and what can you do to prepare for such interviews? We explain. AI interviews AI interviews are those where bots are used by companies to assess candidates. There are several types of AI interviews depending on the level of involvement of the technology. In some automated video interviews (AVI), job seekers record themselves and then that video is watched by hiring managers to take a call. Then there are AI-assisted interviews wherein candidates are provided questions on screen in text form which they answer via text or video. A recruiter then assesses the response to determine if the candidate can be hired. “Some have just an element of artificial intelligence so the candidate is recorded and someone watches their video,” Zahira Jaser, associate professor at the University of Sussex Business School, told CBS MoneyWatch.

Humans can seek AI’s help to filter out unfit candidates.

Thirdly, there are AI-led interviews which, as per Jaser, are “completely automated”, reported CBS MoneyWatch. “The candidate is in front of a screen that has questions that appear and the candidate has limited time to answer these questions,” she added. According to a Harvard Business Review article, AI-led interviews gauge the data collected, such as facial expression, eye movement, voice tone, vocabulary or pronunciation, to hire or reject candidates. [caption id=“attachment_12801472” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A university student demonstrating an AI interview programme in Sungnam, South Korea, in 2019. Reuters File Photo[/caption] “Employers understand that using AI can save them time, so we expect to see more of them using it in some way in the pre-screening interview process,” Keith Spencer, a career expert at FlexJobs, was quoted as saying by CBS MoneyWatch. “From the candidate’s perspective, it can be intimidating. You’re not interacting with a human — you’re interacting with AI, which can feel kind of strange.” 43% of companies may use AI for interviews The survey by Resume Builder found that currently only 10 per cent of companies use AI for job interviews. However, nearly 43 per cent of recruiters said they plan to use the technology by next year for selecting candidates, reported Fox Business.

Around 15 per cent of employers said they will rely on AI from “start to finish” for hiring decisions without any human input.

As per NDTV, only 32 per cent of the companies said they will not deploy AI for interviews. The survey included 2,286 employed Americans between the 18 to 64 age group involved in the recruitment process. About two-thirds of these respondents believe AI will improve hiring efficiency and more than half predicted that the bot will eventually replace human hiring managers, as per the Fox Business report. However, the companies are not entirely confident about the technology, with 80 per cent of those surveyed saying that AI interviews are more likely to nix qualified candidates, the report added. ALSO READ: Fortune 500 companies are using AI to screen candidates. Here’s how not to get rejected immediately How to prepare for AI interviews? Practice Just like you practise before interviewing with a human recruiter, you must do the same to prepare for an interview with AI. Experts say practicing on video and recording it can help you study yourself later and work on your mistakes. Speaking to CBS MoneyWatch, Jaser recommended a three-step process. First, ask another human, like a friend, to conduct your interview on a video call. In the second case, ask the interviewer to switch off the camera so you can practise interviewing in front of a blank screen. [caption id=“attachment_12801492” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] You can practice on a video call with a friend before sitting for an AI interview. Pixabay (Representational Image)[/caption] The last scenario involves using videoconferencing apps such as Zoom or Google Meet to prepare for an interview but in the absence of another human. Record this video of you answering some practice questions and review it later, the expert added. Look at the camera Most of us cannot focus on looking at the camera during a video call as it feels awkward. Marcie Kirk Holland, executive director of the Internship and Career Center at the University of California, Davis, told The Washington Post that candidates can practise talking to the screen by putting up a photo of a loved one near the camera and then directly addressing them. This could help you “display a warmer disposition, make more eye contact and possibly even crack a smile — all of which could be assessed by the AI”, reported the American daily. Prepare what you will say It is necessary to research the company, including reading the job description carefully, before sitting for the interview. Experts say, in an AI interview, it becomes more important to use keywords from the job posting. “There is a good chance the AI-interview tool will be ranking you based on your use of keywords and phrases from the job description,” FlexJobs’ Spencer told CBS MoneyWatch. “If you’re gregarious, don’t rely completely on your charm. You want to have your facts straight and also have a clear understanding of the industry position, and be able to provide solid, tangible examples of your work.” Don’t let AI intimidate you AI is not perfect yet and it is bound to make mistakes. According to the Harvard Business Review article, candidates believe that when it comes to AI interviews they are being “judged” by some “superior entity”. As the judgement by AI has been found to be “potentially flawed and biased”, job seekers should not let the technology bring down their “self-confidence prior to, or during, an interview”, the article added. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.