Machines Interviewing College Students for Employers

Machines Interviewing College Students for Employers

By: Daniel Steingold | July 01, 2016

In a phenomenon that seems like it could be straight out of a science fiction film, it appears as if many individuals new to the workforce— current college students or recent grads— could be interviewed by machines, rather than humans.

Goldman Sachs, a Wall Street behemoth, looks like they will be leading the pack. Last week, they announced that they will interview job candidates through an automated platform called HireVue, a surprising move for a company that is known for recruiting from hundreds of campuses nationwide.

The trend of interviewing fewer candidates directly from universities has been ongoing for the past few years; in 2007, 89 percent of employers conducted on-campus interviews, while in 2015, only 76 percent did.

Still, the fact that employers are no longer necessarily pursuing college-aged candidates— students have to look for the employer— has been a shock to many. While this trend likely started due to the Great Recession in 2008, things have not shifted back to how they were.

HireVue and similar platforms conducted many hundreds of thousands of automated interviews in 2015. These platforms are believed to improve efficiency in hiring.

The use of such platforms is also believed to help reduce any bias on the part of the interviewer, whether this bias bodes well or poorly for a job candidate.

In a job market where the best candidates are believed to be scooped up rapidly, platforms like HireVue allow companies to act quickly.

In a world with rapid technological change, don’t be surprised if more parts of the job search preclude human interaction.


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