Lesson Plan:2021: Assessing Applicants Online Without Interviewers
Vocabulary: Word Inference
- trait |trāt| nouna distinguishing quality or characteristic, typically one belonging to a person: he was a letter-of-the-law man, a common trait among coaches. • a genetically determined characteristic.
- recruiter |rəˈkro͞odər| noun a person whose job is to enlist or enroll people as employees, in the armed forces, or as members of an organization: a recruiter will schedule you for an interview | military recruiters.
- pose |pōz| verb 1 [with object] present or constitute (a problem, danger, or difficulty): the sheer number of visitors is posing a threat to the area.• raise (a question or matter for consideration): a statement that posed more questions than it answered.
- cognitive |ˈkäɡnədiv| adjective relating to cognition. [cognition:|ˌkäɡˈniSH(ə)n| noun the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. • a result of this; a perception, sensation, notion, or intuition.]
- turnover |ˈtərnˌōvər| noun the rate at which employees leave a workforce and are replaced.
- evaluate |əˈvalyəˌwāt| verb [with object] form an idea of the amount, number, or value of; assess: when you evaluate any hammer, look for precision machining | [with clause] : computer simulations evaluated how the aircraft would perform.
- bias |ˈbīəs| noun 1 prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair: there was evidence of bias against foreign applicants | the bias toward younger people in recruitment |
- chatbots |ˈCHatbät| noun a computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users, especially over the Internet: chatbots often treat conversations like they’re a game of tennis: talk, reply, talk, reply.
- acumen |əˈkyo͞omənˈakyəmən| noun the ability to make good judgments and quick decisions, typically in a particular domain: business acumen.
- snafus |snaˈfo͞o| North American informal noun a confused or chaotic state; a mess: an enormous amount of my time was devoted to untangling snafus.
Source: New Oxford American Dictionary
Grammar Focus: Identifying Prepositions
- So much of our work lives has moved online during the pandemic.
- Job applicants are being asked to video record answers to set questions about their experience.
- Recruiters who use the systems no longer have to spend large parts of their days in the back and forth of scheduling interviews.
- Some of the new systems can contact references, answer questions about benefits using chatbots, and send along training modules to newly hired employees.
Guess The speaker
Madeline Laurano, founder of Aptitude Research, a firm based in Boston: “The new systems are used most often for high turnover hourly jobs like fast-food worker, phone representative or warehouse employee.”
Nicky Hancock, a managing director for Alexander Mann Solutions: “The face-to-face interviews don’t really work that well because there is unconscious bias, and some people may not know how to do an interview well.”
Kevin Parker, chief executive and chairman of HireVue, a firm based in Utah: “Sixty percent of the nearly five million interviews conducted so far this year using his company’s video recording software were completed after work hours.”
Sofia Tobón, a college junior, has applied for 15 banking internships this year, and most required her to do a recorded interview: “It feels weird… With a person, she can receive cues on how things are going, like encouraging nods or requests for details.”
Frida Polli, one of the founders of Pymetrics and a former academic scientist: “They reduce bias in hiring because they evaluate personal qualities that applicants can possess without attending elite colleges or fitting into a preconceived image of what a ‘good’ candidate looks like.”
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