Where Automated Job Interviews Fall Short

Research shows that these systems are often discriminatory, alienating, and deeply stressful for job seekers.

by

and

Ernesto Oyarbide-Magaña

by

and

Ernesto Oyarbide-Magaña

January 27, 2022

HBR Staff/Poike/Getty Images

Summary.

More and more companies are using automated interviews, particularly for hiring younger workers. But what effect is this technology having on job seekers — and how can HR departments and technology companies improve on the interview experience? This early research points to several flaws in the interview process that leads young job seekers, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, to become emotionally and cognitively exhausted, and offers tips for creating a more meaningful (and more human) interaction between job candidates, technology, and hiring managers.

The use of artificial intelligence in HR processes is a new, and likely unstoppable, trend. In recruitment, up to 86% of employers use job interviews mediated by technology, a growing portion of which are automated video interviews (AVIs).

Zahira Jaser, PhD, is aassociate professor at the University of Sussex Business School, the Director of the Sussex MBA, and associate fellow of Digital Futures at Work Research Centre. Her work focuses on how managers bridge multilevel relationships in organizations and make hierarchies more fluid. She is the sole editor of The Connecting Leader: Serving Concurrently as a Leader and a Follower (IAP) and a board member of the journal Leadership. For updates, follow Zahira on LinkedIn, Twitter, or here.
Dimitra Petrakaki is professor of Technology and Organization at the University of Sussex Business School and co-Investigator of the ESRC-funded Digital Futures at Work Research Centre. Her work focuses on the implications of the introduction of digital technology for the organization of work. She is the associated editor of the Information Systems Journal and editorial board member of the journals Work, Employment & Society and New Technology, Work & Employment.
Rachel Starr is part of the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis research group at Birkbeck University of London. Her research is about the phenomenology of aesthetic encountering. She is interested in how people experience looking at art, and the impact of this experience on their feelings.
Ernesto Oyarbide-Magaña is a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Oxford. He currently teaches at the Blavatnik School of Government’s Public Leaders Programme. He has contributed to projects in the fields of diplomatic history, transnational governance and the prevention of algorithmic bias and digital misinformation.

Where Automated Job Interviews Fall Short

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