Job Interview. Is this how it works now?

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My nephew has been more-or-less out of the job market since 2020 thanks to a combination of move to a new city, failed love, and the plague. He’s driven for Uber and done some other stuff, but nothing of what you’d call economic significance.

Before 2020 he was in sales, selling “lead generation” for lawyers, doctors, etc and by all reports was good at it. Now he wants to head back to the business world, so he gets a job interview with a major, Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company.

No, it will not be in person. The company sends you to a website, and a pre-recorded person asks a list of preselected questions. You start the person, listen to the question, stop the tape of him, give your answer (via cell phone camera), and then start the tape and get question #2, and so on.

No possibility of interaction. No follow-up to anything. No chemistry. No nothing, so far as I can see.

Is this really an effective way to screen, especially for a sales position (selling supplies to hospitals.)?

I know I belong in the OFC, but seriously?

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I have no idea if that’s the new normal, but it sounds horrible.

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Human HR people have become a “cost to be minimized”? Maybe the company has an AI system that scores the answers? Implicit is the bit that people without a cell phone are excluded from consideration.

I laff every time I receive snailmail advertising that says “scan this QR code to see our offer”, because I have no means of “scanning a QR code”, so the company mailing me that piece was a complete waste of their time and money.

Steve

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4

My niece had a similar experience while looking for your typical part time college job. She thought it was a little strange and off putting.

I can see an initial FaceTime interview to narrow down the field, would save on time, travel, etc. but definitely not as the whole process.

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5

I never use QR codes. Even in restaurants. No, I won’t scan the QR code to see a menu, just find me a printed menu.

QR codes are too easy for scammers to manipulate.

I’m paranoid about IT security AND a founding member of the GOMOFC (although being a Grumpy Old Man might be redundant to being in the OFC).

Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get me.

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6

That’s actually pretty tame. It’s a new world out there for job interviews.

intercst

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It is a terrible way to screen. Most companies aren’t particularly good at hiring because there is usually a gate keeper between the applicant and the person actually doing the hiring. All too often the gatekeeper is some drone who doesn’t understand what the job is actually about.

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It’s effective for the applicants - an indicator of a company you really, really don’t want to work for.

“Hackable”. You could get a cheat code list of every word the AI bot video reader is filtering for (resume checker), and just read each word.

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Yup. Undoubtedly the “JCs” buy the AI package that scans the responses to the canned “interview”, so the “correct” answers, that will work for any company that buys that package, would work. unless…the AI package uses biometric characteristics (minus one brownie point for eyes too close together, plus one brownie point for high forehead, minus one brownie point for nose too wide) Then having the “correct” verbal responses will not be enough.

Steve

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