Job interviews are not a walk in the park. And while you might think that this is the case for only the interviewees, then you are partially right. For both parties involved, job interviews are harrowing and not fun at all. The interviewers have left all their duties and tightly packed schedules to accommodate the interviews, match the resume to the person, and find out who is the perfect fit for the job.
For the interviewees, they have to balance between what to do right, what to say, how to be interesting and at the same time not too playful. They have to be a combination of personalities and project someone who is the perfect fit for the post they’re interviewing for. These interviews will cost the interviewees transportation to the location and will cost the interviewers valuable time.
Artificial intelligence has been used as the first stage filter for resumes for interviews. It has been used for quite some time, albeit with less enthusiasm by users, even though its reputation for the job is very bad.
You would just think that a machine would be neutral and not be having any problems with coming off as misogynistic. But AI has managed to be imposing digital misogyny and bigotry. Virtual reality and AI, given the chance and used right, can play an important part in making sure your company recruits the best person for the job, regardless of prejudices that could be piled up against the person.
Harvard Business School released findings of a study on who is more racist than the other and found out that sadly, white people are inherently racist towards other races and people with differences from them. Some people who are not white admitted to being hired more when they used a white version of themselves and their names.
Research also showed that while women will apply to jobs that 100% meet the requirements, men will apply to jobs that they are 60% qualified for. But if the recruiters are male, they will most likely go for the male than the female candidates.
Western society has a representation of what they believe to be a perfect or normal person. That means if you are white, male, heterosexual, rich, attractive, and nondisabled then you qualify for the top of the pyramid of their beliefs.
But if you are of any other race but white, disabled, homosexual, et cetera means that for every quality that isn’t fitting with their idea of a normal person, the far you are from securing a job you want. If you are a woman with children you are also shunned because they say you will not give the job your full attention as your mind will be thinking of your children as the natural caregiver that you are. Typical societal misogyny at its best.
Subconsciously, most people have been designed with this kind of thinking in mind, therefore, having a bias against all those that don’t fit in the boxes labeled for them.
The misogynistic Artificial intelligence
Again, a robot or a machine cannot be prejudiced against anyone. It doesn’t possess emotions and isn’t burdened by Western society. In this case, though it is the opposite. AI is very prejudiced but we cannot blame it for that. It is well known that its neutrality depends on the dataset it uses for its learning process and also the level of understanding and mindset of the programmers.
Virtual reality difference
On its own, AI has been let down and failed to perform as one would expect it to. But if you bring in virtual reality and let them work together, they can no doubt turn the tide around. There is a training model for virtual reality, where the candidate can test themselves in a virtual reality scenario with avatars that have randomized names. In this case, the avatars allow the candidates to present in a way they’re comfortable with and the way they like.
Developing this Interview model is already underway in some companies, where the AI acts as the recruiter and interviewers use it to get rid of their societal prejudices and candidates use it to improve their interview skills.
These practices also help the candidates as they will get feedback on where they did wrong and right so that they can do better in their next interviews. It also helps candidates with their confidence.
What about using virtual reality for a real-time interview?
Some companies are designing a combination of AI and virtual reality to use for a real, live interview as the demand for virtual reality technology is growing rapidly everywhere.
Virtual reality can be used in many ways when it comes to recruitment. Some of the ways are:
- Hiring and managing hybrid/remote workers
Virtual reality can be used to hire and manage workers. VR is an effective way of making interactions and communication between co-workers and business leaders seamless.
Using VR, remote workers can report for duty, attend meetings and do all that can be done in the physical location just as easily. Apart from that, it helps with bringing about a cohesive work environment for both remote and in-person workers.
- Interviewing candidates
At first, usage of this functionality of the VR was because of emergencies, but as a lot of companies and their personnel are getting used to the technology, VR has become a tool for interviewing candidates.
The good thing about virtual reality Interviewing-is that distance has ceased to be a barrier. You can interview or get interviewed anywhere in the world, without any ensuing problems.
The benefit of this is that you can read your candidate’s body language easier on VR and that you can create a rapport with them faster than in face-to-face interviews.
- Employee training
Remote employees also need training. They will need your expertise and skill as they start working for and with you.
The benefits of this virtual reality training are that you can save money and steer clear of making mistakes. Mistakes that can be made in VR wouldn’t cost anything as much as those made in person.
Conclusion
Virtual reality is a spectacular tool to use for recruitment processes. It will help not only the employer but also the candidates and eventually the employees.
