Applying for a job is no small task. You spend hours designing a resume, compiling references, and writing a cover letter. Depending on the position, you might have multiple variants of these materials, slightly tweaking the content for better alignment to the required skillsets. And when you finally hit "submit", you hope for the best and learn what to improve when things don't go as planned. If only I could get in front of the hiring manager, then I'll have my shot at landing this job!
For most of you, this entire process is humanistic and personal, which is why I will NEVER use an automated candidate screening service as a hiring manager. I'm not referring to the basic yes/no criteria such as you living in another city when the job requires you on-site and therefore auto-rejects you, but rather the ambiguous and often biased artificial intelligence algorithms that decide your fate. Being rejected by a person is disappointing but empathetic. Being rejected by an algorithm is humiliating and hollow.
I want that human interaction to better understand the intrisic motivations of everyone, the originality as to why they want the job in play. The answer could be simple – I just want to make more money – or it could be more nuanced. Some of the best hires I've made would've been rejected strictly on the merits of their resume, but had a compelling story conveyed in their cover letters and phone screenings. Or perhaps their words were tame relative to their body language and subtle facial expressions that silently shouted, "This job excites me more than anything, and I'm going to crush it if you hire me!"
But Jason, what if you have hundreds of applicants? Surely you're not saying you want to manually review every single one? Wouldn't an algorithm that filters the list down be beneficial to you?
Nope. I don't want a predictive algorithm anywhere near this process. It's not that I have a bias against algorithms – hell, the word Data Science is in my actual job title – but rather that I believe in using the right tool for the right job at the right time. And I don't believe machine learning models hold legitimacy in the types of roles I hire for the size of the company I work for. Yes, sometimes that means reviewing hundreds of applications, and I'm ok with that. I enjoy it. That use of my time is a feature, not a bug.
For most of you, this entire process is humanistic and personal, which is why I will NEVER use an automated candidate screening service as a hiring manager. I'm not referring to the basic yes/no criteria such as you living in another city when the job requires you on-site and therefore auto-rejects you, but rather the ambiguous and often biased artificial intelligence algorithms that decide your fate. Being rejected by a person is disappointing but empathetic. Being rejected by an algorithm is humiliating and hollow.
I want that human interaction to better understand the intrisic motivations of everyone, the originality as to why they want the job in play. The answer could be simple – I just want to make more money – or it could be more nuanced. Some of the best hires I've made would've been rejected strictly on the merits of their resume, but had a compelling story conveyed in their cover letters and phone screenings. Or perhaps their words were tame relative to their body language and subtle facial expressions that silently shouted, "This job excites me more than anything, and I'm going to crush it if you hire me!"
But Jason, what if you have hundreds of applicants? Surely you're not saying you want to manually review every single one? Wouldn't an algorithm that filters the list down be beneficial to you?
Nope. I don't want a predictive algorithm anywhere near this process. It's not that I have a bias against algorithms – hell, the word Data Science is in my actual job title – but rather that I believe in using the right tool for the right job at the right time. And I don't believe machine learning models hold legitimacy in the types of roles I hire for the size of the company I work for. Yes, sometimes that means reviewing hundreds of applications, and I'm ok with that. I enjoy it. That use of my time is a feature, not a bug.