More and more, companies are using artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic tools to screen resumes and applicants, contact potential hires, conduct video interviews, and even make decisions on whom to hire or promote.
A study conducted by Harvard Business School in 2021 found that 99% of Fortune 500 companies use an AI applicant tracking system for hiring. These systems have only gotten more comprehensive over the past few years and are now widespread across industries, including the fast food, warehouse and construction, banking and finance, technology, and pharmaceutical industries.
The first step to understanding these processes—and determining whether you were discriminated against by AI—is understanding whether the application you filled out used AI or algorithmic processes. Sometimes, this is not obvious.
How Do I Know If AI Is Part of the Hiring Process?
Although companies use AI in various ways, AI hiring processes usually take place online.
If you applied for a position online, especially through a website or online portal, then the company may be using AI or algorithms to screen your application. This is particularly likely if the online application asked you to type your education, contact information, and previous employment history into individual boxes. It is possible that this was done to standardize applications to make AI screening easier.
Some companies also use AI personality tests, where the company will ask an applicant to conduct a screening through a third-party provider by providing an external link. These programs may seem like a game where the screen asks you to choose between two options, such as, “I like talking to people” or, “I prefer to work alone.” Tests may ask you how you would respond to hypothetical work scenarios: “Your team encounters unexpected technical difficulties that threaten the project timeline. How would you address the situation?”
As you answer the questions, the system is measuring your “personality fit” for the company or the position that you are applying for. While personality questions have long been a standard part of many job interviews, AI screening tests are different because algorithms, rather than individual interviewers, evaluate applicants’ answers.
Companies also use AI programs to conduct video interviews. The program may be set up to ask the applicant questions in text or by using a pre-recorded video of a recruiter. Then, the applicant records their video responses. The AI system will screen the video responses for both verbal and nonverbal information, including a person’s demeanor, speech, and physical surroundings.
These systems vary but the overarching connection is that they often feel impersonal because there is typically not a human involved on the employer side who contacts you.
Companies That Claim to Help Employers with AI
There are many different types of AI and algorithmic software. Here are some companies that have claimed to use AI or algorithmic tools to help employers with recruitment, hiring, and promotion:
- Workday
- Avature
- Cornerstone
- CareerBuilder
- Pymetrics or Harver
- Hirevue
- Moonhub
- Stafory
- Traitify by Paradox
If any of these companies sound familiar to you, you may have gone through a process that used AI.
Many companies use some sort of AI process in hiring or promotions. If you applied for a job or a promotion at one of these companies, it is possible that AI was involved.
How Will I Know If AI Was Used in the Hiring Process?
This is the hard part, and the real answer is that you may not know for sure. But if these platforms and processes sound familiar to you and you never talked to or interviewed directly with a person through the application process, it could be possible that the hiring decision was made by or influenced by an algorithmic program or AI.
AI tools are also used to decide promotions and in other employment-related decision- making. If you think that could apply to you, this series may also be helpful in determining whether you were discriminated against.
Next: In Part II, we will discuss how to know if the AI hiring decision was discriminatory.
Erica Roberts is an Associate at Sanford Heisler Sharp.