In the last few years, we’ve seen huge shifts in how data can enable organizations to hire better, faster, and more consistently at scale. But while we have technology to automate other key hiring tasks, we’ve barely scratched the surface of its potential when it comes to what happens in the interview room.

That’s because the interview process will always be a uniquely human experience that relies on human decision-making at its core — one that using data and AI can complement, but never replace. When done well, interviews can be your differentiator in a competitive market for quality candidates. The key is knowing how to do them well — and empowering humans with the data and insights they need to make better decisions for every candidate, every time.

That’s where Interview Intelligence comes in.

What do we mean by Interview Intelligence?

In the last few years, data has become an increasingly indispensable tool in recruitment. Research shows that when used well, AI can positively impact the hiring process by improving diversity and increasing efficiency.

It allows recruiters to automate high-volume manual tasks, such as scheduling assessments and interviews, and triggering email flows to nurture candidate experience. In busy hiring teams, it’s often an attractive solution that allows for better process management at scale, removing the operational stumbling blocks that slow down hiring.

Most of these processes are repeatable and can be templated — and they don’t require human input to deliver the desired results. But the candidate interview isn’t a repeatable process — in fact, it’s the most differentiated part of the hiring process. We can’t automate it by using technology in the same way, because humans, and human decision-making, are a central part of the process.

In a candidate interview, we need people, not machines, to evaluate how a candidate will work best in a creative and collaborative environment. We have an instinctive understanding of the intangible human components of a great working relationship — and we collect data on how they think, work, and collaborate.

All of these uniquely human touchpoints are informed by how we interact with and experience other people — and we can’t replicate this knowledge and adaptive learning mechanism in the same way using technology.

Instead of relying on AI for our decision-making mechanism when interviewing, we can use it to amplify the humanness of the hiring process. When deployed effectively, Interview Intelligence can become a data-driven partner for hiring teams that helps them make great decisions every time, by delivering the insights that build a more efficient, consistent, and equitable process.

How Interview Intelligence can help you hire faster, better and more equitably

Implementing Interview Intelligence as part of your hiring strategy can have a significant impact on the speed, fairness, and rigor of your interview process, improving your time-to-hire, candidate experience, and the quality of your training program.

Power coaching with tailored feedback and insights

Getting to better, quicker decisions means equipping your team with the ability to learn where they can make proactive improvements on their interview technique.

However, training your interviewers to the same standard becomes challenging at scale, particularly when need outstrips capacity. Research also shows that successful knowledge transfer relies on a number of factors, including individual motivation, learning needs, and situational characteristics, like how your organization motivates employees to learn.

This is why even though all of your interviewers receive the same training, they’re unlikely to internalize it or demonstrate their learning in exactly the same way.

But when you use data to supplement interviewer training, it can help interviewers learn more efficiently by delivering specific, contextual feedback based on their behaviors in the interview room. It can also spot patterns in their habits or interview behaviors over time that are contributing to decreased rigor, fairness, or consistency.

As a result, it’s a more efficient way of delivering training and vital feedback at scale. Your interviewers only get the feedback that’s personalized to them when they need it most.

Lead more equitable interviews with data that highlights bias

All humans have innate biases. Biases can be helpful, because they help us make sense of our environment and make decisions based on our knowledge and experiences.

But bias has no place in the interview process. Studies show that in the interview room, gut feel and bias can impact decision-making significantly. When your interviews are inconsistent, lack rigor, or led by an untrained interviewer, bias is even more likely to impact your decision. And when bias infiltrates your decision-making process, it can decrease your quality of hire — especially if affinity bias comes into play.

This is exactly why we advocate for using Interview Intelligence as a critical part of reducing bias in the human part of your hiring process, rather than implementing it to replace your decision-making process.

However, we can’t always spot our own biases — especially when they exist at a subconscious level. Implementing Interview Intelligence can help you highlight any pervasive inconsistencies and patterns in your interview approach that are either contributing to bias, or leading to inconsistent interviews.

By analyzing how many questions your interviewers ask, the consistency of their technique and your candidates’ share of voice, you can identify these unconscious biases, standardize your interview process with coaching, and make decisions based on evidence, not gut feel.

Optimize your candidate experience with in-depth data on rigor, and consistency

Your interview process is often a candidate’s first experience of your organization. And while you’re asking the questions that help you make a decision on how they’ll add to your company, they’ll be doing the same for you based on the experience you provide.

Candidate experience is more than how you ‘sell’ your brand to a candidate and make them excited to work for you. It’s about the human experience you provide, and the consideration you give for your candidates during the whole process.

But hiring trends show that candidates are becoming increasingly likely to decline an offer. Among the top reasons, one shows up time and time again: A poor job interview.

According to a 2019 PwC report, almost half of the candidates surveyed have turned down an offer due to a bad recruiting experience. Research reports that candidates are more likely to feel they’re being evaluated fairly when an interview has a high level of structure and rigor. Trained interviewers are more likely to lead a high-rigor interview. Plus, a recent report shows that candidates consider well-prepared interviewers as a key part of a good candidate experience.

All of these issues are solvable with the right data. Integrating Interview Intelligence means you can collect critical data on your interview length, timeliness, and interviewers’ likelihood of interrupting the candidate, as well as evaluate your rigor to see how many questions your interviewers ask.

This data will help you pinpoint the areas of your interview process that could be harming your candidate experience, meaning you can take proactive steps that improve candidate acceptance rates for the long-term.

Interview Intelligence empowers hiring teams with the data to make better decisions

The interview process is an innately human part of hiring — and as talent acquisition becomes more tech-enabled, it’s something that we’re keen to preserve.

However, when implemented effectively, Interview Intelligence can supercharge your hiring process by equipping your interviewers with the insights they need to improve their skills with targeted coaching and feedback. And this data-driven approach adds up to big wins for your interview efficiency, consistency and fairness that translate into faster time-to-hire and improved offer acceptance rates.