Applicants at banks in the US are being interviewed by computer. Difficult customers appear on a computer screen as part of a 20-minute automated job interview. The candidate is tested on skills such as giving change, general sales techniques and keeping cool in tense situations. And only after they have passed the computer interview do candidates qualify for a real face-to-face interview. Great Western Bank, based in Chatsworth, California, says that the test demonstrates more about applicants than any traditional job interview could do. The idea is that everyone has to undergo the same experience, so it is fairer to applicants, reports Wall Street Journal. And managers say it is more efficient because the computer weeds out underqualified people. As the computer is so selective, it cuts the high turnover among tellers, saving both managers and trainers time. Computerised job tests developed by Wyoming-based Aspen Tree Software Inc, Utah-based Park City Group Inc and other companies are already in use for entry-level workers at a number of big companies such as Neiman Marcus, the Texas store for people with more money than sense, some Marriott hotels, and Walt Disney Co. Applicants are often more likely to tell the truth to a computer than to real people, presumed to be because computers are not judgemental. And the computers, in turn, can be sneaky. If an applicant takes longer than average to answer a question like ‘Have you ever been terminated for stealing?’ the computer will tell a human interviewer to probe more deeply. Great Western executives say that people hired by the program were 26% less likely to quit or be fired within 90 days of hiring. The computer tells applicants what the job really involves, something a candidate might be reluctant to ask a person for fear of appearing negative. The computer doesn’t understand what applicants say, although it records their comments to be evaluated later. Later, a bank official listens to the recorded interviews and gives applicants points for maintaining a friendly tone of voice, for apologising, and for promising to solve the customer’s problem.
