For decades, the job interview has been the mysterious “black box” of the recruitment process. A place within four walls, where no one really knows what happens, or how hiring decisions are being made. But not anymore. Introducing Tengai, the social job interview robot that marries 15-years of experience in unbiased recruitment with the latest AI-technology. This hybrid recruitment tool conducts scientific and objective job interviews to find better-matched candidates. Tengai mitigates bias, creates a more fair recruitment process, and delivers structured job interview data.
Tengai Takes Bias Out of the Job Interview
Today, there are several diversity and inclusion softwares that help assess blind resumes. Most recruiters and hiring managers are aware that the job interview is the part of the recruitment process with the most bias. But up until now, there haven’t been any objective tools to change this. Which makes the job interview a risky step in the recruitment funnel. For example, did you know?
- 33 % decide who to hire within 90 seconds after meeting a candidate
- 55 % decide who not to hire already at the first handshake
- 40 % might reject a candidate if they don’t like the way they smile
- 71 % have rejected a candidate based on their tattoos
For this reason, candidates’ clothes, style of walking, make-up, tone of voice, and how they act before the interview are all factors that might ruin their chances for a job. No matter how talented, well-educated and suited for the job they are.
“Studies show that even before the recruiter asks a single question about the candidate’s skills and competency, many already have perceived opinions that color their judgement.”
Developed from 15 Years of Experience
Tengai’s birthmother is TNG, is a progressive recruitment- and staffing agency in Sweden. TNG’s extensive experience in working with unbiased recruitment over the last 15 years has provided them with invaluable insights. Their knowledge in unbiased recruitment is now the backbone of the innovative recruitment tool Tengai Unbiased.
The insights coupled with the latest research in structured and unstructured interview processes, bias psychology and input from psychometric experts, all lie as the foundation. The core mission of TNG is to make the recruitment process as unbiased as possible and the introduction of Tengai is a big step in the right direction.
The Benefits of Tengai’s Job Interview
The social interview robot Tengai is a recruitment tool for companies and organizations that aim for diversity. With our HR-tech solution, you gain control over how hiring decisions are made during and after the job interview. By mitigating unconscious bias, the AI-robot creates a more objective and data-driven recruitment process.
Efficiently Meet More Candidates
By pushing subjectivity further down the recruitment funnel, Tengai makes it possible to include more candidates. No applicants will be turned away based on how they sound, look, their handshake, etc.
Fair, Equal and Unbiased
Tengai performs bias-free job interviews as she doesn’t see age, looks, or gender. The AI-robot treats all candidates equal, which creates an improved candidate experience.
More Honest Answers
A blind interview with Tengai brings more honest and sincere answers, according to the 76 % of test candidates who said so. Allowing for better matched candidates and higher retention rates.
More Time for Human Relations
Tengai will free up time for recruiters to really engage with candidates at the end of the recruitment funnel. Keeping the human relations where it’s needed the most.
Data-Driven Hiring Decisions
As Tengai screens for soft skills and personality traits, the D&I software and scoring tool deliver structured interview data. Giving you the chance to compare candidates fairly and make better hiring decisions.
More Diverse and Innovative Teams
By keeping bias out of the interview, the right candidates with the right competencies will surface. The end result will contribute to more diverse and efficient teams, with skills that can meet the challenges of today’s and tomorrow’s workplace.
Assisting Humans with Facts and Decision Making
Tengai will not replace recruiters, but rather assist recruiters and hiring managers in different stages of the recruitment process. The social robot will not only provide interview transcripts and structured data from the interview. It will also give suggestions on scoring for personality traits and soft skills. In other words, this TA-Tech tool will free up space so you can put more time and effort into the recruitment phases where the human elements are most important.
In addition, Tengai enhances the candidate experience, which will make your employer brand more credible and attractive to applicants. For example, all interviewees will receive a thank you email with their individual interview transcript and the quality score-card recruiters use to evaluate competencies.
“Candidates themselves actually say they give more honest answers to the robot compared to a recruiter.”
Social Robot with a Human Interface
Why Tengai is a physical robot, and not an online solution – such as a chatbot or a video assessment software?
It all comes down to the fundamentals of human beings and the user experience! The core foundation of a social robot is to be social. In other words, it allows the user to engage, get a response, which create a sense of shared experience and connection. That feeling would be very difficult to replicate in a video CV-interview or a voice-only interaction. By connecting with Tengai, candidates feel safer and can express themselves better, something our research also confirms during our test phase.
When comparing co-present robots, telepresence robots, avatars, and virtual agents the result were clear. Physical robots were more believable and perceived more positively, according to a recently published meta-study*.
Another reason is proximity. When a physical robot is sitting next to you in a room, we automatically apply the principles of human cognition. This means that a candidate will interpret the interaction with Tengai in a very similar way as that of when people interact with each other. This is also reflected in our tests so far. The physical presence makes a big difference, which many studies show (for example in learning scenarios). Screens, like in video interviews, can also suffer from the Mona Lisa effect. Hightening the risk to make the job seeker feel insecure since the agent either has to look at everyone or nobody in the room.
* Li, J. (2015). The benefit of being physically present: International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 77, 23-37.