How to Get Hired When AI Does the Screening

[00:00:03] Welcome to the Quick Take Podcast, the show where you get targeted advice and coaching for executives by executives. I'm Susie Tomenchok. And I'm James Capps. Give us 15 minutes and we'll give you three secrets to address the complex topic of issues that are challenging executives like you today. Hey there, welcome to Quick Take. Hey, what a surprise. I didn't see you there. Hi, hello. I'm Susie. Hello. This is James. I'm James.

[00:00:32] We are in a Quick Take. Our outtake of our Quick Take is going to be about AI and how to leverage it for hiring. And who else knows where this conversation will go? That's right. So tee us up and then I'll comment too.

[00:00:50] Well, I think that a lot of people are asking me about the job market and what it is, you know, what's it like and how do you get an interview? How do you interview? How do you get an offer where AI is so heavily involved?

[00:01:06] If I see, you know, I've seen a hundred videos of people being interviewed on screen with their phone sitting right in front of them, the phone listening to the interview, ask the questions, interviewee phone is running an app to answer the question in real time. And then they provide the answer. So people know when it's not really you. I'm reading this right now. So, okay. No, not really. I know.

[00:01:33] But I feel like even when you read something, I remember getting off the stage one time and I had looked at the teleprompter and I was like, I came across really well. And then I watched the video and I'm like, oh, it was so bad. Like it's not really. So I think when you don't answer from who you are, it doesn't build trust. There's something that they can't put their finger on. I agree with that. And so it's not just the way you read it.

[00:02:00] It's also, you have to, I saw this interview with Anne Hathaway. Look at that. I thought of something when she first, when she was like 14, she interviewed and the producer goes, there's life in her eyes. If there's not life in your eyes. And I feel like there's something real about that when you're interviewing is to be really you. I don't disagree with that. I think that's important. I think, you know, I'm going to take a technology leadership lens on it. And if you're interviewing for a technology person, there's usually multiple interviews that occur.

[00:02:30] One is, is there life in your eyes? Is there energy? Is there rapport? A hundred percent. You cannot fake that. That's easy to step on a mile away. But if somebody wants you to describe the three fundamentals of AWS's storage infrastructure. That's fair. That's not. There's no life in my eyes when you ask that question. In fact, I actually die a little bit when you ask that question. So to have that answer pop in front of me is a big deal. So is it good?

[00:03:00] Are you advocating for having people use it? Okay. No, I guess what I'm saying is this is a world we live in. And I guess first and foremost, I think it's unavoidable. Right. We were no longer in a world where, where, what if that happened? You know, it happens. And we're no longer in a world where, what if somebody's resume was written completely by AI? You're an idiot if your resume isn't written by an idiot. Yeah. So we have these tools.

[00:03:28] And so let's talk about the bottom line in this entire conversation is how do I get, A, get the job? Or how do I get the candidate that will do the job? Yeah. And we need to talk about where AI fits into that. And I think when, I think, you know, the easiest lens first is to how to land the job in a world where AI exists. I guess I think about how I use AI when I'm going to write a blog, when I'm going to record a podcast and I want to know.

[00:03:56] I will write the outline of what I want to do. I'll put it in AI and then it just helps me accelerate my thought process. And then I still rewrite it. And that's what I use. And I think that's the best practice for writing your resume, for sure. Certainly accelerating your writing process is not a bad thing. You know, some of us do that on a regular basis, writing. They do that on a regular basis and some don't. And so it's a muscle that you may or may not have.

[00:04:25] Using AI for that is, I think, acceptable. I think the fact is it cannot be the final method. It can be a starting place, but you need to go in and make that your own. And I think that that's a good first point to take away is, you know, AI can't be the last thing that touches your resume. It can be the first. Let's talk about, first of all, getting the interview and then going to the interview. Sure.

[00:04:52] And so I think it's such a strong tool, you know, with so much automation that happens in the selected process of getting a candidate in the door. There's a lot of different angles you can take and you can even ask AI, how to, you know, what do I need to highlight here? And think about what is going to be the differentiator for you on paper. And I think that's the first one. And I think the second one is, then when you're in front of people, how do you leverage AI?

[00:05:20] But then when do you not leverage it? Because sometimes it makes you inhuman. Yeah. The first one I think is the hardest or the most relevant, you know, I guess you got to get in the door. You know, it is very easy and you probably should take your resume and have AI rewrite your resume for that job description. Right. So I don't even have to think about how do I highlight the terms that they're looking for.

[00:05:46] And that's just cheating the system because all you're doing there is you're ensuring that the software they're using, you're making sure your AI is as good as their AI, which is fine. And if all it is is a pattern matching of qualities, then that's the best you can do. Right. If the hiring company is using a low grade tool that's just simply making sure the key terms are found, then that's what you do. You know, you fight a crappy system with a crappy tool.

[00:06:16] And I think that's OK. I would say another way, let's look at the old fashioned way, too. I know we're talking mostly about AI, but when you know you want in a certain company, use your network, leverage your network and say who they know. And then pull in as much intel about how do you get your foot in the door? How do you get your resume noticed?

[00:06:37] Because if you're really thoughtful about where you want to land next, you really need to think about what are some other ways in that you can. Well, it just can't be the resume. Yeah, absolutely right. I think that's fair. You know, let's not rely on the resume exclusively. Use your network. Use your resume as the door, you know, the final door element, whatever that means, door nail or whatever. Close the door last.

[00:07:04] You know, the other thing that I think is so critical is, you know, oftentimes it's easy to match the resume patterns, match the requirements. But I also think it's important for you to highlight things on your resume that AI will never do. And while they sometimes, when you write a resume or write a JD, you may highlight them. It's great when I'm reading a resume and people highlight things that I know I need but didn't think to write down.

[00:07:32] Like team building, consensus building, growing relationships, fostering trust. Those are the things that only a person can do. And while I can have AI or gen AI or tools or software do things, those things for now are really the domain of a human.

[00:07:53] And so I think it's important that, you know, the next step to matching your resume with the requirements of the JD is to increase the amount of human elements in your resume to highlight what else you can bring to the table. Yeah. And those are really soft skills. And I want to take it to the conversation. Because at the executive level, it really, it should, that you have a resume, but really it is the relationships and then how you show yourself once you're in front of somebody else.

[00:08:23] And those soft skills, like you said, I'm a team builder. I communicate really well. I build influence. I build relationships. And the other one I would say that's so important that we don't think about is I make it easy for you to manage me or to lead me. Yeah. I'm going to make your job easier. And so what you want to do is make sure that whoever you're in front of, show them that energy. People make decisions in the first couple minutes.

[00:08:51] So what you want to do is just build the trust. But also really, to your point about soft skills, those things are the thing that are differentiation and so important to leadership. Totally agree. You know, I think that so often you hear that companies are looking for a specific skill set. They need to have banking experience. They need to have cable experience. They need to have legal. It would be great if they knew, you know, ad agency words. You know what the reality is, is all that can be taught.

[00:09:21] The things that can't be taught are these soft skills. And so, yes, 10 years in video engineering or video development or video production will get you past the maybe the AI tool. But that's not going to get you the job. Yeah. It's those soft skills. That's going to get you the job. Those are the things, the ability to do that. And highlighting those early on in the process is super important. And this is probably a really popular question now.

[00:09:49] How are you planning as an executive to use AI? And I would have a real philosophy around that to say, you know, these are the ways I do it in terms of my communication. This is the way that I'll use it with the team to make sure that we can accelerate. And then from a business strategy perspective, these are the things that I'm already thinking about within this position that I'm looking to put in place or experiment with or innovate with.

[00:10:18] And I think those are really key factors to your point about have an opinion about AI. Don't be afraid of it, but have an opinion on how you leverage it now and how do you leverage it in the future. Yeah, I think that's great. And I think that, you know, industry relevant research is huge there. You know, certainly banking has a radically different perspective on AI than perhaps, you know, digital advertising or content generation.

[00:10:45] I think the reality of this, however, though, is, you know, I think a good piece of advice, for example, is you don't want to go into a law firm, perhaps, and pretend you have 20 years of legal experience. That that is the core area of going in and saying, you know, how AI should be used in an industry. Because there is no one that has that answer. And so while somebody may ask you about AI, and you may and probably should have at least an informed opinion.

[00:11:13] And the next thing out of your mouth is should ask the interviewer about their opinion and how their company and their industry is thinking about it. Because everybody is thinking about it. Everybody is revving their policy. It is an evolving amorphic beast right now. And you're not only being educated is huge, but also being inquisitive and trying to understand is important as well. I think that's so important. And here's an example.

[00:11:41] I had a coffee with a friend yesterday who is a CTO looking for a new role. And we were talking about he is interviewing with a finance group. And he came from a very casual industry. And he looked at their suits and what they wear and stuff on the website. And he said, oh, man, I need to dress different. And it's not like people judge you. But sometimes those things matter.

[00:12:07] And the industry piece of it may be a shift that you need to consider. And the same thing is with AI. It's kind of like understanding what is their culture around this. And I love that curiosity idea. The curiosity. Because sometimes when you ask, and I said this to him too, when you ask a good question that makes somebody think, they think you're smart. Oh, absolutely. And if you ask them a good question, that's a good question. That's not one that AI probably gives you. Yep.

[00:12:36] But if you ask something like that out of curiosity, you're going to get a wealth of knowledge from them. But also, you're going to make an impression. Totally agree. Yeah, I love that idea. You know, be prepared with good questions, I think, is always a good recommendation. And, you know, one thing that I'm seeing more people try now is also to do AI mock interviews.

[00:13:02] Meaning with a mock interviewer so you can be prepared for those types of questions. You know, I think that's an interesting way to go about doing that. And I think there's no shame in saying that I prepared for this interview by doing three mock interviews with an AI application. Because that shows your not only willingness to learn, but also that you're trying using this technology.

[00:13:27] I'd bet 50 bucks that if you are in an interview and you tell the recruiter, the head of HR, the hiring manager you did that, you will shock them that that can be done. And this is not, all of this is evolving. The cool tools I was talking about six weeks ago, I played with one the other day and laughed how stupid it was. Things are changing so quickly. So I think that, you know, even using those tools like that to prep for the interview is an interesting thing. I think so too.

[00:13:57] And also just that transparency. Say I want to be really ready and this is what I did. I think there's that human aspect when you're not trying to shy away from it and hide it. It's really important to say, hey, this is something that's going on. We all need to embrace it. And this is how I did it. Good things to think about. We kind of took a lot of turns there about AI, but I think it's relevant to our audience to think about this from the start of a job to interviewing with it and how you want to show up.

[00:14:26] And then what is your philosophy around it? Yep. That's a multi-headed hydra for sure. Thanks, James. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Quick Take, where we talk about the questions that are on the minds of executives everywhere. Connect with us and share what's on your mind. You can find us on LinkedIn, YouTube, or whatever nerdy place on the internet you find your podcasts. All the links you really need are in the show notes.