Game face at the ready? You’re going to need it!

Science tells us that smiling makes us more attractive, look younger and feel good about ourselves. That’s certainly put a smile on my face.

But what if I told you flashing those pearly whites could also be good for your career? Yep, a smile has been proven to make you look more confident and appear more successful. So, could it be the key to impressing potential bosses at a job interview or perhaps even increasing your chances of being promoted?

Ask one of the growing number of companies using artificial intelligence (AI) as part of the recruitment process; the answer is a unanimous ‘yes’.

But I can’t help but wonder how comfortable human jobseekers are with the whole process. I mean, did you know your application will often be approved by a series of machines before a human will even look at it? Then there’s the tracking systems checking for keywords in your application, and the chatbots asking you some introductory questions. And that’s before you factor in the predictive AI apps that some companies are using to screen you as a candidate.

Next time you go for a job, you need to remember it’s not just what you’re saying that matters – it’s what those eyebrows are doing, too! By breaking down your words, voice, and facial expressions with AI, recruiters can get a more accurate picture of whether your personality is a good fit for a particular role.

Long face, baby face, smiley face, poker face, resting bitch face – whatever your natural look, the idea is that a machine will see what a human might miss.

The other thing to bear in mind is AI’s ability to determine truthfulness. How many people can honestly say they’ve never lied during a job interview? Even if you haven’t told an out-and-out porky, the majority have been creative with the truth at some point. So my question is, would your interview technique change if you knew a machine was assessing the honesty of your answers?

Whatever your views about man versus robot, there are advantages to this approach. For one, it’s convenient. Candidates can be interviewed wherever and whenever they want, and recruiters can review interviews depending on their schedules.

It also makes steps to avoid unconscious bias – something that human recruiters, however well intentioned, are often guilty of.

Which all sounds great – especially to someone like me who has a lot of time for AI. But not everyone agrees.

For some, the idea of using of AI in recruitment is still a bit too creepy. And I accept a machine ‘reading’ your face to determine job suitability is a little weird – I mean, what if you’ve got a cold that day and keep blowing your nose? Or what if you try to overcompensate and end up with a fake smile that’s worse than Chandler in Friends? Is it a case of Computer Says No?

And remember, when Amazon started working on an automated hiring tool back in 2014, they ended up creating a recruiting engine that didn’t like women? That takes the workplace gender divide to a whole new level.

At Revoco, we like to stick to the human touch – getting to know candidates face to face and finding out what makes them tick is still one of the best parts of job for me. AI for recruitment? I’m not sure we’re there yet.