Reference no: EM133266774

The Interview Cheat: How Candidates Might Cheat and Companies Can Prepare Challenger, Gray and Christmas Inc.

Employers are currently attempting to attract talent in a tight labor market with a significant skills shortage. While jobs are abundant, employers need to be vigilant during the interview process as some job candidates may not be who they seem during phone interviews or online skills assessments. Pre-selection is especially helpful when hiring for positions that require intense technical skills or a highly analytical mindset. It is a waste of resources to interview someone with only rudimentary coding skills when advanced coding skills are required.

A quick Google search revealed numerous posts about cheating on technical phone interviews, with varying levels of support from commenters. Even in jobs that do not require high levels of technical knowledge, job seekers may lie about their achievements and abilities. Obviously, these instances have ethical implications, but practically speaking, candidates who lie in this manner will be discovered pretty quickly. When the hiring authority meets you in person to assess your abilities or gives you your first assignment, he or she will clearly see you misrepresented yourself. The problem comes when companies send these skills assessments to a candidate as a screening tool, and someone more experienced completes them instead or online tools are used when the instructions clearly stated not to do so.

How to Prevent Cheating
There is no sure-fire way to prevent cheating in pre-screening interviews. As technology progresses, candidates are becoming more innovative in how they get themselves past the computer and into an interview with a real person. But there are ways to minimize the cheating.

• Require pre-screening interviews be filmed or conducted over video conferencing software. That way, hiring managers will know exactly with whom they are speaking and ensure all rules are followed.
• Consider requiring pre-screening tests be done in person to ensure accuracy.
• Include someone with the same or similar skills desired for the candidate during the interview process. For example, if you are hiring for a front-end developer, includesomeone in your organization who also has some of those skills to ensure the hiring authority understands the technical jargon and accomplishments presented.
• Examine how candidates are recruited. "Recruitment is a top concern for most companies and their HR departments. Candidates who come with a referral from someone who currently works at the company are highly regarded. Other hiring authorities use trusted sources, like alumni departments or placement companies," said Challenger

Describe some of the implications for the employee selection process if some candidates are cheating during online interviews. Also, critically evaluate the suggestions in the article that address the prevention of cheating. The length should be about 150 w ords.