{"text":[[{"start":6.3,"text":"McKinsey’s assessments of aspiring junior consultants include a “problem-solving” interview that presents candidates with a typical client challenge. This might be how to reallocate and retrain beauty advisers for a cosmetics company, or whether a truckmaker should invest in electric fleets. "}],[{"start":22.3,"text":"“We are trying to mirror the problems they will encounter,” says Marie Christine Padberg, partner of talent attraction at the consultancy."}],[{"start":29.35,"text":"Since the end of last year, McKinsey has added a new component to the recruitment interviews: the use of AI. It wants candidates to show how they use it to research and analyse data, test and refine their ideas."}],[{"start":42.55,"text":"“We assess judgment and how they use it,” says Padberg. “We don’t test how to prompt or how many tools they know. It’s more, ‘what you do with the output, how do you engage the AI sources?’” Recently, the consultancy has encouraged candidates to bring their preferred AI tools, rather than use the in-house chatbot, Lilli. “It’s more interactive and less structured, which our candidates like.”"}],[{"start":68.3,"text":"For now, such AI tests in interviews are largely restricted to entry-level roles “where the vast majority of hiring happens”, adds Padberg. The company is also experimenting with using AI to do the first interview screen — to gather information such as a candidate’s availability, preferred location and salary expectations — for a small number of support roles."}],[{"start":91.1,"text":"AI tests, like those for new McKinsey consultants, are increasingly becoming part of interviews and challenges for candidates applying for non-technical roles. "}],[{"start":100.14999999999999,"text":"“Before using AI would be cheating; now [hiring managers] want to see it being used. Claude has been a real trigger,” says Ken Schumacher, founder of Ropes, a recruitment verification service."}],[{"start":112.39999999999999,"text":"“If you’d applied for a role three years ago, you’d be asked how to deal with a tricky team member,” adds Doug Rode, regional managing director for the UK and Ireland at recruiter Michael Page. Today, it is more likely to be “three ways you would use AI”. "}],[{"start":130.25,"text":"Rode observes that AI abilities are increasingly being assessed in interviews for management consultancy, strategy, research, legal and marketing roles, either by asking candidates to explain how they use it day to day, or through a practical test. This might include asking them to improve a poor prompt or talk through the use of AI in scenario-based questions. Recently, a candidate for an operations role in construction was required to show how they would use AI to improve efficiency in site management. "}],[{"start":158.85,"text":"“We’re having to talk to candidates about it,” says Rode. Some “feel uncomfortable” but he hopes more applicants see it as “an opportunity to show off their skills”."}],[{"start":169.2,"text":"The rise in AI screening reflects the expanding role of the new technology in working life and a recruitment process that uses AI to screen and interview candidates. Sander van ‘t Noordende, chief executive of Randstad, the recruitment firm, sees such interview tests as “part of a much broader workforce adaptation to AI”. “Demand for AI skills is accelerating rapidly, so it’s no surprise employers are now asking even non-technical candidates to demonstrate how they use AI in practice.”"}],[{"start":201.75,"text":"Sinohe Terrero, chief financial officer and chief operating officer at Envoy, the workplace management company, is also starting to use technology tests in interviews. He says it is not just about being comfortable with the technology but “a sign of intellectual curiosity”. “We have disqualified people who are not crossing the AI bar at the senior level, especially. We need people not to be afraid to learn new things.”"}],[{"start":227.65,"text":"Recruiters are also finding that AI tasks help them gain a deeper insight into candidates’ abilities during the interview process. "}],[{"start":234.95000000000002,"text":"Arjun Kannan, co-founder of property management tech start-up ResiDesk, says the deployment of AI tests in interviews has instigated good conversations that mimic real-life work situations."}],[{"start":247.50000000000003,"text":"He recently set candidates applying for a marketing role the challenge of positioning a product for a fictional customer. One used Claude code to create a leasing landing page that he says made “the conversation sharper than a written plan would”. "}],[{"start":264,"text":"“The point wasn’t to make a page we would ship, the point was to get to a page that sharply defined the details of their vision, and we spent the last 40 minutes reacting to specific copy and layout choices instead of talking broadly about messaging. The quality of the output was much less important than the quality of the discussion.”"}],[{"start":284.5,"text":"The test gives candidates an opportunity to show how they would work in a real job, he says. “It goes the other way too — I want them to see how we’d actually work with them, instead of the skewed power dynamics in a typical interview. Once there’s a real draft of an artefact on the table, they get to see how we share feedback, whether we’re honest about it, and whether it’s useful. That’s the part where people decide if they actually want to work here.” "}],[{"start":308.95,"text":"The biggest challenge with traditional interviews, he says, is that they do not give an opportunity to show the actual job. “It’s a little like auditioning a musician for an orchestra by having them write sheet music instead of playing a piece.” Before these tools, the closest version for his company was to pay a candidate to work on a project over a week or two. “We still do that when it makes sense, but it’s a big ask when someone has three other interviews. Using AI tools together lets us compress a lot of that into a few hours.”"}],[{"start":340.5,"text":"In a recent interview for a product marketing executive position at Envoy, a candidate demonstrated their use of AI to automate workflows. Another, going for a senior accounting role, was asked to discuss prompts and data used to create technical memos."}],[{"start":355.35,"text":"Terrero says: “It’s all about time saving. People are coming in with ideas on how you get machines to do the heavy lifting. What I’m trying to do is get my teams to spend time on the intelligent work.” "}],[{"start":366.65000000000003,"text":"This fits with the company’s wider strategy of encouraging AI take-up, including evaluating its use as part of employees’ performance reviews."}],[{"start":374.40000000000003,"text":"Rode advises candidates in the same way he would for any practical tests. “Think about how you might answer rather than practising. It’s no different to showcasing your skills [like] showing me three pieces of content you made.”"}],[{"start":387.20000000000005,"text":"Padberg is keen to point out that technical tests are just “one read across multiple reads”. "}],[{"start":393.35,"text":"Among the junior candidates, proficiency is “pretty high, most have used it in their studies before. There’s different levels of proficiency but they can learn. We are assessing the adaptability of people and their agility. The tools we’re using today won’t be used in the future.” "}],[{"start":409.05,"text":"Nathaalie Carey, chief human resources officer at Prologis, a real estate logistics company, has a similar view that AI proficiency is not always essential to secure a job: “If people are open and inquisitive, we can help bring them along on [AI].” "}],[{"start":424.5,"text":"-----"}],[{"start":432.15000000000003,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1781511277_6846.mp3"}