Recruitment is inherently biased. When you sit opposite someone in an interview, whether in-person or virtual, you’re falling for so many cognitive biases you don’t even know exist. If they are confident or good looking, your impression of them will be inflated. If they are similar to you, it will be even more so. Even the colours they are wearing, the quality of their camera, or how good they smell can influence your decision beyond the job role itself. But that’s the most important part.
If you’re not sure whether or not to hire someone, gather additional information to help you make your decision. Without this, you might be sidetracked by a known bias. Use these prompts to boil it down to the basics and decide based on what will matter in the long term.
Copy, paste and edit the square brackets in ChatGPT, and keep the same chat window open so the context carries through.
Run your recruitment decisions by ChatGPT
Compare candidates with the job description
You wrote that job description for a reason. Before you’d met any candidates, before you had a person in mind, that document represented the best and least biased version of the role you needed to fill. It’s easy to forget the job description once you meet real people during interviews. It’s easy to get swayed by their ideas and experience, and start creating new roles they’d match really well. But none of that matters right now. Instead, see how they match up with your original spec.
“Compare the job description of a role I’m hiring for with the resume of the person I’m considering for the role. Conduct an assessment of how well their existing skills match the role and suggest 5 strengths and 5 areas that could require additional work, should they be successful in their application. Here’s the job description: [Paste job description] | Here’s the candidate’s resume: [Paste resume].”
Asses complimentary skills
Not only does the candidate need to match the role at hand, they need to work well in your team. Ask ChatGPT for help predicting just how much this person will gel. Using anonymized information, ask the large language model to find matches in the language of their resume compared to the people they’ll be working with. Assess the synergy and find any causes for concern before you take the leap and say yes.
“I want to make sure this person will work well in my team. They will be mainly working with [name or job title of people in their team]. Can you now compare the resume of this potential recruit with the resumes of the people currently in my team, and explain where they are likely to work together well and where they may require more training to collaborate effectively. My existing team members have strengths including: [describe the strengths of your current team] and their resumes are: [Paste resumes of existing team members.]
Expect the best
Use this prompt to paint a picture of the best case scenario that could possibly happen, then question whether or not you see this person making this impact. Do you believe they could be the best there is, or should you continue your search? ChatGPT will give you a grandiose picture of the future, so you can figure out if this person is a goer.
“If I hire this person, what’s the best case scenario? Explain how well their first few months in this role could go. Outline what they could achieve in their role if they were really good. Make an assessment on how likely this is based on their resume. What are the three biggest concerns you have about this person achieving that success?”
Plan for the worst
It’s easy to plan for the best. When sales are flowing, customers are happy and team members are doing what they were hired to do, even big problems seem somehow smaller. Using this prompt, get ChatGPT to explain some dire consequences. Think about what would happen should things take a turn, and assess how likely this person is to have this effect.
“Now the flipside. If I hire this person, what’s the worst case scenario? Explain how badly their first few months in this role could go. Outline what they could mess up in my business if they were really bad. Make an assessment on how likely this is based on their resume, including what I can do to prevent this happening.”
Consider the long term
Are they here for a few months or are they in for good? Ideally, you want people who will get stuck in and stick around. Who are open to a future with your company, and will keep progressing in their role. But how do you know? Conduct an assessment of their resume with longevity in mind. Set the foundation of your hire in the right way and build on this base for many years to come.
“My business’s long term goals are [describe your big business goals]. From this person’s qualifications and experience, how could they fit into the long term goals of my business? Which of their skills could align with our plans, and how do I best bring out these qualities and equip them to do their best work?”
Prepare for interview
Now ChatGPT has the information from this person’s resume, complementary skills and best and worst-case scenario, you have a clearer picture on how they might fit into your company. If you’re not sure, ask more questions. Get a list of potentials from ChatGPT, then shoot them over by email or book a second chat. Quiz the candidate some more before offering the role.
“Adopt the role of a recruitment and HR expert tasked with helping me make the best assessment of a potential recruit’s suitability for the role. Given what you know about the candidate and the role itself, suggest 10 possible interview questions, each with an explanation of why it helps make my decision.”
Make your next hiring decision with ChatGPT
Your hiring decisions can be easier with ChatGPT. With the right information and the right prompts, it can help you spot patterns and gaps and set up for success. Compare your favourite candidate with the job description, assess their skills with the team they’ll join, see how they match up and continue your questioning. Expect the best and plan for the worst, all with the long term in mind. Recruitment isn’t straightforward, so get help along the way and make the right decision.
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