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Modern hiring is undergoing a significant transformation thanks to advances in technology, including artificial intelligence (AI). One of the new methods companies are beginning to use to evaluate candidates is video games with embedded behavioral tests. This approach replaces traditional interviews and résumés with game-based tasks designed to give employers a new perspective on candidates' personalities and abilities.
How do video games fit into the hiring process?
Games used for recruitment, are not ordinary video games for entertainment. They are designed to challenge candidates with decisions based on different scenarios, so that the employer can assess their soft skills. This measures important qualities such as analytical thinking, problem-solving ability, sociability, and even emotional stability.
This approach is especially popular in large companies and financial institutions, where candidates are often people with minimal experience but great potential. Companies like McDonald's, Boston Consulting Group, and Bloomberg are already using these tests to screen candidates.
Example: An assessment game at Bloomberg
Martin, a data specialist with extensive experience in financial analysis, encounters game-based tests when applying for a job at Bloomberg. After submitting his résumé and cover letter, he is asked to go through a series of assessment video games created by the company Plum. These games are designed to measure his pattern-recognition ability by having him arrange different shapes.
At first glance, the tasks seem unrelated to his work. The question Martin asks himself is the same one that concerns many other candidates: "How do these games measure my data skills?" But for employers, these tasks are key to assessing candidates' potential rather than measuring specific technical skills.
Games as a personality assessment tool
According to the creators of these systems, the behavioral tests embedded in video games reduce the likelihood of candidates falsifying their answers. In standard interviews or personality tests, people can consciously answer in ways that match the employer's expectations. In game-based tests, however, decisions are spontaneous, which experts say leads to more realistic results for a candidate's personality traits.
For example, Cognify is one of the most popular platforms used to assess cognitive abilities. In it, candidates must solve puzzles and tasks that reflect their level of adaptability and information-processing ability.
The benefits of video game-based recruitment for candidates
Video games as a recruitment tool offer several important advantages for candidates. First and foremost, they provide a more enjoyable and less stressful assessment process compared with traditional methods. Instead of answering long questionnaires or going through multiple interviews, candidates can demonstrate their skills in a game environment.
In addition, games can reveal hidden talents in people who may not perform well in standard interviews. For people who are not as good at self-promotion, games provide a more level playing field for demonstrating qualities such as reaction speed, teamwork, and creativity.
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The challenges of game-based recruitment
Despite the many advantages, video games for recruitment are not without drawbacks. One of the main problems is that games may assess personality traits that are not always crucial for successfully performing a particular job. For example, a candidate's analytical abilities may not be accurately measured through game-based tasks.
Also, some candidates, like Sophie, a Navy veteran and software engineer, feel uneasy using game-based tests. When she applies for a job at a tech company, the Cognify game she has to take causes her stress because she does not see how solving puzzles is related to her skills as an engineer.
This type of test also raises questions about fairness. For candidates with different cognitive styles or limited access to games, the results may not reflect their real abilities.
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What are the prospects?
Using games to assess candidates in the hiring process is just one of many innovations in the world of recruitment. Video games can provide a more dynamic and interactive selection process, but they also raise doubts about their accuracy and relevance for different professions.
Nevertheless, companies continue to invest in these technologies, believing they can reveal unexpected qualities in candidates and identify top talent.
AI-powered games are changing the way companies search for and hire new talent. They offer new ways to assess candidates while also raising questions about their relevance and fairness. To succeed in this new hiring world, candidates must not only prepare their résumés and cover letters, but also prepare for the game-based tests that can determine their future careers.
