How video interview platforms prevent impersonation during virtual interviews

Candidates faking their way through an interview. Yes, candidates have been found using bite-sized Bluetooth earbuds to breeze through interviews through lip-syncing, with a tutor answering their questions hiding in the background. Deep fake is one of the most talked about innovations in this space, which alters the face or body of a candidate to change their appearance. It means as an interviewer, you will see the same candidate that applied for the job taking the interview while someone else will be answering the questions.

The hiring landscape in India has witnessed stunning transformations in the last few years, especially post-pandemic. While many organizations worked remotely for the first time ever, we also saw the hiring process being revamped completely.

Video interviews became the new hiring normal! And for a good reason. It is faster, flexible, cost-effective, and whatnot. In fact, the immense growth registered by this emerging industry says it all – the video interview software market share is expected to reach US$ 536.85 million by 2026-28, clocking an impressive CAGR of 13%.

But there is a twist. Lately, we have observed candidates faking their way through an interview. Yes, candidates have been found using bite-sized Bluetooth earbuds to breeze through interviews through lip-syncing, with a tutor answering their questions hiding in the background.

Deep fake is one of the most talked about innovations in this space, which alters the face or body of a candidate to change their appearance. It means as an interviewer, you will see the same candidate that applied for the job taking the interview while someone else will be answering the questions.

There have also been instances where the candidate giving the interview and the one showing up on the first day of the job are completely different. Such shenanigans are most common in coding jobs (in the 2-6-year experience band), with the highest cases found in Hyderabad, followed by other IT hubs like Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, and Delhi NCR.

It is thus more important than ever for employers to notice these red flags and act immediately. This is where leading video interview platforms come into place.

How do video interview platforms address impersonation?

Video interview platforms are not only about expediting the interview process or making it flexible. They are also about making this process safe by enabling the recruiter to run pre-onboarding background checks like document information extraction and document proofing to identify fraudulent activities.

These platforms can detect if a candidate has opened other tabs to search for answers during the interview. They can even visit those sites to find out if a candidate is cheating or not. Interviewers can also have snapshots taken occasionally during the process to run vision analysis and accordingly flag suspicious movements.

Similarly, other features like geotagging are also being leveraged to check the location of the candidate and verify if they are giving the interview from the same place or not. In the latter case, the platform will alert the interviewer and advise them to investigate further. These platforms also allow employers to maintain video logs, gather feedback, and produce real-time reports to make interviews seamless. Also, automatic screenshots, detection of third party devices like keyboard, looking away from the screen, features like opening other tabs can lead to cheat proof interviews.

Conclusion

We can’t deny that technology has changed the face of many industries, including remote hiring. However, at the same time, it is also being used as a weapon against organizations to take them down. Remember, a single bad hire can affect the organization in many ways. It can lead to lost productivity, reduced staff morale, and monetary losses.

As a result, it is critical to educate your HR department about scams and other developments in this field and empower them with new-age video interview platforms to vet candidates for authenticity, thereby ensuring that only the best talents are shortlisted and absorbed.

(The author is CEO and Co-Founder of InCruiter (IaaS)