Voice resumes set to replace conventional interviews

Aug 01, 2008 (The Economic Times - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) -- AV | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Aug. 1--THIRUVANANTHAPURAM -- Hotel lobbies overflowing with job aspirants awaiting their turn for interview are soon going to be a thing of the past. Voice resumes, the latest technology innovation that HR companies across the country are expected to adopt in the near future, are seen to cut both the cost of hiring and do away with logistical hassles for corporates.

Business communications solutions provider Avaya GlobalConnect has developed a solution aimed primarily at companies in the IT/ITeS and banking-financial services -- insurance space that are into large-scale hiring, which will help them significantly pare their cost and increase quality of hiring besides reducing physical travel.

Avaya director for industry solutions, Ritesh Jayswal, told ET that the new solution was developed in the backdrop of many companies finding out that a significant proportion of candidates did not measure up in communication skills.

The voice resume works this way: When candidates apply to a company, a mail is sent asking them to call up a certain number. Then, with the help of an interactive voice response platform, the candidate is asked questions and the interview is concluded after asking the candidate to read a passage provided. The results are immediately forwarded to the HR team for assessment.

"The solution enables companies to significantly speed up hiring and check on the candidates' communication abilities without asking them to travel all the way to a particular city or location for the interview, thus saving on costs for both the candidate and the company", he said.

It was in talks with different companies in the IT/ITeS/BFSI space for the solution. It was more relevant to the Indian BPO/BFSI sector considering the quantum of hiring-attrition happening.

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