Part 6

You are going to read an article about online interviewing techniques to detect fake candidates. Seven
paragraphs have been removed from the extract. Choose from the paragraphs A-H the one which fits each gap
(1-7). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use. Mark your answers on the separate answer
sheet.

How to Spot Fake Candidates in Video Interviews

Until recently, online interviews using video chatting tools was considered more of an eccentricity in certain fields. Now,
it has become a necessity that may bring about unwanted problems for many employers.

Fake candidates are a real problem in IT staffing. The

time wasted on vetting these profiles is costing your
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business money. In the instance that one of these
candidates is so convincing that they land a job offer, the Just like eye contact, mastering body language on a video
time and cost losses to a project can be immeasurable. interview can be hard. Don’t jump to conclusions just
Unfortunately, spotting fake candidates can be hard. because you have a candidate who seems nervous or
excited, they usually are. But if the difference is extreme
1 pay close attention.

Today, that’s not always an option. Most of us no longer

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have the opportunity to sit down with a candidate. Zoom,
Teams, and Skype interviews are not only convenient Wearing a headset, by itself, is not a sign that a candidate
now, but necessary. This increase in video interviews has is fake. It’s actually preferred for better sound quality on
brought with it a massive uptick in fraud applicants. both sides. But if you’ve noticed some of the other signs
and are looking to confirm your suspicions, ask them to
2 take out their headset and use the built-in mic.

First, the phone screen is no longer necessary. Any phone

call could just as easily be a video call. The candidate will
be required to video conference for daily stand-ups
anyway, so you may as well set the expectation early.
When the hiring manager schedules the interview, make
sure they tell the candidate that being on-camera is
required. If for some reason they can’t, re-schedule the
interview.
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If their eyes keep moving off-screen over and over again
though, this may be a red flag. They could have someone
in the room helping them, a cheat sheet open in another
window, or be chatting in real-time with a proxy. If you
see this, don’t assume, or accuse, but start looking for
other possible signs.
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Thankfully, most of the candidates we interview are not
intentionally trying to fake their profiles. They’ve done
the work. They know the technology. They have the
skills. They are what their resume says they are. The
number of fake candidates you come across will be
relatively small. Despite this, the damage fake candidates
can do, in both time and cost, can be huge.
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Learning about this and after insisting on in-person
interviews for over 20 years, I’ve had to pivot a bit
myself. I’ve embraced the age of required video
interviews and have seen tremendous benefit in it. The
best practices I have developed over the years have served
me well and I hope they do the same for you
A In a famous case involving a renowned IT company,
millions of dollars were lost in an important project.
Two people who passed all the different job
screenings were actually hackers belonging to a group
that dedicate their efforts to stealing corporate secrets
to sell them to unscrupulous competitors. Had the
previous tips been implemented, this situation could
have easily been averted.
B Even after that’s been cleared out, bear in mind that
eye contact is tough to pull off during a video
interview. Not everyone is trained (yet) to look at the
camera while they’re speaking. They tend to look at
your picture, or their own, on the screen. That’s
normal.
C Judging that reaction time is a great way to know
whether something’s been mastered or just
memorized. And that’s only possible when you’re an
expert yourself. When memorized, it takes a few
seconds to pull up the information. When it’s
something you do every day, and have truly mastered,
it’s second nature. Video interviewing is necessary
right now. But that’s one of the many reasons I’ve
always insisted on in-person interviews when
possible.
D Such behaviour may also be the product of proxy
interviews often feeding answers to a candidate in one
ear while they listen with the other. It’s one of the
most common ways to cheat an interview.
E That’s why it’s been a priority of mine to refine our
process so that the fake profiles do not get past the
initial vetting. Long before the pandemic, I insisted
on interviewing every candidate personally in our
office. Phone calls and Skype interviews can help the
early screening process, but to really see what
someone is made of, an in-person meeting is
invaluable.
F Take note whether their head movements,
mannerisms, and facial expressions don’t line up
with their words. Fake candidates will often try to
overcompensate. They’ll be more animated and try
to look excited.
G One reason for this may be that proxy interviewers
can be hired by job seekers as easily as calling for an
Über. Any person, in any location, interviewing for
any technical requirement, can hire someone to help
them in real-time. However, with our new remote
work environment, said interviewers may lack the
training needed to spot fakes when dealing with
remote hiring.
H If you’ve noticed these red flags, or anything else
just seems off, don’t hesitate to ask them to
screenshare. If they have a chat window open, and
they’re talking with a proxy, you’ll see it
immediately. More likely, the fake candidate will
close that program and try to soldier on. If the
quality of their answers drops significantly, you’ll
know why.
Answers and explanations:

1. E – In the introduction, the author poses the problem of hiring fake candidates and the possible consequences
that may arise from it. So, when writing ‘That’s why it’s been a priority of mine…’, they’re giving a rationale
for the whole piece in relation to such problem, especially in response to how hard it is to spot fake candidates.
They also stress the importance of having face-to-face interviews. The following paragraph starts by saying that
‘Today, that’s [referring to face-to-face interviews] not always an option’.
2. G – The expression ‘One reason for this’ explains why the massive increase of fraud applications. Also, the
phrase ‘fraud applicants’ is later expressed as ‘job seekers’ in this paragraph. At the end of this extract, the
training mentioned to spot fakes is introduced by how to deal with video calls in the following paragraph.
3. B – The expression ‘even after that’s been cleared out’ refers back to asking the candidate to keep their cameras
on. The references in the following paragraph go as: ‘if their eyes [candidates] keep moving off-screen [looking
at their picture, your picture or on the screen]. So, the connection is pretty straightforward.
4. F – The head movements, mannerisms and facial expressions are the ‘signs’ mentioned before. Also, the
excitement mentioned at the end of this extract is the ‘body language’ that can be hard to master. The ‘eye’
contact’ is also a reference back to how they might ‘look excited’. Body language and eye contact are very
important in face-to-face situations - Eyes going upwards, along with inordinate amounts of hesitation all are
warning signs that the person may be committing fraud.
5. D – The initial linker, ‘such behaviour’ refers back to how candidates may look nervous or excited. The headset
mentioned at the beginning of the following paragraph makes a reference to how candidates may use proxies to
help them cheat.
6. H – ‘These red flags’ brings all the tips to a wrap. The author is bringing all the different ways in which you can
spot a fake job seeker. The tone and style indicate that the article is coming to an end. Also, this extract ends on
a rather bad note [discovering why the quality of answers has dropped], explaining why the author opens the
following paragraph with ‘thankfully’.
7. A – This whole extract is an example of how ‘the damage fake candidates can do… can be huge’. The last
sentence even serves as a brief conclusion that refers back to all the tips covered so far.

Not needed C – ‘That reaction time’ might be confused with the observable behaviour in online interviews [option D], but
the paragraph focuses on how memory and expertise can be part of a successful interview.