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In Unilever’s Radical Hiring Experiment, Resumes Are Out, Algorithms Are

In
To diversify its candidate pool, the company relies on software to sort applicants and targets potential hires on their smartphones

Unilever’s Mike Clementi, with interns including Saniya Ja er, far left, at the company’s Englewood Cli s, N.J., of ice, earlier
this month.
PHOTO: KEVIN HAGEN FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

By Kelsey Gee
Updated June 26, 2017 2 07 pm ET

PRINT TEXT 32

▲
When Saniya Jaffer arrived for a job interview at Unilever UL -0.60% PLC’s Englewood
Cliffs, N.J., office last October, she was a finalist for a summer position in information
technology. After three rounds of interviews and assessments, the Chicago-native was
about to encounter the first human in the process.

Before then, 21-year-old Ms. Jaffer had filled out a job application, played a set of online
games and submitted videos of herself responding to questions about how she’d tackle
challenges of the job. The reason she found herself in front of a hiring manager? A series of
algorithms recommended her.

A radical hiring experiment is under way at the London-based maker of Dove soap and Axe
deodorant. To diversify its candidate pool for early-career roles that are a fast track to
MOST POPULAR NEWS
management, Unilever has ditched resumes and traditional campus recruiting. Its new
process relies on algorithms to sort applicants and targets young potential hires where
1. Russia, Failing to
Achieve Early Victory
they spend much of their time: their smartphones. in Ukraine, Is Seen
Shifting to ‘Plan B’
The company has made more than 450 hires across the globe this way since the fall of 2016.
Its experiment provides a glimpse of a tech-fueled future of recruiting in which humans 2. Russia’s Push for Self-
Sufficient Economy
write job descriptions and make the final decisions, but software and algorithms do the Fails Before Western
Sanctions
rest. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Jet.com have begun using
similar digital tools to hook young workers and broaden their candidate base. 3. Sorry, Investors, You
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Since young people live their lives online,
Unilever decided to use the internet to recruit
beyond the eight or so schools where recruiters
4. Russia’s Assault on
Ukraine Uproots 10
Million People
had traditionally sought hires, said Mike
Clementi, a Unilever human-resources 5. China Eastern Plane
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executive. 130 People Crashes

“With all of the information readily available to

us today about job candidates, why would we MOST POPULAR OPINION
still choose to go to a small handful of college
Unilever job candidates play short online
games designed to assess skills such as campuses?” Mr. Clementi said. 1. Opinion: Don’t Go
Wobbly on Ukraine
Now
concentration under pressure. Above, an
example of the games. To get the word out about jobs, Unilever placed
PHOTO: PYMETRICS targeted advertisements on Facebook and 2. Opinion: Yale Law
Students for
career-advice sites such as WayUp and the Censorship

Muse. Those who clicked on the ads were

directed to a career site where they could apply 3. Opinion: Hunter
Biden’s Laptop Is
Finally News Fit to
for entry-level jobs and internships in just a few clicks, since Unilever pulls information Print
from the candidate’s LinkedIn profile to fill out the application. An algorithm scans those
applications—275,400 in all so far—to surface candidates who meet a given role’s 4. Opinion: Why
Deterrence Failed
requirements. The software weeds out more than half of the pool, according to Unilever Against Russia

spokeswoman Joelle Hutcheon.

5. Opinion: What to Do
With Those Polish
Candidates are then asked to play a set of 12 short online games designed to assess skills MiGs
like concentration under pressure and short-term memory. The top third of those students
or fewer are invited to submit video interviews on HireVue, through a website or app,
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answering questions about how they would respond to business challenges encountered on
the job. 1. Ukraine Theater-
Turned-Shelter
Bombed, Biden Thinks
At both steps, artificial-intelligence can filter anywhere from 60% to 80% of candidates, Ms. Putin Is a War
Hutcheon said. To determine which candidates are most likely to be successful at Unilever, Criminal

the AI uses data points such as how quickly they respond to questions, their facial
expressions and vocabulary.
2. Ukraine’s Lviv Area
Comes Under Fire,
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The first step involving direct human judgment is the last step, a final in-person interview
with Unilever human-resources executives and managers. Last fall across the U.S. and 3. Apple Studio Display
vs. LG Ultrafine 5K vs.
Others: Finding the
Canada, around 300 candidates interviewed in person for 200 positions.
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Unilever says hiring has become faster and more accurate—80% of applicants who make it
to the final round now get job offers, and a similar number accept—and saved on recruiting 4. How Russia’s Nuclear
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costs, too, though Mr. Clementi wouldn’t say how much. Applicants hailed from more than Largest, Compares
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2,600 colleges for positions in the U.S. and Canada, tripling the numbers of schools in its
previous applicant pool.
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“It was definitely a weird feeling to know that In Ukraine
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robots are judging you,” said Jordan Vesey, 21, a
Pennsylvania State University student currently
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interning with Unilever’s customer-
2022
development team in New Jersey.
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Finding Better Pay and Career Andy McAllister, a Unilever director of supply
Prospects March 9, 2022 chain, was skeptical that algorithms could
successfully choose his interns. Having
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attended University of Maryland job fairs and
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other events for years, “it felt like we were
• Harvard Wants M.B.A.s to Learn taking away the personal touch,” he said.
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Mr. McAllister became a convert after meeting
the program finalists last fall. The caliber of
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students visiting the Englewood Cliffs
Mean Learning the Rules of the
headquarters for interviews with Unilever
Corporate World February 6, 2022
employees was as strong, or stronger, as the
candidates he had hand-selected the prior year,
he said.

“There’s tremendous opportunity here,” said

Mr. McAllister, adding the changes prompted him to realize that the previous recruiting
tactics left room for bias, since recruiters often compare applicants against their own
experiences and unconsciously root for students they personally interview.

Algorithms alone cannot remove bias in the hiring process, since humans choose the traits
they want software to look for, said Jeanette Maister, whose London-based staffing firm
World Careers Network PLC recently began selling AI-enhanced recruiting services.

Unilever spokeswoman Ms. Hutcheon said it’s too early to say whether the new hiring
practices correlate with stronger employees, adding that the company is closely tracking
those hires’ success. Still, the company is rolling out its digital recruiting program world-
wide, hiring for entry-level roles this way from Brazil to Indonesia.

“The new generation of matching technology is like Google in the world of Yellow Pages—
we had a way of finding things before, but Google found a way to do it better,” said Frida
Polli, chief executive of Pymetrics, which made the games used in Unilever’s hiring.

Write to Kelsey Gee at kelsey.gee@wsj.com

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Appeared in the June 27, 2017, print edition as 'Radical Hiring Experiment: Résumés Are Out.'

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