Startup Genomawork uses AI and gaming to predict job seekers’ potential

Contxto – Chilean HR startup Genomawork wants to eliminate the old-fashioned practice of job seekers carrying around those pesky resumes that recruiters never read.

Instead, it offers a solution that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and gaming to obtain unforeseen insights into a candidate.

Genomawork currently has 40 customers in its portfolio. Although it hopes to reach 120 this year.

Artificial intelligence and gaming for recruiting

Via machine learning, this startup wants to go beyond the generic “hard-working and motivated person looking for the next opportunity to grow professionally” descriptions that often plague resumes.

Instead Genomawork “clones” the “genes” or core characteristics and factors of a company’s ideal candidate. That information will serve as its reference point.

So when a candidate applies for a job, the company will ask them to open an account with Genomawork. Afterwards, they’ll be asked to play games online.

But these games aren’t like playing Call of Duty, Breath of the Wild, or anything like that (how awesome that would be though).

Rather, they’re neuroscience-based games that pick up on personality and emotional traits.

Depending on their performance in the game, reportedly the startup’s algorithm gathers in-depth knowledge as to their behavior and personality. It also predicts how the candidate may actually execute their responsibilities. This is possible because the system compares them to the “ideal” sample that was taken.

In addition, Genomawork carries out video interviews with applicants to further analyze their viability in terms of language proficiency and cultural fit. Factors that can’t actually be caught by the algorithm through gaming.

So because of this conference bit, it’s not all AI-powered.

Playtime is over

After everything has been said, done, and played, the startup gives companies a ranking of the applicants. That way, they can make the final call.

Meanwhile, candidates get valuable feedback, as Genomawork’s system offers them information on their strengths and an outlook on their profile.

Genomawork is an innovative and interesting proposal that may help flesh out candidates with less experience but have hidden potential for a slot. And it saves recruiters the trouble of pretending to have read a resume.

Measuring performance

Since numbers are a big deal in any business, Daniel La Roche, Genomawork’s Co-founder shared some insights with Contxto on his startup’s performance.

On the one hand, job applicants grade Genomawork on a scale of one to ten, based on their experience with the platform. La Roche reported that it’s currently at 9.2, which is “a very high grade within the industry.”

On the business’ end, Genomawork’s customers report saving somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of time in the recruiting process. But things get juicy when it comes to the accuracy rates.

The Co-founder said the algorithm’s accuracy depends on the company’s ability to provide quality data for the “sample” that shall be used as the reference point for seeking candidates. Meaning, it’s equally important that the business knows what it wants in terms of skills and its own company culture. Otherwise, even AI will have its limitations.

La Roche stated that with some algorithms, Genomawork has had an 85 percent accuracy rate in matching candidates with a company’s recruiting needs.

As for future plans, feedback is important for the Chilean startup.

“The companies’ responses have been very positive in qualitative terms,” said the executive. “And this year we’re waiting for our initial clients to begin measuring the performance of employees who were hired through Genomawork.”

All of which makes perfect sense. As La Roche pointed out, it often takes a year to truly evaluate if the right person was hired.

Related articles: Tech and startups from Chile!

-ML