You spend hours reviewing applications and interviewing candidates, but you can’t always tell who’s truly qualified and who’s not. By the end of the process, you hire someone who looked and sounded great, only to realize later that they can’t actually perform on the job.

If that sounds familiar, this post is for you.

Let’s first look at why you are going through this problem

AI has made it incredibly easy for candidates to fake applications, making it harder for recruiters like you to spot who’s genuine.

• Candidates are now using AI tools to polish their applications and mirror your job post word-for-word, even when they are unqualified.
• Others are using AI auto apply tools to apply to hundreds of jobs without reading a single job post.
• And the worst part is that traditional ATS platforms do not help you tell who is genuine or not. They rely on keyword matching to score and rank applicants — but candidates are already using AI to polish resumes for those keywords. It ends up as AI judging AI, creating zero real value for everyone involved. You end up wasting hours on the wrong candidates, and you may make costly hiring mistakes.
• Some are also using AI interview assistants that give them interview answers on the fly during live interviews.

So, how can you tell if a candidate is real or not?

• Screen for performance

Instead of relying on resume screening, screen for performance. That’s exactly what Workscreen does. It screens candidates for performance and filters out unqualified ones before they reach your desk. It also gives you a shortlist of the top performers so you can focus on candidates worth your time.

• Interview effectively

Avoid generic questions that AI interview tools can answer easily. Instead, ask questions rooted in history and emotion since they’re much harder to fake. For example, instead of asking,

• “Have you ever worked with a team?”

Ask:

• “Tell me about the last team project you worked on.”

The first question doesn’t tell you much about the candidate’s capabilities, and it can easily be faked. On the other hand, the second question forces the candidate to recall real experience and give details. A genuine candidate will give detailed but messy responses. On the other hand, a fake candidate may provide a polished response or start contradicting themselves.

You can even go deeper with layered questions like

• “What was your role?”
• “How did you contribute to the project?”
• “Who were the other team members?”
• “What was the outcome of the project?”
• “What kind of feedback did you receive after completing it?”

The deeper you go, the easier it is to tell who’s authentic.

• And lastly, test for skills

You can avoid hiring the wrong candidate by testing skills before making a final hire. A simple assessment helps you determine whether a candidate can actually perform on the job. Do this through Workscreen since it makes it easy for you to administer skill tests.

So, if you are tired of dealing with candidates that are not genuine, use these strategies and check out Wokscreent to hire top talent.