Information processing device, information processing method, program, and information processing system

Abstract

The aim is to make it easier to recruit suitable applicants. [Solution] The information processing device 3 according to this embodiment includes a reception unit 331 that receives the number of applicants, which indicates the number of applicants, and the number of applicants expected to pass, which indicates the number of applicants expected to pass, and a determination unit 332 that determines the difficulty level of the interview to be taken by the applicant by determining at least one of the difficulty level of the questions to be asked of the applicant in the interview and the passing criteria that the applicant must meet in the interview, based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of applicants expected to pass that the reception unit 331 has received.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, a program, and an information processing system for supporting recruitment activities.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, there is known a technique for optimizing interview questions by asking questions selected from a previously prepared list of candidate questions (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] When the number of applicants is large relative to the number of candidates to be qualified, the interview results of a large number of applicants are distributed near the passing line, and applicants suitable for the recruiting organization may not pass, while applicants not suitable for the recruiting organization may pass. On the other hand, when the number of applicants is small relative to the number of candidates to be qualified, the number of applicants reaching the passing line may be too small.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object thereof is to make it easier to recruit appropriate applicants.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] An information processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a reception unit that receives the number of applicants indicating the number of applicants and the number of candidates to be qualified indicating the number of persons to be qualified, and a determination unit that determines the difficulty level of the interview received by the applicant based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of candidates to be qualified received by the reception unit.

[0007] The reception unit may receive the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass at multiple points in time, and the determination unit may determine the first difficulty level at the first point in time based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass at the first point in time, and determine the second difficulty level at the second point in time based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass at the second point in time, which is after the first point in time.

[0008] The decision-making unit may determine that the difficulty level of the interview should be higher if the ratio of the number of applicants to the number of candidates expected to pass is large.

[0009] The determination unit may determine the difficulty level of the interview by determining the difficulty level of the questions to be asked of the applicants in the interview, based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass.

[0010] The information processing device may further include a question creation unit that creates questions of a higher level of abstraction as the difficulty level of the question determined by the decision unit increases.

[0011] The information processing device may further include: a storage unit that stores high-difficulty questions, which are questions corresponding to answers among multiple answers by past applicants that did not meet predetermined criteria, in association with the attributes of past applicants; and a question creation unit that, by referring to the storage unit, identifies the high-difficulty questions associated with the applicant's attributes and creates questions to be asked of the applicant based on the identified high-difficulty questions.

[0012] The information processing device may further include a question creation unit that creates questions such that the difficulty level of important questions for confirming whether or not the applicant possesses the required attributes that the hiring organization seeks in the applicant is higher than the difficulty level of other questions.

[0013] The decision-making unit may determine the difficulty level of the interview by determining the passing criteria that the applicants must meet in the interview, based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass.

[0014] The decision-making unit may raise the passing criteria by increasing the number of criteria that applicants must satisfy in their answers during the interview, as the ratio of the number of applicants to the number of candidates expected to pass increases.

[0015] The decision-making unit may further determine the difficulty level of the interview based on the deadline for applications from the applicants or the length of time remaining until the deadline for determining whether the applicants are accepted or rejected.

[0016] The information processing device may further include a specification unit that identifies a predicted number of applicants, which is the number of applicants expected to apply during the remaining period until the application deadline or the deadline for determining whether an applicant is accepted or rejected, based on the number of applicants in the past. The determination unit may determine the difficulty level of the interview based on the relationship between the predicted number of applicants identified by the specification unit and the number of applicants expected to pass during the remaining period, which have been received by the reception unit.

[0017] The identifying unit may refer to relational data showing the relationship between the application period and the number of applicants in past recruitments, and identify the number of applicants who applied during the period corresponding to the remaining period in the current recruitment as the predicted number of applicants for the remaining period.

[0018] A second aspect of the present invention relates to an information processing method which includes the steps of: receiving the number of applicants, which is the number of people who have applied, and the number of people who are expected to pass, which is the number of people who are expected to pass, which are performed by a computer; and determining the difficulty level of the interview that the applicants will undergo, based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of people who are expected to pass that has been received.

[0019] A program according to a third aspect of the present invention causes a processor in an information processing device to function as a reception unit that receives the number of applicants, which indicates the number of applicants, and the number of applicants expected to pass, which indicates the number of applicants expected to pass, and a determination unit that determines the difficulty level of the interview that the applicants will undergo based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of applicants expected to pass received by the reception unit.

[0020] An information processing system according to a fourth aspect of the present invention includes an information processing apparatus that determines the difficulty level of interviews received by applicants, a staff terminal used by a person in charge of the employing organization, and an applicant terminal used by the applicant. The information processing apparatus includes a reception unit that receives the number of applicants indicating the number of applicants and the number of expected successful candidates indicating the number of people planned to be qualified, and a determination unit that determines the difficulty level of interviews received by the applicant based on the relationship between the number of applicants received by the reception unit and the number of expected successful candidates. The staff terminal has a staff communication unit that transmits applicant information indicating the number of applicants and the number of expected successful candidates to the information processing apparatus, and the applicant terminal has an applicant communication unit that receives interview information corresponding to the interview with the difficulty level determined by the determination unit from the information processing apparatus.

Effect of the Invention

[0021] According to the present invention, there is an effect that it is easy to employ appropriate applicants.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0022] [Figure 1] It is a diagram showing an outline of the operation of the information processing system S. [Figure 2] It is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the staff terminal 1. <000009​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​This flowchart shows an example of the processing flow executed by the information processing device 3. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0023] [Overview of Information Processing System S] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating the overview of the information processing system S. The information processing system S is a system for determining the difficulty level of the interviews that applicants will undergo, based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass.

[0024] When a company or other hiring organization (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as "company") conducts recruitment activities and hires employees, the number of applicants may exceed the number of candidates that the company plans to hire. In this case, if the difficulty level of the interviews is lowered, the interview results of many applicants will be distributed around the passing line, making it difficult to distinguish between applicants who are suitable for the company and those who are not. On the other hand, if the number of applicants is lower than the number of candidates to be hired, if the difficulty level of the interviews is increased, fewer applicants will reach the passing line, resulting in the company being unable to hire the planned number of people.

[0025] Therefore, the information processing system S determines the appropriate difficulty level of the interview based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass. This makes it easier for the hiring organization to recruit suitable applicants. The information processing system S comprises a staff terminal 1, an applicant terminal 2, and an information processing device 3.

[0026] The recruiter terminal 1 is an information terminal used by User U, who is a recruiter at a company, and is, for example, a personal computer, tablet, or smartphone. The applicant terminal 2 is an information terminal used by applicants to the company, and is, for example, a personal computer, tablet, or smartphone. The information processing device 3 is a computer that determines the difficulty level of the interview that applicants will undergo based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass, and is, for example, a server. The information processing device 3 can send and receive data with the recruiter terminal 1 and the applicant terminal 2.

[0027] The number of applicants is the number of people who applied to the company's selection process. The number of candidates expected to pass is the number of candidates expected to pass at a given point in time. The number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass are not limited to the total number of people in a single recruitment activity (for example, new graduate recruitment for a certain year), but may also be the number of people at a specific selection stage within a single recruitment activity (for example, first interview, final interview, etc.). The recruitment activity may be, for example, new graduate recruitment, but may also be mid-career recruitment, part-time recruitment, or re-employment.

[0028] The type of interview for which the information processing system S determines the difficulty level is, for example, a VH (Virtual Human) interview, in which a virtual interviewer interviews applicants online. The virtual interviewer is represented by a graphic image that mimics a real interviewer. The information processing system S may also assist direct interviews by determining the difficulty level of direct interviews conducted by company recruiters through face-to-face communication with applicants, but this example will be discussed later as a variation.

[0029] Furthermore, the interviews for which the information processing system S determines the difficulty level are not limited to the actual interviews, but may also include practice interviews for applicants. By having the information processing system S determine the difficulty level of the practice interviews for applicants, applicants can practice interviews at an appropriate difficulty level in relation to the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass, thereby increasing their chances of passing the interview.

[0030] The basic operation of the information processing system S will be explained below with reference to Figure 1. When the person in charge terminal 1 receives input from user U, who is the hiring manager, regarding the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass, it transmits the application information indicating the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass that it received to the information processing device 3.

[0031] The information processing device 3 determines the difficulty level of the interview by determining at least one of the difficulty level of the questions to be asked to applicants in the interview and the passing criteria that applicants must meet in the interview, based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass, as indicated by the received application information. For example, the information processing device 3 determines that the difficulty level of the questions and the passing criteria should be higher if the ratio of applicants to the number of candidates expected to pass is large (i.e., the application ratio is high).

[0032] The information processing device 3 transmits interview information to the applicant terminal 2, indicating an interview that includes questions of a determined difficulty level. The applicant conducts a video interview according to the interview information received by the applicant terminal 2. The applicant terminal 2 transmits an interview record showing the applicant's video and audio from the video interview to the information processing device 3. The interview record may include audio but not video.

[0033] The information processing device 3 identifies the applicant's attitude based on the video footage from the received interview recording, and identifies the content of the applicant's statements based on the audio footage from the received interview recording. The information processing device 3 determines whether at least one of the identified applicant's attitude and / or statements meets the determined passing criteria, thereby making a pass / fail decision for each applicant. The information processing device 3 transmits the pass / fail result for each applicant to the person in charge terminal 1. This allows user U to identify the successful candidates.

[0034] [Configuration of Terminal 1 for Person in Charge] Figure 2 shows an example of the configuration of the staff terminal 1. The staff terminal 1 comprises a staff communication unit 11, a display unit 12, an operation unit 13, a storage unit 14, and a control unit 15. The control unit 15 comprises a display processing unit 151 and an operation reception unit 152.

[0035] The staff communication unit 11 is a communication interface for communicating with the information processing device 3 via a communication network such as the Internet. The staff communication unit 11 transmits application information, including the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass, which is input from the operation reception unit 152, to the information processing device 3. The staff communication unit 11 inputs the pass / fail results received from the information processing device 3 into the display processing unit 151.

[0036] The display unit 12 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display. The display unit 12 displays various information in accordance with the control of the display processing unit 151. The display unit 12 displays, for example, pass / fail results. The operation unit 13 is a device that receives operations from user U, and is, for example, a keyboard, mouse, or touch panel.

[0037] The memory unit 14 is a storage medium including ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory). The memory unit 14 stores the program that the control unit 15 will execute. For example, the memory unit 14 stores a program that causes the control unit 15 to function as a display processing unit 151 and an operation reception unit 152.

[0038] The control unit 15 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 15 functions as a display processing unit 151 and an operation reception unit 152 by executing a program stored in the storage unit 14.

[0039] The display processing unit 151 displays various types of information on the display unit 12. For example, the display processing unit 151 displays the pass / fail result input from the person in charge communication unit 11 on the display unit 12.

[0040] The operation reception unit 152 receives various operations from user U. For example, the operation reception unit 152 receives the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass from user U, and inputs the application information indicating the number of applicants and candidates expected to pass that it received into the person in charge communication unit 11.

[0041] [Two configurations for applicant devices] Figure 3 shows an example of the configuration of applicant terminal 2. Applicant terminal 2 comprises an applicant communication unit 21, a display unit 22, an operation unit 23, a microphone 24, a speaker 25, an imaging unit 26, a storage unit 27, and a control unit 28. The control unit 28 comprises a display processing unit 281, an operation reception unit 282, an audio processing unit 283, and an image processing unit 284.

[0042] The applicant communication unit 21 is a communication interface for communicating with the information processing device 3 via a communication network such as the Internet. The applicant communication unit 21 inputs interview information corresponding to the determined difficulty level of the interview, received from the information processing device 3, into the display processing unit 281 and the voice processing unit 283. The interview information includes, for example, interview question data and facial image data of the virtual interviewer.

[0043] The applicant communication unit 21 transmits an interview record to the information processing device 3, which includes operation data indicating the applicant's actions entered from the operation reception unit 282, audio data indicating the applicant's voice entered from the audio processing unit 283, and video data indicating the applicant's facial expressions or gestures entered from the image processing unit 284.

[0044] The display unit 22 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display. The display unit 22 displays various information in accordance with the control of the display processing unit 281. The operation unit 23 is a device that receives input from the applicant, and is, for example, a keyboard, mouse, or touch panel.

[0045] Microphone 24 is a device for inputting the applicant's voice. Speaker 25 is a device for outputting the voice of the virtual interviewer. The imaging unit 26 is a device for capturing images, such as a camera. The imaging unit 26 captures images of applicants, for example.

[0046] The memory unit 27 is a storage medium including ROM and RAM. The memory unit 27 stores the program that the control unit 28 will execute. For example, the memory unit 27 stores a program that causes the control unit 28 to function as a display processing unit 281, an operation reception unit 282, an audio processing unit 283, and an image processing unit 284.

[0047] The control unit 28 is, for example, a CPU. The control unit 28 functions as a display processing unit 281, an operation reception unit 282, an audio processing unit 283, and an image processing unit 284 by executing a program stored in the memory unit 27.

[0048] The display processing unit 281 displays various types of information on the display unit 22. For example, the display processing unit 281 displays an image of the virtual interviewer's face on the display unit 22 based on the virtual interviewer's face image data included in the interview information input from the applicant communication unit 21.

[0049] The operation reception unit 282 receives various operations from applicants and inputs operation content data indicating the received operations into the applicant communication unit 21.

[0050] The audio processing unit 283 generates audio data by converting the applicant's voice input from the microphone 24 from analog to digital, and inputs the generated audio data to the applicant communication unit 21. The audio processing unit 283 also generates an audio signal indicating the question by converting the question data indicated by the interview information input from the applicant communication unit 21 from digital to analog, and inputs the generated audio signal to the speaker 25, causing the speaker 25 to output the audio of the question.

[0051] The image processing unit 284 receives video data showing the applicant's face image input from the imaging unit 26 and inputs the received video data to the applicant communication unit 21.

[0052] [Configuration of Information Processing Device 3] The configuration of the information processing device 3 will now be described. Figure 4 shows an example of the configuration of the information processing device 3. The information processing device 3 comprises a device communication unit 31, a storage unit 32, and a control unit 33. The control unit 33 comprises a reception unit 331, a decision unit 332, a question creation unit 333, a specification unit 334, and a pass / fail determination unit 335.

[0053] The device communication unit 31 is a communication interface for communicating with the staff terminal 1 and the applicant terminal 2 via a communication network such as the Internet. The device communication unit 31 inputs application information, including the number of applicants and the number of successful candidates, received from the staff terminal 1, into the reception unit 331. The device communication unit 31 transmits the interview information entered from the question creation unit 333 to the applicant terminal 2.

[0054] The device communication unit 31 inputs the interview record, including the applicant's operation data, audio data, and video data, received from the applicant terminal 2, into the pass / fail determination unit 335. The device communication unit 31 then transmits the pass / fail result input from the pass / fail determination unit 335 to the person in charge terminal 1.

[0055] The memory unit 32 is a storage medium including ROM and RAM. The memory unit 32 stores the program executed by the control unit 33. For example, the memory unit 32 stores an information processing program that causes the control unit 33 to function as a reception unit 331, a decision unit 332, a question creation unit 333, a specification unit 334, and a pass / fail determination unit 335. The memory unit 32 stores relational data, interview difficulty data, question data by level of abstraction, high-difficulty question data, question data by attribute, and pass / fail criteria data.

[0056] Figure 5 shows an example of relational data. Relational data is data that shows the relationship between the application period and the number of applicants. In relational data, for example, the cumulative number of applicants, the cumulative number of successful candidates, the cumulative number of unsuccessful candidates, the number of pending applicants, and the number of candidates expected to be successful are related. The cumulative number of applicants is the total number of applicants who applied from the start of the application period to a predetermined time. The cumulative number of successful candidates is the total number of applicants who passed from the start of the application period to a predetermined time. The cumulative number of unsuccessful candidates is the total number of applicants who failed from the start of the application period to a predetermined time. The number of pending applicants is the number of applicants for whom the company has put its decision on acceptance or rejection on hold. The number of candidates expected to be successful is the number of candidates expected to be successful remaining at a certain point in time.

[0057] Figure 6 shows an example of interview difficulty data. The interview difficulty data includes, for example, an association between the application ratio, the difficulty of the interview, the difficulty of the questions, and the passing criteria. The application ratio is the ratio of the number of applicants to the number of positions available. The difficulty of the questions refers to the difficulty of the questions asked to applicants during the interview. The passing criteria are the standards that applicants must meet during the interview.

[0058] Figure 7 shows an example of question data categorized by level of abstraction. In the question data categorized by level of abstraction, for example, the difficulty level of the question, the level of abstraction of the question, and the set of questions are associated. The level of abstraction of a question indicates, for example, the degree to which it is easy to grasp what is being asked in the question, or the degree to which it is easy to recall what should be answered in response to the question. The higher the level of abstraction of the question, the more difficult it is for applicants to grasp what is being asked in the question, and the more difficult it is for them to recall what should be answered in response to the question.

[0059] Figure 8 shows an example of high-difficulty question data. In the high-difficulty question data, the attributes of past applicants are associated with the high-difficulty questions. High-difficulty questions are questions that correspond to answers from past applicants that did not meet certain criteria. Answers that did not meet the criteria include, for example, answers from a single past applicant that took a long time to answer compared to other answers, answers that were not specific, or answers that were short in length. High-difficulty questions may be questions asked in interviews with companies the applicant applied to, or questions asked in interviews with companies other than the company the applicant applied to.

[0060] Figure 9 shows an example of attribute-based question data. In attribute-based question data, the applicant's attributes, the required level, and the set of questions are associated. In attribute-based question data, attributes that the company strongly desires in applicants are associated with a "high" required level and are associated with high-difficulty questions. On the other hand, attributes that the company does not strongly desire in applicants are associated with a "medium" required level and are associated with medium-difficulty questions, and attributes that the company does not particularly desire in applicants are associated with a "low" required level and are associated with low-difficulty questions.

[0061] Figure 10 shows an example of pass / fail criteria data. In the pass / fail criteria data, the difficulty of the interview, the pass / fail criteria, and the criteria that must be met are related. For example, in the pass / fail criteria data, the higher the pass / fail criteria, the more criteria that must be met are set. Also, in the pass / fail criteria data, the higher the pass / fail criteria, the more advanced the criteria may be set. For example, as shown in Figure 10, for a "low" pass / fail criterion, criteria for judging the applicant's attitude, such as "Does the applicant speak clearly and confidently?", may be set, while for a "high" pass / fail criterion, criteria for judging the applicant's logical thinking ability, such as "Does the answer include specific experience?" and "Is the content of the answer consistent?".

[0062] The control unit 33 is, for example, a CPU. The control unit 33 functions as a reception unit 331, a decision unit 332, a question creation unit 333, a specification unit 334, and a pass / fail determination unit 335 by executing an information processing program stored in the memory unit 32.

[0063] The reception unit 331 receives the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass. The reception unit 331 receives, for example, the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass indicated by the application information received from the person in charge terminal 1 via the device communication unit 31, and inputs the received number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass into the determination unit 332.

[0064] The reception unit 331 may receive the number of applicants for each of the multiple periods, calculate the cumulative number of applicants by summing the received numbers, and update the related data with the calculated cumulative number of applicants. Alternatively, the reception unit 331 may receive the number of successful candidates for each of the multiple periods, calculate the cumulative number of successful candidates by summing the received numbers, and update the related data with the calculated cumulative number of successful candidates. Alternatively, the reception unit 331 may receive the number of unsuccessful candidates for each of the multiple periods, calculate the cumulative number of unsuccessful candidates by summing the received numbers, and update the related data with the calculated cumulative number of unsuccessful candidates.

[0065] The reception unit 331 may calculate the number of pending applicants by subtracting the calculated cumulative number of successful and unsuccessful applicants from the calculated cumulative number of applicants, and update the related data with the calculated number of pending applicants. Alternatively, the reception unit 331 may calculate the number of prospective successful candidates by subtracting the calculated cumulative number of successful candidates from the total number of prospective successful candidates, and update the related data with the calculated number of prospective successful candidates.

[0066] The decision unit 332 determines the difficulty level of the interview an applicant will undergo based on the relationship between the number of applicants received by the reception unit 331 and the number of candidates expected to pass. For example, the decision unit 332 determines that the difficulty level of the interview will be higher the larger the ratio of applicants to the number of candidates expected to pass (i.e., the higher the application rate). The decision unit 332 may also determine that the difficulty level of the interview will be higher the larger the increase in the ratio of applicants to the number of candidates expected to pass over a predetermined period (for example, the larger the increase in applicants over the past week). The predetermined period may vary depending on the application period; for example, since it is generally assumed that there will be more applicants if the application period is earlier, the predetermined period may be shorter if the application period is earlier.

[0067] Incidentally, as shown in the relational data (Figure 5), the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass changes moment by moment. For this reason, the reception unit 331 may receive the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass at multiple points in time. This allows the decision unit 332 to dynamically change the difficulty level of the interviews. Specifically, the decision unit 332 may determine the difficulty level of the first interview at the first point in time based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass at the first point in time. For example, the decision unit 332 may determine the difficulty level of the first interview on the first date based on the relationship between the number of pending applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass, which is associated with the first date in the relational data.

[0068] If the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass changes at a second time point after the first time point, the decision unit 332 may determine the difficulty level of the second interview at the second time point based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass at the second time point. For example, the decision unit 332 may determine the difficulty level of the second interview on the second date based on the relationship between the number of pending applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass, which is associated in the relational data with the second date after the first date. By dynamically changing the difficulty level of the interview in this way, the decision unit 332 can recruit appropriate applicants even when the number of applicants increases as the selection process progresses, or when successful candidates are determined periodically during the application period.

[0069] The decision unit 332 may determine the difficulty level of the interview by determining the difficulty level of the questions to be asked to applicants in the interview based on the relationship between the number of applicants received by the reception unit 331 and the number of candidates expected to pass. For example, the decision unit 332 may determine the difficulty level of the questions to be higher the larger the ratio of applicants to the number of candidates expected to pass, and conversely, the difficulty level of the questions to be lower the smaller the ratio of applicants to the number of candidates expected to pass. A question with a high difficulty level refers to a question in which relatively few applicants are able to give an answer that meets the passing criteria, while a question with a low difficulty level refers to a question in which relatively many applicants are able to give an answer that meets the passing criteria.

[0070] The decision unit 332 may refer to the interview difficulty data (Figure 6) and determine the difficulty level of the questions corresponding to the application ratio, which is the ratio of the number of applicants received by the reception unit 331 to the number of prospective successful candidates received by the reception unit 331. The decision unit 332 inputs the determined difficulty level of the questions into the question creation unit 333. The decision unit 332 may also display the determined difficulty level of the questions as a recommended difficulty level on the staff terminal 1, and input the determined difficulty level of the questions into the question creation unit 333 when it receives data indicating that the staff member has approved the recommended difficulty level.

[0071] The question creation unit 333 may create questions with a higher level of abstraction as the difficulty level of the question determined by the decision unit 332 increases. For example, the question creation unit 333 creates a question by referring to abstraction-level question data (Figure 7) and identifying a set of questions associated with the difficulty level of the question determined by the decision unit 332. The question creation unit 333 may also create a question by inputting a prompt to the large-scale language model to instruct it to create a question with an abstraction level corresponding to the difficulty level of the question determined by the decision unit 332, and then obtaining the question output by the large-scale language model.

[0072] Incidentally, even the same question can be easier for different applicants to answer. For this reason, the question creation unit 333 may increase the difficulty of the question by creating a question that the applicant tends to find difficult. In other words, the question creation unit 333 may refer to the memory unit 32, which stores high-difficulty questions for past applicants in relation to the attributes of past applicants, to identify high-difficulty questions associated with the applicant's attributes, and then create a question for the applicant based on the identified high-difficulty questions.

[0073] The question creation unit 333 extracts the applicant's attributes based, for example, on the applicant's application information (e.g., entry sheet) or the applicant's answers to questions designed to extract the applicant's attributes. Then, the question creation unit 333 refers to, for example, high-difficulty question data (Figure 8) to identify high-difficulty questions associated with the extracted applicant's attributes, and creates questions to be asked to the applicant based on the identified high-difficulty questions. In this way, by creating questions that the applicant tends to find difficult, the question creation unit 333 makes it easier for differences in interview results to occur among applicants, thus increasing the probability of hiring suitable applicants even when the application rate is high.

[0074] The attributes of applicants that companies prioritize may differ. Therefore, the question creation unit 333 may create questions such that the difficulty level of important questions used to confirm whether an applicant possesses the required attributes that the hiring organization seeks is higher than that of other questions. For example, the question creation unit 333 may identify as required attributes attributes that are highly important for performing the job in the company's industry or for the position for which the company is recruiting personnel. As an example, the question creation unit 333 may identify "communication skills" as a required attribute for sales positions and "meticulousness and attention to detail" as a required attribute for research and development positions.

[0075] The question creation unit 333 then creates questions by, for example, referring to attribute-specific question data (Figure 9), identifying questions with a "high" requirement level for questions asking about identified required attributes, and identifying questions with a "medium" or "low" requirement level for questions asking about attributes other than the identified required attributes. The question creation unit 333 may also identify questions asking about the company's experience or expertise in its industry as questions with a "high" requirement level. In this way, by making the difficulty level of questions asking about attributes that the company values ​​higher than other questions, the company can recruit applicants who are more likely to succeed after joining the company.

[0076] The question creation unit 333 may adjust the difficulty of the questions by adjusting the number of questions asked to each applicant. For example, the question creation unit 333 may increase the number of questions as the application ratio (the ratio of applicants to the number of expected successful candidates) increases. Alternatively, the question creation unit 333 may adjust the difficulty of the questions by adjusting the time limit for answering the questions. For example, the question creation unit 333 may shorten the time limit as the application ratio increases.

[0077] The question creation unit 333 may adjust the difficulty of the questions by adjusting the number of follow-up questions asked to further explore the applicant's answers to the initial questions. For example, the question creation unit 333 may increase the number of follow-up questions as the application rate increases. The question creation unit 333 may also adjust the difficulty of the questions by adjusting the state of the virtual interviewers when conducting a virtual interview with virtual interviewers. For example, the question creation unit 333 may increase the number of virtual interviewers, make the virtual interviewers' expressions more serious, or increase the speed of their voices as the application rate increases.

[0078] Up to this point, we have explained how to adjust the difficulty of the interview by adjusting the difficulty of the questions. However, the decision unit 332 may also determine the difficulty of the interview by determining the passing criteria that applicants must meet in the interview, based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of candidates who are expected to pass. For example, the decision unit 332 may set the passing criteria higher the larger the ratio of applicants to the number of candidates who are expected to pass, and conversely, set the passing criteria lower the smaller the ratio of applicants to the number of candidates who are expected to pass.

[0079] The decision unit 332 may refer to the interview difficulty data (Figure 6) and determine the passing criteria corresponding to the application ratio, which is the ratio of the number of applicants received by the reception unit 331 to the number of prospective successful candidates received by the reception unit 331. The decision unit 332 inputs the determined passing criteria into the pass / fail judgment unit 335. The decision unit 332 may also display the determined passing criteria as recommended passing criteria on the staff terminal 1, and input the determined passing criteria into the pass / fail judgment unit 335 when it receives data indicating that the staff member has approved the recommended passing criteria.

[0080] The decision unit 332 may raise the passing criteria by increasing the number of criteria that applicants must satisfy in their interview responses, especially when the ratio of applicants to the number of candidates expected to pass is large. For example, the decision unit 332 determines the number of passing criteria by referring to the passing criteria data (Figure 10) and identifying the criteria that must be satisfied corresponding to the determined passing criteria.

[0081] The decision unit 332 may adjust the passing criteria by adjusting the number of interviews required for an applicant to pass. For example, the decision unit 332 may increase the number of interviews required for an applicant to pass if the application rate is high.

[0082] Incidentally, companies sometimes want to adjust the difficulty of interviews depending on the length of time remaining until the application deadline. Therefore, the decision unit 332 may determine the difficulty of the interview based on the length of time remaining until the application deadline. For example, if the company prioritizes hiring the target number of people, the decision unit 332 will determine that the difficulty of the interview is lower the shorter the time remaining until the application deadline. Also, for example, if the company wants to strictly screen applicants who apply close to the application deadline, the decision unit 332 will determine that the difficulty of the interview is higher the shorter the time remaining until the application deadline.

[0083] In this way, the decision unit 332 determines the difficulty level of the interview based on the length of time remaining until the application deadline, making it possible to conduct selections appropriate to the time. The decision unit 332 may also determine the difficulty level of the interview based on the length of time remaining until the deadline for determining whether an applicant is accepted or rejected. For example, the decision unit 332 will determine a lower difficulty level for the interview the shorter the time remaining until the deadline for determining whether an applicant is accepted or rejected. This increases the probability of being able to hire the target number of people even when there is a short time remaining until the deadline for determining whether an applicant is accepted or rejected.

[0084] If the number of applicants who will apply by the application deadline or the deadline for determining acceptance or rejection can be predicted, the difficulty level of the interviews can be adjusted with greater accuracy. Therefore, the identification unit 334 may identify a predicted number of applicants, which is the number of applicants who are expected to apply by the application deadline or the deadline for determining acceptance or rejection, based on the number of applicants in the past.

[0085] The identification unit 334, for example, refers to relational data showing the relationship between the application period and the number of applicants in past recruitments, and identifies the number of applicants who applied during the period corresponding to the remaining period in the current recruitment as the predicted number of applicants for the remaining period. The corresponding period is, for example, one or more months and days in one or more past recruitment years that are the same as the months and days of the remaining period in the current recruitment year.

[0086] The identification unit 334 may determine the projected number of applicants for the remaining period based on the number of applicants from the start of the current recruitment period to the present. For example, the identification unit 334 calculates the average number of applicants per day by dividing the number of applicants from the start of the current recruitment period to the present by the number of days from the start of the current recruitment period to the present. Then, the identification unit 334 determines the projected number of applicants for the remaining period by multiplying the calculated average number of applicants per day by the remaining period.

[0087] The decision unit 332 may determine the difficulty level of the interview based on the relationship between the predicted number of applicants identified by the identification unit 334 and the number of applicants expected to pass within the remaining period that have been received by the reception unit 331. For example, the decision unit 332 may determine the interview difficulty level to be higher the larger the ratio of the predicted number of applicants to the number of applicants expected to pass within the remaining period. In this way, by determining the interview difficulty level not only based on the current number of applicants but also on the predicted number of applicants within the remaining period until the application deadline or the deadline for determining pass / fail status, the decision unit 332 can set the interview difficulty level in advance, taking into account the expected number of applicants in the future. As a result, companies can avoid situations where they are unable to hire suitable applicants because they are late in adjusting the interview difficulty level according to the number of applicants.

[0088] The pass / fail determination unit 335 makes a pass / fail determination for the applicant. For example, the pass / fail determination unit 335 identifies the applicant's attitude based on the video shown in the interview record received from the applicant terminal 2 via the device communication unit 31, or identifies the content of the applicant's statements based on the audio shown in the received interview record. The pass / fail determination unit 335 determines whether at least one of the identified applicant's attitude and statement content meets the pass / fail criteria input from the decision unit 332.

[0089] The pass / fail determination unit 335 determines that an applicant has passed if at least one of their attitude and / or the content of their statements meets the passing criteria. The pass / fail determination unit 335 transmits the pass / fail result for each applicant to the person in charge terminal 1 via the device communication unit 31. This allows user U to know who has passed.

[0090] [Processing flow executed by the information processing device 3] Figure 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing flow executed by the information processing device 3. The question creation unit 333 creates a question as follows.

[0091] The question creation unit 333 determines whether each attribute in the attribute-specific question data (Figure 9) is a required attribute that the company seeks from applicants (S1). For attributes that the question creation unit 333 determines to be required attributes (S1: YES), it refers to the attribute-specific question data and identifies questions with a "high" requirement level, thereby creating questions with a high level of difficulty (S2).

[0092] On the other hand, for attributes that the question generation unit 333 determines do not correspond to the required attributes (S1:NO), it refers to attribute-specific question data and identifies questions with a "low" requirement level and questions with a "medium" requirement level to create questions that are not of high difficulty (S3). In this way, a set of questions is prepared that includes high-difficulty questions for questions asking about required attributes, and low-difficulty questions for questions other than those asking about required attributes.

[0093] By the way, if the application ratio, which is the ratio of the number of applicants to the number of people who are expected to pass, is high, even if the difficulty of the questions asking about the required attributes for that job is increased, it may be difficult to differentiate the interview results among applicants. Therefore, the question creation unit 333 determines whether the ratio is greater than or equal to the first threshold (S4). If the question creation unit 333 determines that the ratio is less than or equal to the first threshold (S4: NO), it terminates the process.

[0094] On the other hand, if the question generation unit 333 determines that the multiplier is greater than the first threshold (S4: YES), it increases the level of abstraction of the question that is not of high difficulty (S5). For example, the question generation unit 333 inputs a question that is not of high difficulty and a prompt to instruct the question to increase its level of abstraction into the large-scale language model, and increases the level of abstraction of the question that is not of high difficulty based on the output of the large-scale language model.

[0095] In this way, the question creation unit 333 increases the level of abstraction of questions other than those asking about the required attributes for the job, making it easier to differentiate interview results among applicants, even when the competition ratio is high. As a result, companies can more easily hire suitable applicants.

[0096] However, if the competition ratio is extremely high, simply increasing the level of abstraction of questions that are not difficult may not differentiate the interview results among applicants. Therefore, the question creation unit 333 determines whether the competition ratio is greater than the second threshold (S6). If the question creation unit 333 determines that the competition ratio is less than or equal to the second threshold (S6: NO), it terminates the process.

[0097] On the other hand, if the question creation unit 333 determines that the multiplier is greater than the second threshold (S6: YES), it adds high-difficulty questions that people with the applicant's attributes tend to find difficult to the question set (S7). For example, the question creation unit 333 refers to high-difficulty question data (Figure 8) which shows high-difficulty questions that past applicants found difficult, categorized by past applicant attributes, to identify high-difficulty questions associated with the applicant's attributes, and adds the identified high-difficulty questions to the question set.

[0098] In this way, the question creation unit 333 adds high-difficulty questions that applicants with certain attributes tend to find challenging to the question set, making it easier to differentiate interview results among applicants, even when the competition ratio is extremely high. As a result, the hiring organization can more easily recruit suitable applicants.

[0099] [Effects of the Information Processing Device 3] As explained above, the reception unit 331 receives the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass, and the decision unit 332 determines the difficulty level of the interviews that applicants will undergo based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass that the reception unit 331 receives. As a result, if the number of applicants is greater than the number of candidates expected to pass, differences in interview results among applicants are more likely to occur, resulting in fewer applicants whose interview results are distributed around the passing line. Consequently, companies can more easily hire suitable applicants. On the other hand, if the number of applicants is less than the number of candidates expected to pass, the number of applicants who reach the passing line can be increased. Consequently, companies can more easily hire the number of people they expect to hire.

[0100] [Differentiation] In the embodiment described above, an example was given in which the interview for which the information processing system S determines the difficulty level is a virtual interview conducted by a virtual interviewer. However, as will be explained below, the information processing system S may also assist direct interviews by determining the difficulty level of direct interviews conducted by a company's recruiter through direct communication with the applicant. Direct interviews include, for example, face-to-face interviews in which a recruiter interviews the applicant in person, online interviews in which a recruiter interviews the applicant online, or voice interviews in which a recruiter interviews the applicant via voice call.

[0101] The question creation unit 333 may determine the difficulty level of the questions to be asked in an interview conducted by a company's recruiter, in the same manner as in the embodiment described above, and display the questions of the determined difficulty level on the recruiter's terminal 1 used by the recruiter during or before the interview. This allows the recruiter to engage in casual conversation and ask questions that are unique to a direct interview, while also asking questions created by the question creation unit 333 based on the current application rate, applicant attributes, or interview timing.

[0102] The decision unit 332 may determine the pass / fail criteria used by the company's recruiters when making a pass / fail decision, in the same manner as in the embodiment described above, and display the determined pass / fail criteria on the recruiter's terminal 1 after the interview. This allows recruiters to consider the pass / fail status of applicants based on their own criteria, while also referring to the criteria determined by the decision unit 332 based on the current application ratio, etc.

[0103] In this way, by having the information processing system S directly assist the interview, it is possible to leverage the advantages of direct interviews, such as being able to use impressions or characteristics of applicants that can only be obtained by actually speaking with them, in the decision-making process, while eliminating the disadvantages of direct interviews, such as recruiters asking biased questions or making decisions based on subjective impressions.

[0104] Although the present invention has been described above using embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of its gist. For example, all or part of the apparatus can be configured by functionally or physically distributing and integrating in any unit. Furthermore, new embodiments resulting from any combination of multiple embodiments are also included in the embodiments of the present invention. The effects of the new embodiments resulting from the combinations are combined with the effects of the original embodiments. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0105] 1. Person in charge terminal 11. Person in Charge: Communications Department 12 Display section 13 Control section 14 Storage section 15 Control Unit 151 Display Processing Unit 152 Operation Reception Section 2. Applicant's terminal 21 Applicant Communications Department 22 Display section 23 Control section 24 Microphones 25 speakers 26 Imaging Department 27 Memory section 28 Control Unit 281 Display Processing Unit 282 Operation Reception Section 283 Audio Processing Unit 284 Image Processing Unit 3. Information Processing Device 31. Device Communication Unit 32 Storage section 33 Control Unit 331 Reception Department 332 Decision Section 333 Question Specialist Department 334 Specific part 335 Pass / Fail Judgment Section S Information Processing System

Claims

1. The number of applicants, the number of people expected to be accepted, and the reception department that handles applications. Based on the relationship between the number of applicants received by the reception department and the number of candidates expected to pass, a determination unit determines the difficulty level of the interview that the applicants will undergo. An information processing device having

2. The aforementioned reception department receives the number of applicants and the number of prospective successful candidates at multiple points in time, The determination unit determines the first difficulty level at the first time point based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass at the first time point, and determines the second difficulty level at the second time point based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass at the second time point, which is after the first time point. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

3. The determination unit determines that the difficulty level of the interview will be higher the larger the ratio of the number of applicants to the number of candidates expected to pass. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

4. The determination unit determines the difficulty level of the interview by determining the difficulty level of the questions to be asked to the applicants in the interview, based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

5. The system further includes a question creation unit that creates questions of a higher level of abstraction the more difficult the question determined by the decision unit is. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4.

6. A storage unit that stores high-difficulty questions, which are questions corresponding to answers that did not meet predetermined criteria among multiple answers given by past applicants, in association with the attributes of past applicants, A question creation unit that, by referring to the memory unit, identifies the high-difficulty questions associated with the applicant's attributes, and creates questions to be asked to the applicant based on the identified high-difficulty questions, It further possesses, The information processing apparatus according to claim 4.

7. The system further includes a question creation unit that creates questions such that the difficulty level of key questions used to confirm whether the applicant possesses the required attributes sought by the hiring organization is higher than that of other questions. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4.

8. The determination unit determines the difficulty level of the interview by determining the passing criteria that the applicants must meet in the interview, based on the relationship between the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

9. The decision-making unit raises the passing criteria by increasing the number of criteria that applicants must satisfy in their answers during the interview, as the ratio of the number of applicants to the number of prospective successful candidates increases. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8.

10. The determination unit further determines the difficulty level of the interview based on the deadline for applications from the applicants or the length of time remaining until the deadline for determining whether the applicants are accepted or rejected. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

11. The system further includes a special unit that identifies a predicted number of applicants, which is the number of applicants expected to apply during the remaining period until the application deadline or the deadline for determining whether an applicant is accepted or rejected, based on the number of applicants in the past. The determination unit determines the difficulty level of the interview based on the relationship between the predicted number of applicants identified by the identification unit and the number of candidates expected to pass during the remaining period that the reception unit has received. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

12. The aforementioned identification unit refers to relational data showing the relationship between the application period and the number of applicants in past recruitments, and identifies the number of applicants who applied during the period corresponding to the remaining period in the current recruitment as the predicted number of applicants for the remaining period. The information processing apparatus according to claim 11.

13. A computer executes The number of applicants, the number of people expected to be accepted, and the application process. Based on the relationship between the number of applicants received and the number of candidates expected to pass, the difficulty level of the interviews that applicants will undergo is determined. An information processing method having

14. The processor in the information processing device The number of applicants, the number of people expected to be accepted, and the reception department that handles applications. Based on the relationship between the number of applicants received by the reception department and the number of candidates expected to pass, a determination unit determines the difficulty level of the interview that the applicants will undergo. A program designed to function as such.

15. The system comprises an information processing device for determining the difficulty level of the interview an applicant will undergo, a terminal for use by a person in charge at the hiring organization, and an applicant terminal for use by the applicant. The aforementioned information processing device is The number of applicants, which indicates the number of applicants, and the number of applicants expected to be accepted, are handled by the reception department, Based on the relationship between the number of applicants received by the reception department and the number of candidates expected to pass, a determination unit determines the difficulty level of the interview that the applicants will undergo. It has, The aforementioned staff terminal has a staff communication unit that transmits application information indicating the number of applicants and the number of candidates expected to pass to the information processing device, The applicant terminal has an applicant communication unit that receives interview information corresponding to the difficulty level of the interview determined by the decision unit from the information processing device. Information processing system.

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