Harver raises $15 million to automate high-volume hiring in enterprises

The robots are coming to steal our jobs, or so the popular narrative goes, but the reality of automation’s impact on the workforce is somewhat more nuanced. While automation will undoubtedly have a seismic impact on employment, some analysts predict that many new roles will be created as a result of the broader artificial intelligence onslaught. Moreover, we’re seeing a growing number of companies developing AI and automation tools that can be used to help companies recruit human employees.

One of those is Harver, a New York-based startup that offers pre-hire assessment software covering all the key facets of recruitment process up until the interview stage. Harver today announced it had raised $15 million in a series B round of funding from Insight Partners, which it said it will use to “reinvent the volume recruitment process through digital automation,” according to a statement.

A core raison d’être of Harver’s platform is that it helps companies sidestep the laboriously manual process of sifting through sackfuls of resumes. It helps vet candidates based on data garnered from automated assessments, rather than feelings, first impressions, or intuition which it touts as an effective way of minimizing unconscious bias in hiring.

Harver ships with more than a dozen customizable assessment modules, covering things like an individual’s cognitive aptitude, culture fit, personality, multitasking capabilities, and typing skills. Companies give candidates tailored situational judgement tests (SJTs), which serve up potential scenarios from the workplace, with a choice of responses which the candidate can select or rank. This gives the employer some insights into how a person’s brain is wired and whether they’re a good fit for the role.