In June, Greenhouse launched Real Talent, an AI-powered solution designed to help recruiting teams cut through the overwhelming volume and influx of applications at the top of the hiring funnel and reduce the risk of fraud, spam and misrepresentation.

Our initial announcement generated a lot of interest – from our customers, prospects, job seekers, partners, the press and more. So, in the process of building Real Talent in preparation for beta testing later this year, we wanted to continue to provide transparency and insight into what we are building as well as how we are building it. In doing so, we aim to answer many of the common questions that people have asked us, such as, “Why are we building Real Talent?”; “How will it work?”; “How is Greenhouse considering privacy in this product?”; and more.

Our intention is to provide more updates and answer more questions over time, as we get closer to making the product available. For now, let’s dive in! Here are the top five questions and concerns we’ve gotten since the launch announcement:

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Why are you building Real Talent? Is this even a real problem?

Yes – spam and fraud in hiring is one of the most urgent problems facing talent teams today. Recruiters are overwhelmed by high volumes of inbound applications, many of which are unqualified, irrelevant or even fake. Sorting through the deluge of applications drains time, introduces risk and makes it harder for real candidates to break through.

Real Talent is built to solve this problem at scale. It combines AI-powered scoring, spam and fraud detection, and identity verification, right inside your Greenhouse workflow. The result: recruiters can quickly focus on qualified candidates, reduce risk and get time back to do what they do best – build relationships and make great hires.

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Who is involved in building this, and are you considering all perspectives?

Yes. From the very beginning, we’ve brought together expert voices in hiring, security and DEI to help shape Real Talent. We’re collaborating with customers, industry experts and advocates for job seekers to ensure the product is effective, responsible and grounded in fairness and accessibility. We’re bringing this group together into a formal Advisory Council with two sub-groups: one focused on inclusiveness and the other on risk and security. At every step, we’re asking not just what we can build, but what we should build.

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I’m worried about ID verification in the hiring process. Will it be safe and fair?

These concerns are totally understandable, and we’ve taken them seriously in every decision. Identity verification through our exclusive partnership with CLEAR is designed to be private, secure, inclusive, safe and easy. Here are the key aspects of how our identity verification process works, ensuring both security and user privacy:

• Data privacy is paramount: All personal data collected during the identity verification process is handled with the utmost confidentiality and stored securely. We adhere to strict data protection protocols to prevent unauthorised access or misuse. Greenhouse does not store any personally identifiable information collected by CLEAR in the identity verification process. 
• Independent and unaffiliated: This identity verification system is entirely independent and not affiliated with any government agencies or programmes. Specifically, it is completely distinct from CLEAR’s airport security programme. No user data is shared with outside organisations, including governments. Our process is solely for verifying identity within our platform.
• Robust matching criteria: Identity verification goes beyond simple name matching. It utilises hundreds of signals and advanced rules to ensure a highly accurate and reliable match, minimising the risk of misidentification. It is built to handle many common cases, such as someone whose name does not match their government ID due to name change, marriage, immigration, etc.
• No impact on hiring process for failed verification: A failed identity verification does not automatically disqualify a candidate from proceeding with the hiring process. It simply indicates the need to investigate further to resolve the discrepancy. Our aim with Real Talent is to prevent fraud and criminal activity only, while ensuring a fair and equitable process for legitimate applicants.
• Confidentiality: To maintain confidentiality and prevent bias, interviewers and hiring managers will not have access to your ID. However, they will receive notification of why an identity verification check failed, which they can share with the candidate on request.  
• Voluntary participation with opt-out option: Participation in the identity verification process is voluntary. 
• Streamlined and user-friendly process: We have designed the identity verification process to be as simple and efficient as possible. It involves a one-time presentation of your ID and selfie, then only a selfie for any future checks. Our goal with Real Talent is to provide an excellent candidate experience and make it easy for job seekers to verify.

Won’t this make it harder to get hired?

Quite the opposite.

Real Talent is designed to level the playing field by reducing the noise at the top of the funnel and helping real candidates get noticed. It prevents spam and bots from flooding recruiters’ hiring pipeline, so that recruiters can focus on identifying and interviewing people who are genuinely a fit. When quality candidates can rise to the top more easily, everyone wins.

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I’m a Greenhouse customer – when can I get my hands on the product?

We’re preparing Real Talent for beta testing in Q4 of this year. In the meantime, we’ll continue sharing updates here, answering common questions and offering deeper insight into how the product works.

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Greenhouse is committed to making hiring better for everyone

We know identity verification in hiring is new territory. It’s a necessary shift to meet the challenges recruiters face today. We’re building Real Talent with full awareness that every decision we make must support fairness, security and trust. 
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That’s also why we’re starting this blog series: to bring our community with us as we develop this product. We’ll be transparent about our decisions and share our thinking about the choices we make to help make hiring safer, more secure and more human. That’s how we’ve always worked at Greenhouse.
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For now, we hope this post gives you confidence in the direction we’re heading. If you’re interested in getting early access to Real Talent, we’d love to hear from you. 
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Ready to make hiring more human? Join the waitlist for Greenhouse Real Talent to be one of the first customers in line.