How to Prepare for AI Interviews

• AI advances are enhancing or replacing jobs and tasks throughout various industries. Now, AI is entering the hiring and job-hunting arena. 
• Research shows that 43 percent of businesses have already adopted ― or plan to adopt ― AI job interviews by 2024. 
• If you’re seeking a new job, understanding how to stand out and impress AI hiring tools is crucial. 
• This article is for job seekers and hiring managers interested in learning about and preparing for AI-led job interviews.  

Artificial intelligence (AI) is not a new development. However, its recent advancements have changed how most of us approach business. With tools like ChatGPT streamlining communication and content creation, many professionals fear their jobs are ― or will be ― at risk. 

While the business world still needs human talent, AI is replacing tasks (and even entire jobs) across various industries. Now, AI is conducting interviews for companies hiring new talent. This development impacts hiring managers and interviewees, who now must worry about impressing AI. We’ll explore AI’s effects on hiring and share tips for preparing for AI-led interviews. 

AI’s impact on hiring

According to Resume Builder research, 43 percent of companies have adopted ― or plan to adopt ― AI interviews by 2024. Two-thirds of this group think AI interviews will increase hiring efficiency, with eight in 10 believing AI is more likely to pinpoint qualified candidates and improve the hiring process. 

The most concerning statistic? Over half think AI will eventually replace human hiring managers altogether. This research is alarming to human resources (HR) teams tasked with recruiting top talent and avoiding costly hiring mistakes. It’s also a huge concern for job seekers who must rely on AI to screen them. 

“This is still evolving, and hiring managers and HR are all jumping to see how new technologies can make them competitive and hire quicker as younger generations of managers are quicker to adopt,” explained Stacie Haller, chief career advisor at Resume Builder.

Many respondents (32 percent, to be exact) do not plan to utilize AI-led interviews, citing a host of reasons. They’re concerned about a lack of direct human interaction with candidates and are wary of unknown outcomes and associated risks. Many also believe AI-led interviews aren’t a cost-effective option for their company. 

However, AI proponents believe the technology will save their company time by eliminating unqualified workers, speeding up the interview process and helping them hire the best employees. 

“For hiring managers who are implementing this, the main reason is to shorten the hiring life cycle even though the majority understand that they will miss great candidates that a human would not,” said Haller.

Preparing for AI-led interviews

Regardless of which side of the argument you’re on, if you’re seeking a new job, you must understand how to stand out to AI and not rely solely on typical interview skills.

“Interviewing with a bot is very different from interviewing with a human and that’s the first important information job seekers need to recognize,” advised Haller. “It is an experience most people have not had and [they] therefore do not act naturally in the interview without preparation.”

Here are a few tips for interviewing with AI like a pro.

1. Treat an AI-led interview like a normal interview.

While it might feel uncomfortable or even silly, approach the interview as though an actual hiring manager is conducting it. 

“Imagine you are talking to a human,” Haller advised. “Many of these programs are monitoring facial responses and nonverbal clues, so it’s important to pretend you are talking to a human by maintaining eye contact, dressing as if you are on an in-person interview, [using a] professional background, [and] appearing open and friendly with confidence.”

These practices will impress the AI and ensure you’re not too stuck in your head during the interview. Since it’s an unnatural setup, sticking to what you know will help keep you grounded.

2. Use company jargon during an AI-led job interview.

Because bots are designed to pick up on specific keywords or phrases, you can impress AI by dropping the right terms during your interview. For example, focus on words used in the job description.

“Bots will be looking for the candidate’s words that mimic those in the job description, so it’s important to make sure you use the company’s jargon in your answers,” Haller recommended.

3. Practice your AI-led job interview.

As you would with any interview, practice answering common job interview questions related to the job and industry as well as your skills and experience, so you’re not caught off-guard. Haller suggested setting up a virtual interview with a friend and asking them to turn their camera off while asking questions. She also advises recording yourself so you can play the interview back and identify areas of improvement.

AI-led interviews pose questions and challenges for job seekers and hiring managers. For one, it’s not a “traditional” interview, which can throw even the most experienced professionals off their game. 

“For a job seeker, the challenge [of an AI-led interview] is not interviewing with a human where you can interact and respond to human facial expressions,” Haller explained. “Applicants now need to prep for these interviews in a new way and have to understand the skills needed to be successful if asked to interview this way.”

Some professionals rely on their charm and personability to land them a job. Those characteristics might not be so impressive during an AI-led interview.  

Additionally, AI has been known to hold biases that could eliminate candidates quickly for irrelevant or unfair reasons ― just as human hiring managers sometimes harbor hiring biases.

“We are learning about bias in AI, which must be taken into consideration here and most still acknowledge a human is needed in the process,” Haller cautioned. “But at that point, you may have already been eliminated.”

Likely, these challenges won’t be addressed until after companies start integrating AI-led interviews.

How AI is being used at work

When implemented properly, AI can be an incredibly helpful tool for business owners, streamlining processes and saving time. Along with improving the hiring process, many companies are already using AI to transform business processes in the following ways:

• AI provides customer support: You’ve likely seen chatbots on company websites that streamline customer support. These AI tools offer customers an immediate communication tool, freeing up your time. AI can answer frequently asked questions, collect customer information, provide quick insight to website visitors and connect more challenging interactions to a human customer service representative.  
• AI conducts competitor analyses: You can ask AI to perform a competitive analysis to dig up information about your competitors, including their strengths and weaknesses. The tool can identify where you’re falling short in relation to the competition, suggest areas of improvement and offer potential advantages you can leverage to stand out in your industry.
• AI can outline marketing and ad copy: AI tools can write quick copy for marketing content or advertisements. Input information about your brand and its products or services and the AI bot will deliver copy within seconds. Be sure to edit, alter and fact-check the information, as AI is not faultless.
• AI can brainstorm ideas and solutions: You can use AI tools like ChatGPT to help generate ideas and solutions to common problems. Ask the bot to provide a list of suggestions during a brainstorming session and discuss the results with your team. While it’s not a comprehensive solution, AI can help inspire new trains of thought.