How to nail your job interview with an AI

As AI platforms start recruiting, job seekers must adapt. Learn how to avoid common tech pitfalls and remain authentically human

- Ray A. Smith

If you're applying for jobs, you better get used to being interviewed by AI. As the use of artificial-intelligence tools in hiring continues to expand, it isn’t unusual for job candidates to be interviewed by an AI platform rather than a human—at least initially.

In these AI video interviews, candidates typically see a screen with a written question and their face in a camera frame with a prompt to respond via video. Sometimes the question will require a typed-in or multiple-choice response rather than a video answer. Just like with any job interview, the questions can be both basic (“What does good customer service mean to you?”) or technical (“What approach would you take to identify the root cause of a $100,000 variance during the consolidation of three international subsidiaries?”).

You may have just one opportunity to rerecord an answer; if you flub that, there’s no taking it back. The platform usually provides no response beyond a matter-of-fact acknowledgment that your answer was submitted. But behind the scenes it is noting and scoring your answers for an assessment it will give to the hiring company. A human eventually reviews the submissions.

The experience can be awkward or unnerving for many candidate. So we consulted recruiters, career consultants and people who run AI hiring platforms for tips on how to ace an AI job interview. First off, they say, don’t act like a robot yourself. Here are some of their other tips:

Practice in the same manner in which you will be evaluated: on video with no one to look at and under time pressure. “AI is evaluating delivery, pacing, confidence and clarity, not just content,” says J.T. O'Donnell, chief executive of career-coaching site Work It Daily.