my interviewer was an AI agent

A reader writes:

After being laid off, I was aggressively applying to everything even remotely in my industry. I landed an interview with a company I recognized and a role I was fully qualified for. In order to move forward in the process, however, they said I needed to “complete an AI screening.”

What? I was expecting a phone call with the hiring manager as a first step, but this is the future I guess. So I went with it. Well, it was — perhaps predictably — absolutely awful. Not only did the AI ask me confusing, irrelevant questions about hyper specific bullet points on my resume, but it frequently interrupted my responses and even lost connection three times, forcing me to repeat myself. All this happened while I was being video recorded, so I’m sure some of my answers likely came off a bit clipped and tired.

I have no idea how I should have handled that, and I dread having to do it again for some other company. Do you have any advice?

Yeah, it’s a terrible practice for exactly the reasons you encountered: nonsensical questions, technical issues, and the expectation that you’ll invest your time in a call to answer questions without getting any of your own questions answered in return so you can determine if you’re even interested in moving forward.

Up until now, the social contract between employers and job-seekers has been that once your resume passes an initial screening, the next step (whether it’s a phone screen or a more in-depth interview) will give you the chance to talk to the employer to ask questions of your own so that you can figure out if you want to invest any more of your time afterwards, since it doesn’t make sense to do that if the role doesn’t fit what you’re looking for. That’s why employer demands like “write multiple essays before we’ll interview you” or “do a lengthy work simulation before you can even apply” have always seemed out-of-touch.

It was bad enough when some employers started requiring one-way video interviews before they’d talk to you (where you have to record yourself answering specific questions, again without the opportunity to ask your own in return). This is that taken to new heights, and with even less respect for you and your time.

But AI interviews are probably sticking around for at least a while, if not long-term, so job-seekers will have to figure out whether they’re willing to play along or not. If you have other options, you can always decline. But like most terrible hiring practices, this one will most affect the people with the fewest options. If you’re at a certain level in your field and have in-demand skills, you can say, “I’d be happy to talk with a human who can answer my questions in return; if that’s not possible, I’ll need to withdraw from consideration.” If you’re not in that position and just need a job, you probably need to roll your eyes and do it.

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