AI interviews: the job interview run by an AI interviewer

The first-round interview bottleneck

• Calendars that never line up. Finding a slot between an employed candidate and a busy recruiter sometimes takes longer than the interview itself.
• Repetitive first rounds. The same core questions come up with every candidate, before you even know whether they deserve a second interview.
• One-way video isn't enough. A candidate answering alone in front of a camera can't be asked a follow-up, and can't ask their own questions.

How an AI interview works

1. The candidate gets a link. They join the interview at the agreed time, from their browser, with no app to install.
2. Alicia leads the conversation. She explains how it will go, follows the question kit, follows up when an answer stays vague and answers the candidate's questions about the role.
3. You get the interview summary. The full transcript, a rating for each criterion justified by the answers, and the points to dig into in the next round.

AI interview, assisted interview or one-way video interview?

Three interview formats that meet different needs.

AI interview or assisted interview: two ways to run the interview

Delectus offers two interview modes, depending on the stage of the hiring process. In an AI interview, Alicia runs the first interview with the candidate on her own, at the agreed time. In an assisted interview, you lead the conversation, and the interview agent supports you while you stay focused on the exchange.

Both modes rely on the same interview kit and produce the same kind of interview summary. So you can compare candidates for the same job opening, whichever mode was used for each one.

What the candidate experiences during an AI interview

The candidate opens the link they received, allows their camera and microphone, then meets the AI interviewer over video. She introduces herself, explains how the interview will go and how long it will take, and asks the role's questions one by one. When an answer stays vague, she asks for an example, just as an attentive recruiter would.

Unlike a one-way video interview, the candidate talks to someone who listens and reacts. They can ask for a question to be rephrased, come back to an answer or ask a question about the role. At the end, they have time to ask their own questions. They know from the start that they're talking with an AI, and that a recruiter will review their interview.

An interview kit for every role

Before the first interview, Delectus prepares a kit from the job opening. It brings together the role's evaluation criteria and the questions that test them, with useful follow-ups. You review it, remove what doesn't suit you and add your own questions. This is the kit Alicia will follow, and it serves as the scorecard for the evaluation.

For a customer service representative role, the kit might include questions like these.

• "Can you tell me about a time an unhappy customer contacted you? What did you do?"
• "How do you organize your day when several urgent requests come in at once?"
• "What attracts you to this role?"

The assisted interview, inside the platform

When you run the interview yourself, the video call happens directly in Delectus. The transcript appears in real time, and the agent suggests questions or follow-ups when a point in the kit hasn't been covered yet. You no longer need to take notes while listening.

At the end, the analysis is broken down by theme, covering technical skills, soft skills and motivation, and the report writes itself. The interview is recorded, so you can go back to a moment or share it with a hiring manager who wasn't there.

The interview summary from an AI interview

Every interview produces a full transcript and an evaluation criterion by criterion. Each rating is justified by the candidate's answers, with the part of the transcript it's based on. Points to dig into in the next round are flagged, giving you a basis for preparing the interview with the team.

The evaluation is a reasoned opinion. You read it, skim the transcript if needed, and decide who moves on to the next round. The candidate then moves forward in the job's kanban, and the next meeting is booked into your slots, synced with Outlook and Teams.

How should a recruiter prepare an AI interview?

You prepare an AI interview the same way as a traditional one. Define the role's evaluation criteria, usually three to six, then approve the question kit and adapt it if needed. Also specify what information the interviewer can share about the role, such as the remote-work arrangement or the next steps. Finally, tell the candidate clearly about the format, the length and what happens next.

When to choose an AI interview, and when to choose an assisted interview

The AI interview suits first rounds, when many candidates need to be seen quickly and calendars can't keep up. The assisted interview is better for later rounds and for roles where the human relationship matters from the start, such as a management role or a highly sought-after profile. Either way, the recruiter reviews the interview summary and decides what happens next.

The format is chosen per job opening. A candidate who would rather talk to a person can be offered an assisted interview instead.

Mistakes to avoid with AI interviews

The AI interview doesn't replace the whole process. Avoid using it for the final round, offering it without telling the candidate about the format, or reading only the rating without skimming the transcript. The best results come from an AI interview in the first round, followed by a human interview for the shortlisted candidates.

AI interviews and compliance: what the rules say

The GDPR states that a person must not be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing when it significantly affects them. The EU AI Act also classifies candidate evaluation systems as high-risk systems, with a requirement for human oversight.

The AI interview respects this framework. The candidate is told they're talking with an AI, the evaluation is a reasoned opinion, and the recruiter always decides what happens next.

Frequently asked questions