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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- AI can be your trusted assistant for interview preparation.
- Chatbots can help you to research and practice your answers.
- However, don’t rely on AI and remember to get human feedback.
A job interview can be a nerve-wracking proposition. Success often hinges on some alchemical mix of preparation and personal rapport.
For job seekers, AI could provide a new way to get ready for this all-important step in the employment process.
Also: Nervous about the job market? 5 ways to stand out in the age of AI
“Technology is wonderful in that it provides all kinds of new advances in your efficiency and things that you can get done,” said Cord Harper, career coach and CEO of Endeavor Agency, but there’s one element that hasn’t changed in the years he’s been in the field. “[Hiring] it’s still a very human process.”
Here are three ways you can use AI to prepare for a job interview — and how to keep humanity in the mix.
1. Research the company and the interviewer
Before an interview, it’s important to do a deep dive, not only into the company but also into the person interviewing you. Digging into areas such as the organization’s past, position in the market, corporate culture, current strategies and challenges, financial situation, and even any recent news stories is vital to coming off as a serious, well-informed job candidate.
Harper discussed using AI to help in the research process. In the past, it might have taken hours to put together all that information.
“Now with AI tools, if they give it a decent prompt, they get some really good background knowledge about companies,” Harper said, with the caveat that you still have to double-check the AI for mistakes and hallucinations.
Remember, you can ask your chatbot to produce sources, and click through links to the original source of information to verify that the facts are correct.
Also: ‘Job seekers have to be detectives’: 3 signs that a listing is a scam
Harper has also worked with candidates to use AI to get to know the interviewer.
“We will analyze the individual people that our clients are interviewing with, and get into a lot more emotion about where this person is coming from,” he said. Using AI to analyze a LinkedIn profile, for example, might help identify a point of connection or specific priorities — something that might make you stand out from 20 other candidates who could be just as qualified.
After all, Harper said, people are also trying to figure out who they want to work with all day.
2. Anticipte interview questions
It’s hardly a surprise that interviews involve candidates answering questions designed to assess their character, work ethic, judgment, and more.
Outside the realm of AI, Araceli “Sally” Pérez-Ramos, associate director for career education and coaching at Wake Forest’s School of Business, encouraged students and clients to have 10 so-called STAR stories ready to go. STAR stands for situation, task, action, and results — these are anecdotes that touch on topics like teamwork, leadership, or conflict, and that you can use to illustrate how you behave in various situations.
But not every interviewer might ask such straightforward questions as “describe a time when you had a conflict with a coworker and how you handled it.”
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Pérez-Ramos said AI can be a big help in preparing for other types of questions. She recommended prompting your chatbot of choice like this: “Put that job description into the prompt, and simply ask it, ‘I’m currently interviewing for an entry-level role as a data analyst for ABC company. This is a 30-minute interview via phone. What are some first-round questions I can expect?'”
An article from Harvard University’s Mignone Center for Career Success gave several example prompts like, “What are some recent trends that may be affecting the [insert industry name] industry?” and “What might a hiring manager/recruiter at [insert company name] ask regarding this role [insert job description], based on my experience [insert resume]?”
Harper also suggested including a link to the interviewer’s LinkedIn profile in the prompt to help inform the questions.
“[AI] will allow you, sometimes, to think through how you’re going to answer, and the perspective that the employer may be coming from,” Pérez-Ramos said.
3. Plan and practice your answers
Now that you have a list of possible interview questions, you can start planning how you’d answer them.
Also: Reinventing your career for the AI age? Your technical skill isn’t your most valuable asset
Harper said he’s worked with clients to use AI to brainstorm answers to possible questions.
One prompt might be “use my resume and my LinkedIn profile to help me craft some great answers to these questions,” he said.
Harvard suggested prompts like “What examples from my background might help answer [insert question]?” and “Here’s my resume: [insert resume text]. What should I bring up in a job interview for a position as [insert job title] at [insert company name]?”
As part of this process, Pérez-Ramos reminds students and clients to scrub personal information before giving it to a chatbot.
Also: 5 reasons you should be more tight-lipped with your chatbot (and how to fix past mistakes)
For Harper, using AI to craft answers is another checkpoint where candidates should remember to be human.
Don’t memorize answers, and don’t depend on a cheat sheet.
“You have to go back through and read it, and adjust those answers. And then you have to practice those answers out loud,” Harper said. In particular, watch out for any factual errors AI may have inserted.
Chatbot features like Gemini Live from Google or ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode may be useful to practice portions of a mock interview in real time.
Pérez-Ramos also advised practicing with a friend or family member, or even enlisting the help of a career coach.
“[AI] can’t replace a real person and the real feedback you’re going to get,” she said.
