The Rise of Asynchronous Interviews
In January, after six months of searching for employment, Tim Millard received an email regarding an interview for a public relations position. Expecting a conversation with a person, he was taken aback when he was instead asked to record his responses to a series of questions. A familiar feeling of resignation washed over him, a sentiment that had lingered throughout his job hunt.
“I thought, ‘I have to do this if I want to be considered for the role,'” Millard explained. That evening, the Atlanta-based communication and marketing expert tidied his workspace and prepared his laptop. The email had not specified a particular date for the interview, prompting him to act quickly. After all, what else was there to do at 9:30 PM?
The questions were fairly standard for the role: How would Millard send a press release to the media? How would he build relationships with local journalists? Yet, the format felt unusual. Sitting in front of his computer, he watched as a question appeared on the screen, giving him roughly thirty seconds to formulate a response.
“Once the thirty seconds were up, you only had two minutes to record your answer. It felt surreal,” Millard recounted.
By March, he received an automated rejection email. Unbeknownst to him, this experience placed him at the forefront of a trend currently reshaping the landscape of job searching. As automated video interviews and AI gain prominence in the selection process, so too do late-night interviews.
The Trend of Late-Night Interviews
Arsham Ghahramani, co-founder of Ribbon, a company that develops voice AI recruitment software, noted that he quickly recognised the trend of late-night interviews. According to data from over 500 companies using Ribbon’s service, 24% of AI interviews take place between 10 PM and 2 AM. For clients in the manufacturing sector, this figure rises to 35%.
“This is a genuinely new option for people. Some individuals have very limited choices regarding when and how they can conduct an interview,” Ghahramani stated. Many parents cannot afford to spare thirty minutes until the clock strikes ten. The same applies to hourly workers or those occupied in noisy environments such as factories or kitchens.
Ribbon is not the only platform observing this increase in late-night interviews. Greenhouse, a recruitment platform, reports that approximately 15 to 20% of candidates interviewed by their voice agent now schedule interviews during the evening.
Ophir Samson, who took charge of Greenhouse’s voice AI division after the company acquired his startup in May, expressed that he does not believe AI should replace human-led interviews. This is promising, as job seekers today display significant scepticism towards AI interviews.
Concerns Surrounding AI Interviews
A Greenhouse survey conducted in May revealed that nearly two-thirds of job applicants have faced interviews with an AI agent, representing a 13-point increase in just six months. However, the majority of individuals remain less than enthusiastic about this trend. A notable 38% of US candidates indicated to Greenhouse that they had withdrawn from a selection process rather than be interviewed by an AI, while another 12% stated they would exit the process if an AI interview were required.
One of the primary stressors for candidates is the lack of transparency regarding how the recorded material will be utilised. Are they being rejected for failing to use a trendy buzzword?
While this varies by company and service, a typical automated or AI video interview is assessed using a rubric that changes from role to role. For instance, a welder may be asked about specific technical skills or certifications, while a sales position might include a scoring aspect for “enthusiasm.” The AI evaluates the interview video to determine how well the candidate aligns with the rubric and assigns a score. This score, along with the interview clip, is relayed to the hiring manager; however, many interviews are never viewed by a human.
Navigating a Competitive Job Market
Samson describes Greenhouse’s approach to AI interviews as a supplement to a resume, a tool that can help identify high-quality candidates who might otherwise be overlooked amid the flood of applications. He does not perceive the AI interview as a choice between human and robot, but rather as an opportunity to avoid being ignored and increase the chances of speaking with a human interviewer in the subsequent round.
“It’s a challenging time to be a candidate. Your resume gets lost in a black hole. You’re competing against thousands of applicants who are using AI to craft their CVs. This makes it difficult for good candidates to stand out,” Samson explained.
This assessment seems to resonate with Millard’s experience. A year after losing his job, he continues to seek employment. The process has been so emotionally taxing that it inspired him to write a monologue, “After Careful Consideration,” which premiered at the Atlanta Fringe Festival in May.
When Millard signed up for his late-night interview in January, he did not feel at ease conducting it from home. On the contrary, he simply wanted to escape the nightmare, stating, “In today’s job market, it feels like if you shout, you are doing so into a void. And no one is going to hear you.”