This essay is based on a conversation with Radhika Sharma, a 35-year-old product manager in New Delhi. Edited for length and clarity.
I started my high-tech career in 2015 and worked for a small organization that I had worked towards product owners for the past six years. In February, I quit that job and was able to spend more time with my younger daughter.
After just two months of rest, I started looking for work again. This time, we were aiming to enter product management.
While I was looking for a job, I received an email asking to submit my application to a SaaS company and invite me to undergo an AI-powered screening interview. The email clearly states that AI will ask several screening questions to measure my product management skills and experience.
The whole experience was an equal part of engaging and uneasy.
Interview link took me to the screen with Interview DOS and DOS
When I clicked on the link, I remember the written instructions telling me not to switch tabs while sitting in a quiet space where there were no other people. In fact, during the interview, I had to share my screen and monitor how I used my laptop. After agreeing to DOS and DOTS, I took part in the interview.
As soon as the interview began, the timer counted down from about 20 minutes. A blank screen with a female voice greeted me and began asking very specific questions about product management. It would have been great if he had a face, but it was just quick.
I also remember asking how I planned my product roadmap and how I dealt with conflicting stakeholder requirements.
A detailed evaluation of the performance was received immediately after the interview.
To my surprise, AI ranked my technical knowledge along with my engagement, eye contact, facial expression, posture and outfit. I felt my rating was very accurate, but I didn't think I would wear a collared shirt because I underestimated what AI could get.
I was highly ranked in technical skills, but the report says I am not professionally dressed, and my use of eye contact is “occasionally.”
AI technology interviews have their advantages and disadvantages
In a typical human interview, when I ask for feedback, I am told it is shared with HR, but it never reaches me. That's an annoying reality. So it was helpful to receive an instant analysis of my performance. It gave me the opportunity to learn about my strengths and weaknesses in the future.
The biggest scam is that the interviews were not interactive. This means that I had no opportunity to ask a clear question. For example, we asked how to manage conflicting priorities among stakeholders. If you had the opportunity, you might have asked if you could share past instances to make the response more impactful and understandable.
If I'm going to do another AI interview, I'll focus on getting more prepared
The next round was human interviews, but I chose not to move forward with the company for other reasons. I'm still doing interviews for work and using AI interview insights to make them more conscious of aspects I ranked positively and negatively.
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Based on this experience, if I do another AI interview, I will focus on being more prepared.
Humans generally involve some subjectivity in someone's evaluation, but AI is objective. It has a clear set of parameters that evaluate you, so you need to be prepared to share your knowledge confidently and clearly.
My advice is not to underestimate the AI interview system. Prepare, become real, and in my experience, dress well.
Do you have unique job interview experience that you would like to share? Contact Manscene Logan, Editor mlogan@businessinsider.com.
