Tim Millard, a communications expert in Atlanta, faced an unusual job interview setup in January. Instead of speaking with a human, he was instructed to record himself answering questions on camera. The experience, though inconvenient, was a sign of a growing trend: late-night AI interviews. Millard, who had been job hunting for six months, decided to complete the task at 9:30 pm, treating it as a necessary inconvenience. "What else was I going to do at 9:30 at night?" he remarked. The interview process, however, felt out of the ordinary, with a 30-second thinking period followed by a two-minute recording. The experience left him feeling resigned, but it unknowingly placed him at the center of a shift in the hiring landscape.
Arsham Ghahramani, co-founder of Ribbon, a voice-AI recruitment software company, noted the trend almost immediately after launching the service. Ribbon's data shows that 24% of AI interviews occur between 10 pm and 2 am, with the number rising to 35% for manufacturing clients. Ghahramani explained that many parents, hourly workers, and those in noisy environments can't dedicate time to interviews until late at night. "Some people are very constrained in their options of when they can interview and how they can interview," he said. Other platforms, like Greenhouse, also report a rise in late-night interviews, with 15 to 20% of candidates scheduling interviews at night.
The use of AI in hiring has sparked significant skepticism among applicants. A Greenhouse survey found that nearly two-thirds of job applicants have been interviewed by an AI agent, up from 13 points over six months. However, most candidates are not enthusiastic about the development. Thirty-eight percent of American candidates said they would withdraw from a hiring process rather than be interviewed by an AI. Another 12% said they’d drop out if an AI interview was required. One major stressor for applicants is the lack of transparency about how their footage will be used. While AI interviews are evaluated using job-specific rubrics, the process remains opaque for many candidates.
Source: wired
