Start with the invitation email
Most of what you need to know about an AI interview is in the message that invites you to it. Read it twice and write down the answers to four questions: Is it video, voice or text? Is it recorded for later, or does the software talk back to you live? How long do you get per answer, and can you retake one? When is the deadline?
Those answers change how you prepare. A one-way video interview with a 90-second limit and no retakes needs timed rehearsal. A live voice screen that asks follow-up questions needs you to be comfortable thinking on your feet. A text chat needs short, clear writing. If the email leaves something out, it is fine to reply and ask the recruiter.
If the format itself is new to you, start with our explainer on what an AI interview is and the different forms it takes.
Two or three days before: test the setup
Technical trouble eats more confidence than any hard question. Open the interview link early if the platform allows it, on the same device and browser you will use on the day. Many platforms offer a practice question that does not count. Use it.
Check that the microphone picks you up at a normal speaking volume, that the camera sits at eye level, and that the light is in front of you rather than behind. Close other apps that might grab the camera. Put your phone on silent and out of reach.
Our routine for one-way video interviews covers the camera side in more detail.
Prepare five stories instead of fifty answers
AI screening interviews draw on a fairly small set of question types: tell me about yourself, why this role, a time you solved a problem, a time you disagreed with someone, a time something went wrong. You cannot script every wording, but you can have five or six true stories ready that fit most of them.
For each story, note the situation in one line, what you personally did, and what changed because of it. The STAR method is a good frame. Keep the notes short enough to glance at; you are building memory, not a script.
Tell me about a time you had to learn something quickly.
Last spring our team switched to a new booking system two weeks before our busiest month. I volunteered to learn it first. I spent three evenings on the vendor's training videos, wrote a one-page guide with screenshots, and ran two short sessions for the other five staff. We went live on schedule, and the guide is still what new starters get on day one.
Rehearse out loud, with a clock running
An answer that reads well in your head often wanders when you say it. You only find that out by speaking. Set a timer to the limit in your invitation, read a question, give yourself the same thinking time the platform gives, and answer to the empty room or to your phone's camera.
Then listen back. Did you answer the question in the first two sentences? Did you say what you did, or what the team did? Did you stop when you were finished, or trail off? Fix one thing and try the same question again. Two or three rounds per story is usually enough.
The silence takes getting used to. Nobody nods or smiles, so it is easy to feel you are doing badly. Our post on rehearsing for recorded interviews has drills for that.
If you would like a practice partner who asks about your own résumé and follows up on what you say, Hmmlo runs spoken mock interviews with an AI interviewer and a coach review afterwards. A friend with a list of questions works too. What counts is that you say the answers aloud before the day.
On the day
Give yourself ten quiet minutes before you start. Have water nearby. If the platform allows notes, keep them to a few words per story so you are not reading from a page.
When the first question appears, take the thinking time you are given. Starting a second late costs you nothing. Speak a little slower than feels natural, because nerves speed most of us up.
If something breaks halfway through, such as a frozen screen or a lost connection, take a screenshot and email the recruiter straight away. Problems like this are common, and recruiters deal with them often. If you need a different format or an adjustment, here is how to ask for a human interview or an accommodation.
Afterwards
Write down the questions you were asked while you still remember them. They are the best practice material you will get for the next round, which is often a live interview where follow-up questions come in. Our guide to practicing follow-up questions picks up from there.
Then expect a quiet few days. Silence after an AI interview is normal and says nothing about how you did.
