How to Add an AI Interview Assistant to Your Recruitment Process

Candidates might think it’s just about how they perform during the actual interview, but as we all know, there’s prescreening, hours of interview prep, debriefing—the list goes on.

With this in mind, it’s not hard to see why AI interview assistants are the hottest tool in recruitment circles right now. Recruiters all over the world are using AI to make their interview processes faster, fairer, more efficient, and scalable.

If you're drowning in applications for high-volume roles or struggling to efficiently screen candidates for specialized positions, an AI interview assistant could be the game-changer you’re looking for.

Here, I’m going to explore how this technology can streamline your recruitment workflow, reduce time-to-hire, and help you identify top talent more effectively – all while keeping that human touch that's so important to great recruiting.

Types of AI interview assistants

An interview workflow can involve different kinds of stages that require totally different technology to manage them. That’s why there are four core types of AI interview assistants you can use, each with their own features and use cases.

Choosing the right type of tool will depend on what your hiring process looks like, but here’s an overview of what these tools involve.

1. Text-based interview assistants

Text-based AI assistants are tools designed to engage candidates on messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook chat and SMS.

This type of assistant will be most useful to larger organisations engaged in volume hiring; so either you’re hiring for multiple roles simultaneously or expecting a particularly large number of candidates for each vacancy.

Using a text-based assistant, you can pre-screen candidates quickly by collecting basic qualifying information like skills, experience, and their availability. This way, your recruiters don’t even have to spend time reviewing candidates that don’t meet the qualifying criteria - the AI assistant will disqualify those for you automatically, progressing only right-fit candidates for an actual interview.

Benefits of text-based AI assistants:

• Fast response rates,
• Instant feedback,
• 24/7 availability, which is good for candidate experience.

These tools are also really easy (and even fun!) for candidates to use, which keeps engagement high.

2. Voice interview assistants

AI-driven voice assistants are tools that can handle candidate phone screenings for you. And before you scoff at the idea of using a voice assistant (I’m sure we’ve all had an experience where we’ve wanted to scream down the phone at a robotic voice) it’s important to know that the technology has come far in the last few years. Really far.

A good AI voice assistant will sound completely human, using conversational voice interactions that feel really natural to the candidate. It’s so realistic that candidates often feel like it’s an actual interview.

These tools are excellent for evaluating a candidate’s communication skills, language proficiency, and initial fit for a role that involves verbal communication. For these types of roles, you can’t rely on a resume, cover letter or any text-based screening tools to pull out the best candidates - you need a screening tool that can analyse voice.

Benefits of AI voice assistants:

• Scalable for high-volume hiring,
• Personalized experience for job seekers.

3. Video interview assistants

I really wasn’t exaggerating when I said the technology has come far in recent years - you only have to look at AI-powered video assistants to instantly see that.

Using an advanced AI video interview assistant is different from text and voice assistants in that they don’t manage prescreening. These tools are designed to support recruiters in a real-time interview. In this sense, they’re more like an AI interview copilot.

During a video interview with a candidate, the AI will analyze the video interactions in real-time. It can even evaluate non-verbal cues, like facial expressions and hand gestures.

Using an AI-powered video assistant in your hiring process will allow you to run structured video interviews with candidates that use analytics to inform decision-making rather than relying purely on the recruiter’s (often subjective) view of a candidate.

They also free up your focus so you’re able to flex your excellent interview skills, engaging fully with the candidate, receiving real-time feedback from the AI as the interview progresses. This can also lead to a fairer and more objective screening process - particularly in final-round interviews, where a lot is at stake.

Benefits of AI video interview assistants:

• Deeper insights,
• Time-saving for recruiters,
• A more engaging and professional candidate experience.

4. Admin assistants

Again, this AI tool is a bit different from the others in this list in that it’s not designed to manage job interviews themselves, but to assist recruiters with the administrative tasks involved before, during and after interviews.

AI assistants can automate a whole load of different administrative tasks across various stages of the interview process. For example:

• Before the interview: The AI admin assistant can handle almost all your interview preparation, including coming up with interview questions (based on documentation like the job description, the candidate’s resume and their cover letter).
• During the interview: It can automatically take notes and provide real-time feedback so recruiters can focus on the interview candidate instead of worrying about taking notes.
• After the interview: The tool can use the transcription to write debrief summaries and generate interview documentation. This helps recruiters assess candidates against each other and provide clear and actionable candidate feedback to the hiring manager.

These tools can even provide follow-up actions and recommendations based on what was discussed during the interview.

‍Benefits of using an AI admin assistant for interviews:

• Reduces administrative workload,
• Ensures standardized documentation,
• Helps recruiters focus on high-value activities, like fully engaging with candidates when they’re sitting in front of them.

‍Benefits of adding an AI interview assistant

‍In the previous section, I touched on some of the benefits of using each different type of AI interview assistant in your workflow. But there are some over-arching benefits of bringing any of these tools into your recruitment process that are also worth mentioning. For example;

• Saves time and effort - AI interview assistants automate a lot of the repetitive, time-consuming tasks - like interview scheduling, initial screenings, and data entry - that slow you down throughout the day.
• Enhances candidate experience - When you’re using an AI assistant, the entire hiring process speeds up without sacrificing quality. You’re able to provide faster response times, consistent communication across all stages, and make hiring decisions faster. This means there’s less waiting around for candidates and they have a clear idea of where they stand throughout the entire hiring process. With 50-70% of candidates receiving no feedback, a tool that can handle this automatically can completely transform the whole interview experience for candidates.
• Improves decision-making - By proving structured post-interview data based on the interview transcript, this allows recruiters to make objective comparisons between candidates as everyone is assessed using the same criteria. This leads to better hiring, because candidates are assessed based on their suitability and performance rather than how the recruiter feels about them on the day.
• Scales recruitment efforts - With an AI-assisted interview process, you can easily handle large applicant volumes without compromising quality. This means you can continue to scale up your efforts and recruit for more positions without needing to hire more recruiters.

How to get started with an AI interview assistant

‍By the time you’ve reached this point, it’s hard not to be convinced. But you’re probably thinking, how do I get started with using this AI technology? Well, there are a few important things to think about.

Choose the right type of assistant

‍Before you invest in any new technology, it’s important to think carefully about what your needs are in practice. With AI tools it’s no different - think about what your interview process looks like in practice so you implement a tool that’s actually relevant to how you work.

Are you involved in high-volume hiring, or recruiting for really specific, skills-based roles? Or do you need support in a particular stage of interviewing (pre-screening, post-interview decision-making or real-time assistance during interviews, for example).

Once you’ve identified the areas you need support in, you can match the best AI assistant to your process. For example, you’d probably want to go for a text assistant for prescreening, voice for screening, and video for more in-depth assessments.

Use an easy-to-integrate solution

‍One thing a lot of businesses forget is that if you’re going to successfully implement a new tool that will make your job easier, it has to be something you can easily integrate into how you already work. If you introduce a new tool that doesn’t fit with your current workflow or connect with the tools you already use, this will have the opposite effect you want: It slows everything down and forces recruiters to change how they work.

AI interview assistants like Carv connect seamlessly with all the major tools recruiters use daily, like meeting platforms (Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams), your email inbox and calendars.

The most important integration for recruiters, of course, is that the AI assistant must link up seamlessly with your ATS (Applicant Tracking System). This ensures candidate data flows freely and accurately between tools, with no errors or gaps to worry about.

An AI assistant that integrates easily into your existing recruitment workflow will mean minimal set-up time and ease of use, meaning your recruiters will instantly start reaping the benefits of the technology from day one.

Start small, scale strategically

‍Any time you’re implementing a new technology that will have a big impact on your recruitment process, it’s always a good idea to bring it in incrementally.

Pilot your AI interview assistant with one or two stages of the interview process to test the water first. Then, you can gather feedback from your recruiters, hiring managers and candidates to refine it.

Once you’re up and running, you can then gradually expand how you use the tool based on feedback as well as your recruitment metrics. It’s the safest and most effective way to scale your recruitment strategy without causing any disruption to the way things currently work.

Over to you

The sooner you give an AI interview assistant a try, the sooner you’ll feel like you’ve hired another recruiter to support you. They might not be able to make you a cup of coffee (yet!), but they will dramatically reduce your workload and improve the interview experience for everyone involved.

As you go through this journey of bringing an AI interview assistant into your process, remember that success lies in choosing the right tool for your specific needs and taking a measured approach to embedding it in your workflows. The investment you make now will pay off instantly on a smaller scale, but you’ll see a huge impact over time as you begin automating all different kinds of interview scenarios.

If you're ready to give it a try, check out Carv's AI admin assistant below.