AI for Interview Questions: Carv’s AI Workmate vs Generic Question Generators

Generic AI interview question generators: Pros and cons

When you’re running out of time or feeling overwhelmed by a blank interview prep document, generic AI interview question generators can be a tempting solution.

These tools use generative artificial intelligence to provide pre-programmed interview questions, offering an advantage over static interview templates by allowing for some level of customization.

However, it's important to understand their limitations before relying solely on them.

While they can be a time-saver, generic AI generators often lack the crucial context of your specific company culture and the unique needs of the client or hiring manager.

Let's delve deeper into the features, advantages, and drawbacks of these tools to help you decide if they're the right fit for your streamlined yet effective interview process.

Features:

Pre-programmed question banks: These generators offer a vast library of interview questions categorized by job type, skill, or experience level.
Keyword filters: Some tools offer filtering options. You can filter questions based on keywords relevant to the position you're hiring for.
Basic customization: Some interview questions generators allow minor customization options like adjusting question difficulty or selecting your industry or the job seniority level.

Pros:

Cost-effective: The first and most obvious advantage is the cost. For a limited budget, a free interview questions generator might be a good option. However, many AI recruitment tools offer freemium plans.
Time-saving: They can provide a starting point for question development, saving you time brainstorming initial questions for your next interview, and speeding up the hiring process.
Idea generation: They can spark new ideas you might not have considered on your own, so the generated questions might be more insightful than manually created ones.

Cons:

Generic questions: The pre-programmed questions may not be specific or relevant to the unique requirements of your role, or to the type of job interview you’re conducting. For example, the questions asked in a screening call will be different from those asked in the final round, and generic generators might fail to consider these specifics.
Limited customization: Customization options are often limited, making it difficult to tailor questions to your ideal candidate profile. Also, some question types might be missing, depending on the tool you use.
No context: Generic AI-powered generators don’t take into account the context of your company or of your client, if you’re part of a staffing agency. They also don’t consider your company culture, hiring policy, or ideal candidate profile.
No knowledge of interviewee’s profile: Such tools don’t take into account the profile of the candidate, so they might list questions that are not relevant or already addressed in their documentation.
Potential for bias: Generic generators may perpetuate unconscious bias if the question bank isn't carefully curated.

Overall, generic AI interview question generators can be a helpful starting point, especially for budget-conscious recruiters.

However, they shouldn't be your only resource.

For a more targeted and effective interview process, consider exploring AI tools like Carv, which uses contextual enrichment to create highly relevant questions.

Here’s how Carv’s recruitment AI works and why we believe it’s a better option for your interview prep.

Interview prep with Carv's AI workmate

Unlike generic tools, Carv uses contextually-enriched recruitment AI to assist you before an interview.

What does this mean in practice?

Instead of listing generic questions, Carv uses the context of your intake calls or your meetings with hiring managers to come up with a job description. Based on this, you can generate a list of questions specific to the job or company you’re hiring for.

For example, you can interact with the AI Workmate and ask it to create an initial set of questions derived from the intake report or from the job description. If you're not happy with the output or need more variations, you can ask Carv to create different types of questions, or group the questions however you need them.

Let’s say you'd like to use multiple question types, such as behavioural questions, competency-based questions, or situational interview question to thoroughly evaluate the candidate skills and job fit. The AI can assist you with this task, coming up with a list of questions in a few seconds.

Next to this, you can always feed the AI workmate an ideal candidate profile, or a sample interview template, and ask it to adjust the output based on that content.

At the end, you can edit the generated text in the output window, and the final data can be pushed to your ATS, so you have all the information in one system.

So let’s sum it up.

Pros:

Contextually enriched: As said, the first and most important advantage is that Carv’s AI has access to the same information as your TA team. By integrating the tool with your ATS and storing all your intakes and interviews in the Carv library, you enrich the AI with all the context it needs to understand your company, your ideal candidate, the job role you’re hiring for, and how to support you in making the best hiring decisions.
Allows for various input sources: Carv’s AI can perfectly handle unstructured data, so it can work with any type of input source, be it a video intake call, the audio recording of an in-person meeting, or a .pdf job description document.
Role- and candidate-specific questions: Unlike generic tools, Carv generates questions for the specific role and company you’re hiring for. It takes into consideration not just the job title but also your company culture and the skills and competencies needed for performing the job in your company.
Flexibility through interaction with AI workmate: You can interact with the AI workmate to create all types of questions, from soft skills to situational questions, depending on how much you already know about the candidate. Also, you can customize the questions to take a skill-based approach or on the contrary, a competency-based approach. This allows for a high level of flexibility in tailoring the questions to your specific needs.
Highly customizable output: If you prefer the output to be formatted or structured in a specific way, or you want to use a specific tone of voice, you can customize the AI pipelines to create company-specific workflows for the AI workmate. For example, you can create dedicated pipelines for the different stages of the hiring process, so you can generate different questions for screening calls, 1st round interviews, and final interviews.
Save time through pre-screening: Carv’s AI workmate can support with pre-screening interviews. The AI behaves just like a human recruiter, adapting the questions based on the candidate’s answers, and providing a seamless candidate experience. You can use the AI assistant to engage with candidates, ask pre-screening questions and filter out applicants, and only schedule interviews with your TA team for your best candidates.
Idea generation: Similar to generic job description generators, Carv's AI can spark new interview question ideas you might not have considered on your own. However, unlike standard tools, Carv's contextually-enriched AI goes beyond just suggestion and considers suitability too. It ensures the generated questions are suitable for the specific stage of the recruitment process, avoiding questions that wouldn't be appropriate for the interview stage.
Integration with existing hiring workflows: Carv’s AI can pull and push data directly to your ATS, embedding itself into your way of working. This way, you can continue using your ATS as your main source of information, while collaborating with the AI workmate before, during, and after your interviews, to speed up your work.
Cost-effective: Carv offers five free meetings and a freemium version too.

Cons:

Potential for bias: Like any AI tool, Carv's output depends on the training material it's been exposed to. So, if your intake data, such as past interview calls or job descriptions, contains unconscious bias, it could be reflected in the suggested questions. However, Carv offers mitigation strategies like allowing you to review and edit the generated questions before using them.
Accuracy: There might be cases where the AI-generated output is not 100% accurate. For example, when the recruiter or hiring manager speaks with a strong accent, or when abbreviations are used in input documents. However, as mentioned above, Carv offers full flexibility when it comes to editing the AI output before pushing the information to the ATS.

Choosing the right tool for your interview prep

In essence, the decision hinges on whether you prefer a one-size-fits-all approach or a solution that adapts to your unique requirements.

Although generic AI question generators offer a starting point, they often lack the crucial context needed to truly assess a candidate's suitability for the specific role and company culture.

Carv's AI Workmate takes a different approach. By leveraging contextually-enriched AI, Carv personalizes the interview prep process, analyzing your intake calls, job descriptions, and ideal candidate profiles to generate highly relevant and targeted questions.

Give it a try today.