Interviewing in the AI Era: What Companies Look For and How to Prepare Credible Answers

AI questions now appearing in interviews, how to describe your AI use with good judgement, skills companies still value, and cautions when using AI to prepare.

The interviewer asks, "How do you usually use AI in your work?" The first candidate says, "I use ChatGPT to write everything." Another says, "I don't really use it, I worry it gets things wrong." Neither answer is wrong, but neither tells the interviewer what they really want to know: how much judgement you use with new tools.

What has changed in interviews in the AI era

Now that AI tools can draft emails, summarise documents, analyse data and write code, many companies have started asking whether candidates can use AI to do better work and can still think for themselves when AI is wrong. At the same time, some companies are wary of resumes and answers that look entirely AI-written, because they make it hard to assess the real person.

What companies look for

Using AI with judgement

Knowing which tasks AI can help with, which it should not, and always checking output before using it.

Understanding your own work

AI can draft, but the person who understands customers and the business, and knows which answer is right, is the one companies need.

Skills AI struggles to replace

Communicating with people, deciding with incomplete information, owning outcomes and working with a team are still what interviewers measure with behavioural questions.

Care with data

Knowing not to put customer data or company confidential information into public AI tools without permission.

AI questions to prepare for

• What do you use AI for, and what results did you get?
• Has AI ever given you wrong information? How did you notice and fix it?
• If the team does not use AI yet, how would you introduce it?
• What kind of work do you think AI should not do?

An example of a strong answer

Use STAR and show both the use and the checking.

"On the marketing team I had to summarise customer survey comments every month (S, T). I used AI to group comments into themes, then read a sample of real comments in each group to check the grouping. I found it had mixed delivery complaints with packaging complaints, so I adjusted the prompt and checked again (A). The report was done much faster than before, and the team saw the delivery problem clearly enough to fix it at the source (R)."

Companies do not hire the person who uses AI the most. They hire the person who knows when to trust it and when to check.

If you do not use AI much at work yet

Do not worry so much that you invent a story. Many roles do not rely on AI yet, and many companies are only starting to set policies. Before the interview you can:

• Try AI on two or three small real tasks over a week or two, such as summarising meeting notes, drafting a customer reply, or organising data in a spreadsheet.
• Note where it helped, where it needed heavy editing, and where it should not be used.
• Say honestly that you have just started, then share what you learned from experimenting. Interviewers often value candour and eagerness to learn over answers that sound impressive but lack detail.

Cautions

• Do not have AI write all your interview answers for you to memorise. Interviewers usually probe deeper, and if the story is not yours you will not be able to answer.
• Do not use AI during an interview or test unless the company allows it. It is dishonest and may disqualify you.
• Do not claim to use tools you have not really used. You may be asked to demonstrate.
• Protect past employers' data. When giving examples, do not reveal confidential information.

Using AI to prepare the right way

• Have AI generate questions from the job description, then answer them yourself.
• Have AI play an interviewer who asks probing follow-ups, so you practise handling the unexpected.
• Have AI point out where your answer lacks a result or example, then fix it with your own real story.

How to start

1. List three tasks where AI genuinely helped you.
2. Write each as a STAR story, emphasising how you checked the output.
3. Prepare one story where AI was wrong and you caught it.
4. Read the AI policy of the company you are applying to, if it is public.
5. Practise out loud until the stories sound natural.

Read more on practising interviews with AI and answering with STAR, then rehearse real questions in Interview Lab.