Reg hack attends job interview hosted by AI avatar, struggles to exit uncanny valley
- Reference: 1757147587
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/09/06/ai_job_interview_experience/
- Source link:
Your CV is not fit for the 21st century – time to get it up to scratch [1]READ MORE
Job Bolt's [2]pitch is that resumes and CVs are full of fibs that existing HR systems can't detect, so HR people can save time by screening candidates with AI interviews that allow employers to write a set of questions for a human-like avatar to ask during a session that feels a lot like a one-to-one Zoom call.
Once the interview ends, Job Bolt uses AI to summarize the candidate's responses so human HR folks can decide who gets a meeting with a real person.
Here's a video of a typical AI-hosted interview. It glitches a bit because we excised some gratuitous logo placement.
[3]Youtube Video
[4]
So I could experience an AI interview for myself, Job Bolt created the role of editor at a fictional local newspaper, The Riverton Chronicle, and prepared a set of questions about how I find news, work with teams of reporters, and engage audiences.
[5]
[6]
I found the experience disconcerting, mainly because the avatar's non-verbal behavior is twitchy, repetitive, and comes from way down deep in the uncanny valley – the place where not-real-enough simulations come off as inhuman and creepy attempts at authenticity.
[7]AI recruitment software is 'automated pseudoscience', Cambridge study finds
[8]Bosses using AI to hire candidates risk discriminating against disabled applicants
[9]Salesforce sacrifices 4,000 support jobs on the altar of AI
[10]UK unions want 'worker first' plan for AI as people fear for their jobs
In the video above, the avatar digests an answer for six seconds without responding. During the interview I took, it processed things a little quicker but its responses were banal. Most opened by referring to my previous answer by saying "Thank you for sharing" or referred to an answer by opening "It sounds like…" before offering a decent summary of a previous answer and trying to bridge to the next question.
[11]
Reg hack Simon (top right) during an interview with an AI avatar provided by Job Bolt
The result just didn't feel in any way conversational because the avatar doesn't offer a real-time reaction to answers. It can't nod, raise an eyebrow, or make any other gesture or sound that indicates active listening or gives a clue about how it's receiving an interviewee's words. So I found myself groping for anything to guide my responses.
The results felt like my worst self, an uncertain and inarticulate mess no recruiter would consider a viable candidate.
Job Bolt is not the only startup using AI to "improve" the recruitment process. Earlier this year, we met [12]Megan the AI recruiting agent. Others are doubtless exploring the field and, because it's 2025, some HR managers will adopt these AIs.
[13]
If you find yourself asked to interview with an AI, I advise requesting a test run so you can experience the platform and learn how to put your best foot forward. That's a reasonable ask given that this sort of thing is new and strange. If an organization won't let you practice, it's probably an indicator that it's not a place you would want to work anyway. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/11/feature_tech_cv_updates/
[2] https://job-bolt.com/
[3] https://youtu.be/hlwYNnpri9Y
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aLwGNoFhmIvctkmhztaKJgAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aLwGNoFhmIvctkmhztaKJgAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aLwGNoFhmIvctkmhztaKJgAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/13/ai_recruitment_software_diversity/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/14/recruitment_ai_disabled_discrimination/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/02/salesforce_4000_jobs_ai/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/28/uk_unions_want_worker_first/
[11] https://regmedia.co.uk/2025/09/03/screenshot_job_bolt.jpg
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/15/megan_ai_recruiting_agent/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aLwGNoFhmIvctkmhztaKJgAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
If an employer asks you do to this ...
... politely decline and walk out.
You are human. If the employer wants to treat you like a machine in the interview process, imagine how awful it will be if they actually hire you.
Re: If an employer asks you do to this ...
> You are human.
And your time has a cost. Just like theirs.
Wouldn't you rather see that cost saving become an extra perk for their employees, e,g., free refreshments in the kitchen fridge?
Re: If an employer asks you do to this ...
Wouldn't you rather see that cost saving become an extra perk for their employees, e,g., free refreshments in the kitchen fridge?
You seriously think any of the "cost savings" will be passed on to employees and not the CEOs/shareholders?
Re: If an employer asks you do to this ...
< Wouldn't you rather see that cost saving become an extra perk for their employees >
Riiight, like that's going to happen. HR need to get off their backsides and expend some effort doing their jobs, because if they don't AI will be doing it shortly.
Yet again... "why should I bother to read something that you couldn't be bothered to write" comes into play.
And good luck with the HR process when you can't even desribe the criteria and processing used to ensure it was done fairly.
hr can't read
Lots of times I've been sent job info for things that are different to my job title. Life sciences work,dft engineer when I am a test engineer. HR read the job title.
Spray and pray either attention span of a marketing person on crack.
If a prospective candidate expresses concerns about AI-based interviews ...
... silently ignore them and move on to the next one, as they don't seem considerate of their employer's limited resources (e.g, HR time).
Re: If a prospective candidate expresses concerns about AI-based interviews ...
In the UK at least, you might be on the hook for a discrimination suit.
Interviews have to be conducted fairly in order not to discriminate against protected characteristics. AI has known biases, hence is not fair. The prosecution rests.
If I were a black woman and a company said I was getting an AI interview with AI summary, I'd be writing a quick email asking for a full explanation of how the post-interview was working to avoid AI bias.
Screen
I don't think I need a "practice run" to decide whether I want to work there.
As a matter of fact, any kind of HR "screening" is off-putting. HR may be binning CVs behind the scenes, but even that should be limited to the obvious, like a fresh 20yo "BA in communications" applying to a position of a guru level network engineer. If lack of fit is not entirely obvious it is a rare HR person indeed who can make a determination better than the hiring manager. If the first conversation is with HR then the organization presents itself is as not serious and possibly also as content with targeting less discerning applicants. At a later stage HR may be very useful and even essential, including for raising red flags of their own, but that is different from pre-screening.
The above opinion does not depend on whether I am a candidate or a hiring manager.
Quackamólé
If they use an "AI" to do the interview, then you should use an "AI" to feed the "AI" with what the "AI" wants to "see" and "hear" and the "AI" will flag you, the "AI", as the perfect candidate.
This is just a game of whack-a-mole until no one want meat bags for employees any more. Workers will be replaced by robots and AI talking to AI while nobody can afford anything any more because nobody earns any money...