Собеседование с ИИ вместо рекрутера: кандидаты проходят отбор в час ночи

AI interviews have become the standard first stage of selection in many large companies — the algorithm increasingly meets applicants before any human recruiter does, writes Wired. Since the system is available around the clock, candidates schedule their "interview" at 1 AM — and this is becoming a new norm in hiring.

Why Candidates Attend Interviews at 1 AM

The main difference between an AI interview and traditional screening is the complete absence of a rigid schedule. An applicant opens a link, starts a video recording or text chat, and undergoes initial screening at any convenient time: between work shifts, late in the evening, or in the middle of the night. The algorithm asks a standard set of questions, records the answers, and automatically decides whether to advance the candidate to the next stage.

According to Wired's observations, this flexibility explains the emergence of a new pattern — a peak in hiring funnel activity during nighttime hours. The format is especially convenient for those actively looking for a new position without leaving their current job: no need to ask for time off, make calls from a parking lot, or explain to colleagues where you're going.

What Companies Gain — and What Candidates Lose

Companies implement AI screening for scale: the algorithm processes hundreds of applications without HR specialists' involvement, and recruiters engage only with candidates who have already passed the automated selection. This reduces the time to fill vacancies and lowers the burden on the recruitment team — especially for high-volume positions.

For applicants, the picture is more complex. On one hand — scheduling freedom and the absence of a live interviewer's gaze, which reduces anxiety. On the other — the opacity of the system: the candidate does not know by what criteria the algorithm accepted or rejected their answers. There is no feedback, no non-verbal signals.

"Since there is no human on the other end, candidates schedule interviews whenever they want — even in the middle of the night,"

Wired observes, describing a shift in hiring practice.

AI Interviews: Standard or Temporary Trend

Wired describes AI interviews not as an experimental practice, but as an emerging standard for the first point of contact in the hiring funnel. Technology companies and large corporations are actively integrating automated screening into their recruitment processes — from high-volume positions to mid-level roles.

This raises questions about algorithmic bias: if the system is trained on historical hiring data, it reproduces the biases embedded in that data. Standards for auditing and explainability of such decisions remain outside most corporate policies for now.

What This Means

Automated interviews are moving beyond experimentation and becoming the first point of contact between a candidate and an employer. Applicants gain scheduling flexibility — and lose transparency of evaluation. How automated hiring will affect the labor market in the long term remains to be understood by both companies and regulators.