Spot the AI candidate
I asked a candidate not to use outside help. He did anyway, and the whole interview came out scripted. Twenty-five years of interviews tell you when the answers are not the person's own. Use AI to work faster, and do the understanding yourself.
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A candidate who read his answers
I told the candidate one thing before we started: no outside help. He used it anyway. He was professional, he made mistakes, he even asked if he could search for help. And still, the whole interview was scripted.
How did I know? Twenty-five years of interviews. I have watched people do this work naturally, and I know how that looks. Sometimes you cannot explain it. You just see that it is off.
An interviewer is not testing whether you can find an answer. They are testing whether you understand one. Those are two different things, and the difference shows.
How can an interviewer tell the answers are AI? Prompt it yourself
Ask me the five questions an interviewer would ask for this job, one at a time. After each answer, tell me whether it sounds like my own words or like a script.
Why a read answer shows
A person who understands something answers in their own order, with their own examples, and pauses in the right places. A read answer is complete and even. It does not react to the question.
The mistakes were not the problem. Real people make mistakes. The problem was answers that did not sound like the person giving them.
In an interview, be the source. Prepare with the agent as much as you like, then close the screen and answer as yourself.
What makes an answer sound scripted? Prompt it yourself
I have an interview tomorrow. Teach me this topic until I can explain it without notes, then ask me the hardest question about it.
I can help you build yours
I build things like this with an AI agent, on my own computer. In a private session I help you do the same with your idea. Or bring it to the show, free.
Faster with AI, but the understanding is yours
AI can make you more productive, and that is real. But you still have to do the understanding part.
Typing the prompt is not the skill. Knowing what you asked for, and whether what came back is right, is the skill. That is what an employer pays for, and that is the part the candidate skipped.
When the agent gives you an answer, ask it why. Then explain it back in your own words. If you cannot, you are not done yet.
What would this look like for my work? Prompt it yourself
Explain why this answer is right, in plain words. Then ask me to explain it back to you, and tell me what I got wrong.
Start with your next interview
Prepare with the agent until you can say it without the screen. Then do the interview as yourself. The understanding is the part you keep.
What do I do next? Prompt it yourself
Here is the job ad. Teach me what they will ask, quiz me without notes, and stop when I can explain every answer in my own words.
Prompty