Understand AI Interview Guides
Overview
AI Interview Guides are position-level templates designed to standardize and streamline the AI interview process. Instead of configuring interview settings manually for every candidate, recruiters and administrators can create structured frameworks (guides) that define the questions, competencies, and settings for a specific role. Once created, these guides are automatically recommended during the scheduling process, ensuring every candidate for a position is evaluated against the same criteria.
The shift
The introduction of Interview Guides moves the workflow from ad-hoc configuration to a standardized, template-based approach.
| Previous flow | New flow with Interview Guides | |
| Configuration | Recruiters configured interview settings on-the-fly during scheduling. | Guides are proactively created at the position level and reused for all candidates. |
| Standardization | Evaluation criteria could vary between candidates if recruiters selected different options or feedback forms. | Assessment criteria (questions/skillsets) are locked into the guide, ensuring consistency across the role. |
| Selection | Users had to navigate large global libraries (e.g., 100+ coding templates) or backend configurations. | Users select from a concise list of guides specifically associated with the position. |
| Pre-Screening | Limited pre-screening capabilities during the invite flow. | Introduces ‘Qualifying Questions’ to automatically disqualify candidates who do not meet mandatory requirements before the interview begins. |
Supported interview types
The guide system supports three distinct assessment formats:
- Profile Screening: Assessing basic fit and background. These guides can now include Knockout Questions and utilize AI to generate follow-up questions based on the candidate's resume and job description. You no longer need to create fixed feedback forms for every role in the Admin Console. With Interview Guides, you can use an existing form as a starting point, then customize it by adding or removing questions directly from the question bank.
- Coding Interview: Technical assessments where questions are pulled from a pre-configured bank. Guides can utilize question pools to randomize questions (e.g., 1 from Pool A, 1 from Pool B) while maintaining consistent difficulty.
- Functional Interview: Deep-dive assessments based on specific competencies. Users can select from global skill sets or use AI-generated recommendations specific to the position.
Questions/Feedback forms for profile screening
In Admin console, we have questions (that may be imported from an ATS) and feedback forms (which are collection of questions). While, we're moving away from using feedback forms in AI Interviewer, users can still use them to bulk import questions an Inteview Guide. Once questions are imported there is no link between the feedback form and the interview guide. Interview questions need to be added to Guides, come from the list of questions in the admin console.
Skillsets in functional interviews
Skillsets (or Competencies) serve as the structural blueprint for Functional Interviews. Unlike Profile Screening or Coding guides where specific questions are often fixed, Functional guides rely on selected high-level competencies to drive the assessment.
- Dynamic Question Generation: Users don't write individual questions for these guides. Instead, they select a skillset (e.g., "Strategic Planning" or "Java"), and the AI Interviewer automatically generates relevant interview questions and follow-ups in real-time based on that skill sets.
- Time Allocation: The system automatically divides the total interview duration among the selected skillsets. For example, if a 60-minute interview includes 4 skillsets, the AI allocates approximately 15 minutes to evaluate each one.
- Feedback Structure: The skillsets defined in the guide automatically become the evaluation dimensions in the post-interview feedback form. The AI rates the candidate’s performance specifically against each selected competency.
When configuring a guide, the AI analyzes the job description and historical data to recommend the top 10 relevant competencies for that specific position. Users typically see the top four recommended skills.
Permissions
Access to Interview Guides is determined by your user role and strictly respects your existing Talent Acquisition (TA) position boundaries. You can only manage guides for positions you are already authorized to access.
- View only: The default setting. Users can preview guides and select them for scheduling but can't make changes.
- Edit Guides (perm_edit_guides): Enables users to create, duplicate, and modify the structure of a guide by adding or removing existing questions from the bank.
- Create Content/Questions (perm_create_content_guides): Includes the ability to author new custom questions or skillsets directly within the guide.
Standard role configuration
- Admins: Hold Create Content permissions, allowing full control over assessment criteria and custom questions.
- Recruiters and Hiring Managers: Usually hold Edit Guides permissions, enabling them to manage guide templates and scheduling without altering the underlying approved content.
When to use interview guides
Use AI interview guides when you want to:
- Enable coding and functional interviews seamlessly.
- Avoid feedback form dependency for Profile Screening.
- Standardize how a role is screened or assessed (for example, all SDR screenings, all frontend coding rounds).
- Reduce time spent configuring repeat interviews for similar positions.
- Ensure consistent skill coverage and evaluation across high-volume pipelines.
To know how to create interview guides, read Create AI interview guides.