Agree what good looks like before the interview

AI can help prepare an interview. It can’t fix an unclear hiring brief.

A hiring team wants stronger candidates, faster decisions and fewer rounds, while the interviewers are still assessing different versions of the job. Adding AI at that point produces more material, not more alignment.

Start with the work. What must this person deliver, which capabilities are critical and what evidence would show them? An AI-generated interview guide can support that conversation. It shouldn’t replace it, or dress up a preference formed afterward. Structured, job-related interviews with consistent questions and scoring show stronger rater agreement and validity than loosely structured ones.

Where I’d start: agree three critical competencies and comparable questions. Have interviewers score sample answers independently against clear behavioral criteria, then discuss the differences. Ask a subject-matter expert to review any AI suggestions.

The test: style, accent and confidence shape impressions without proving capability. Keep the assessment job-related, accessible and explicit.

Source: US OPM · Structured interviews