…Your First Job Interview Might Be With AI
If you’re job hunting, don’t be surprised if your first interview isn’t with a person — but with artificial intelligence. More and more companies are turning to AI to handle the early stages of hiring, like screening resumes, asking basic questions, and checking details like your salary expectations or availability.
This doesn’t necessarily mean there are more jobs opening up — it just means companies are trying to streamline the hiring process. Recruiters are often overwhelmed with applications and are now leaning on AI to help sort through candidates faster and more efficiently.
One startup leading this shift is Alex, an AI recruiting company that’s already conducting thousands of interviews every day for major organizations. According to co-founder Aaron Wang, Alex’s voice-based AI can interview candidates soon after they apply — sometimes immediately — handling phone or video screenings without human intervention. While he didn’t name specific clients, he claimed they include some of the world’s largest companies, from top financial institutions and restaurant chains to Big 4 accounting firms.
Investors are taking notice. Alex recently raised $17 million in Series A funding, led by Peak XV Partners and joined by big names like Y Combinator and several HR executives from Fortune 500 firms. This comes after an earlier $3 million seed round.
Alex isn’t alone in the AI recruiting space — other startups like HeyMilo, ConverzAI, and Ribbon are also entering the field. Interestingly, Mercor, a fast-growing data startup now worth billions, originally launched as an AI recruiting tool too.
In the long run, Alex aims to gather deep insights about job seekers, creating rich profiles that go far beyond what’s on LinkedIn. “A quick 10-minute conversation can reveal more about a person than their resume or LinkedIn ever could,” Wang explained.
For now, Alex’s main goal is to take repetitive tasks off recruiters’ plates so they can focus on what really matters: building relationships with top candidates and making smart hiring decisions.
So if you’re applying for jobs, don’t be surprised when that first “interviewer” turns out to be a robot — and make sure you’re ready to impress it.
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