In an AI phone interview, an AI voice agent calls the candidate or sends a link, asks structured questions from the employer's question bank, transcribes the spoken answers and scores them against a rubric. The recruiter then gets a transcript, per-question scores and a summary, and a person decides who moves forward.
They are now common. In the Greenhouse 2026 Candidate AI Interview Report, 63% of job seekers said they had been interviewed by an AI.
What happens during an AI phone interview?
The candidate receives a call or a unique link. The AI introduces itself, explains the process and asks questions from a question bank set up by the employer.
Questions are structured: competency-based, role-specific, or both. The system converts speech to text and scores each answer against the employer's rubric, such as relevance, completeness and clarity.
A typical interview runs 10 to 20 minutes. Afterwards the recruiter receives a transcript, a score per question and an overall summary. Every candidate for the role gets the same questions in the same order.
How does it compare with a recruiter phone screen?
A recruiter-led screen is limited by calendars. Calls must be scheduled, candidates miss them, and it is hard to evaluate consistently while also running a conversation.
An AI phone screen runs 24/7 and many candidates can take it at the same time, so a team can reach a large applicant pool over a weekend without booking calls.
Consistency is the other gain. Human screeners vary with fatigue and with the call before. An AI interviewer applies the same questions and rubric to every candidate. That consistency still needs checking: review score patterns across groups, because a rubric can carry bias too.
What should candidates know?
The AI is evaluating your answers, not just recording them. Treat it like a call with a recruiter.
Speak clearly and finish your sentences. Transcription is good but not perfect with strong accents or very fast speech.
Expect follow-ups. If an answer is short, a well-designed interviewer asks for an example.
You can often take the interview at a time that suits you.
What can recruiters configure?
The question bank matters most. Generic questions produce generic signal. Questions built around the role, the skills that predict success in it and the seniority level produce a shortlist you can use.
Recruiters also set a relevancy threshold for who gets invited. With GetHirePlus AI resume screening, candidates above the threshold are invited or surfaced for review. Candidates below it are not advanced automatically, and a recruiter can still review and move them forward. The score routes candidates; it does not reject them.
After each interview, recruiters receive a transcript and scored summary. That record helps with shortlisting and with the notice and record-keeping duties in laws such as New York City's Local Law 144.
Where does human judgement still matter?
AI phone interviews are a first-round tool. They handle volume and consistency. They are not built to judge leadership potential or the context that comes out in a real conversation.
Let AI run the structured first round, and let people take over once the shortlist is credible. Then move to live video interviews with the hiring team.
GetHirePlus AI phone interviews run in 8+ languages, with a configurable question bank, full transcripts and scored summaries after each session. For how candidates react to the format, see Do Candidates Trust AI Interviews?