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How AI interviews work
Available onEvery plan
An AI interview is one way. The candidate hears each question and records an answer, at any time before their link expires. There is no live conversation and no follow-up questions. Each completed interview uses 1 credit.
This page walks through what your candidate sees, so you can answer their questions and read their report with the full picture. For the live, two-way format, see How Nova works.
Before the first question
The candidate opens the link from their email. They don't need an account.
- Language. If the job lets candidates choose the language, they pick one first. See Set up interview questions.
- Notice and consent. The Before you start screen explains what is recorded, how answers are scored, what is monitored and how long data is kept. It says a person at the hiring company makes the decision. The candidate ticks the required items and clicks Agree and continue. Their camera and microphone stay off until then. If they click I don't agree, nothing is recorded and they can review the notice again while the link is valid.
- Waiting screen. If you set a time, the candidate sees it with calendar buttons, tips and an optional 20-second microphone test. Nothing is recorded.
- ID check. Only if the job asks for one. See Interview settings.
- Device checks. Let's get you set up checks the camera, microphone, window size and connection.
- Practice question. An optional warm-up. See Practise before you start.
What the notice asks for
Three items are required: recording the spoken answers, using AI to score the answers on job skills, and a camera check during the interview. The camera check counts, inside the candidate's browser, whether one person is in view. It doesn't identify anyone, track eyes or read expressions, and no video is sent or stored for it. AI scores only what the candidate says, never their appearance, voice tone, accent, fluency or emotions.
A candidate who can't use a camera asks for an accommodation from the notice screen. See Accommodations.
The device checks
- Camera: if the face can't be seen clearly, the candidate can still continue. The camera check keeps trying during the interview.
- Microphone: the candidate says a few words.
- Window size: the window must fill the screen before they can continue. If they can't, they click I can't make this window full size and may give a reason. Window-size warnings are then off for that interview, and you see that they couldn't use a full-size window. Phones and tablets skip this check.
- Connection: a quick check of the connection to Infyva.
During the interview
Questions on screen and read aloud
Each question is shown on screen in large type and read aloud. The candidate can click Replay question. Copying the question text is blocked and noted for you.
The answer timer
Recording opens when the question audio ends. The timer for an answer starts when the candidate starts recording, and stops when they stop. Until then it shows the full time for the answer, so a candidate can take a moment to think first. The interview's total time keeps running throughout. In the last 30 seconds of an answer, a warning shows. The time per answer comes from the interview length you set. See Interview settings.
One take per answer
Candidates record each answer once, as in a real interview. Stopping the recording submits the answer. There are no retakes.
Typed answers (an accommodation) and code answers have a Submit answer button instead.
When the time for an answer runs out, the answer is submitted with whatever was recorded. If nothing was said, the report shows "No answer provided (time expired)" for that question.
If the microphone picked up nothing
If a take has no sound at all, nothing is saved for that question and the candidate sees "We couldn't hear you. Please record your answer again." They can record again while that question's time lasts. If the time is gone, they are asked to type the answer (when typing is allowed) or to contact you.
If the microphone stops partway through an answer, what was recorded so far is kept as the answer.
No transcript for the candidate
Candidates don't see a transcript of their answers, during or after the interview.
Integrity warnings
These actions are warnings, and the candidate is told each time ("Warning 1 of 3"):
- leaving the interview tab
- another window in front of the interview
- making the window much smaller than the screen
- pasting text into an answer
The third warning ends the interview. The answers given before it are kept and sent to you, and the report says "Ended after 3 integrity warnings". The same action within 3 seconds counts once.
Some things are noted for you but are never warnings: copying, right-click, screenshot shortcuts, opening developer tools, text that appears without being typed, and known interview-assistant tools on the page. Camera signals (no one in view, or more than one person) are shown to you and never end an interview, because lighting and camera trouble are not the candidate's fault. Only the interview page is checked, not other tabs or apps.
See Integrity evidence.
Reloads, breaks and lost connections
| What happens | What the candidate sees and what you get |
|---|---|
| The page reloads | The interview picks up at the same question. Timers are kept on Infyva's servers, so the clock carries on from where it was. A recording saved before the reload stays the answer. |
| The candidate closes the tab | Closing the tab is how to take a break: they can reopen the link and continue where they left off while it is valid. The interview's time keeps running while they are away. |
| The connection drops | Answers are saved on the device and sent when the connection is back. The candidate is asked to keep the page open. If the interview ends while offline, it finishes by itself once the connection returns. |
| The interview is opened on a second device or tab | Only one can run. The candidate sees Continue here? and the other tab stops at the same question. |
| The candidate clicks Leave interview | This ends the interview for good. Answers already submitted stay with you, for example "Withdrew after seeing 3 questions, answered 2". |
When the time runs out
The interview's total time starts when the candidate starts, plus any extra time you approved. When it runs out, the page saves the answer being recorded and finishes the interview. The candidate sees "The time for this interview is over".
Infyva accepts that last answer for up to 2 minutes after the deadline, to cover a slow upload. After that, any answer is refused and the interview closes on its own, even if the page was closed. The report shows "Ended when the interview's time ran out." Every answer that arrived in time is scored. There is no separate late-answer flag: an answer either arrived in time and is in the report, or it was refused.
After the interview
The candidate sees Interview complete. and that you will review it and be in touch. They can then:
- click Request a human review to ask a person to look at the interview again. It comes to Candidate requests.
- fill in an optional, voluntary self-identification form. Their answers are never shown to you and never affect the score.
Credits
A credit is held when you send the invite. It is used when the interview is completed, and comes back if you cancel, the link expires, or the candidate doesn't finish. If a candidate leaves partway, the credit comes back only when they gave no real answer. See How credits work.