If you’re job hunting, it might be time to dust off your “real” interview clothes — pants included.
After years of pandemic-era Zoom calls, more companies are bringing back in-person interviews. The shift isn’t just about formality — it’s a response to the growing influence of AI, which makes it easier for candidates to get outside help mid-interview.
On Zoom, job seekers could once quickly Google an answer. Now, AI chatbots can feed them polished responses in real time, undetected. In-person meetings remove that temptation — and also reduce risks of AI scams where fake applicants or fake recruiters impersonate the other side.
The trend:
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Google, Cisco, and McKinsey are reintroducing face-to-face rounds, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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Dallas-based Coda Search/Staffing says in-person interview requests from its clients jumped from 5% last year to 30% this year.
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“We are making sure we’ll introduce at least one round of in-person interviews… to make sure the fundamentals are there,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai told Lex Fridman in June.
The bigger picture: AI is transforming hiring on both sides of the table.
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Applicants use AI to polish resumes and write cover letters.
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Recruiters use AI to scan applications and even conduct interviews.
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In some cases, the “interviewer” is itself an AI bot.
We’re in a full-on AI arms race between job seekers and hiring managers — each side using bots to outsmart the other.