The ultimate guide to using AI to ace an interview at ANNA

AI tools like ChatGPT are changing how people put their best foot forward when applying for jobs. Used well, we think they can help with confidence and levelling the playing field. We just want to balance that against still getting to know you as a person and a future colleague.

Whether you use AI to help with your application is entirely up to you – we won’t be judging you on whether you’ve used it or not. But if you are going to use it, here’s our guidance on doing it well.

A quick summary of our AI guidance

Do:

• Use AI to research ANNA, the role and relevant market or industry trends.
• Use it to help you articulate your own thoughts and examples more clearly.

Don’t:

• Copy and paste AI’s words straight into your application.
• Use AI to answer questions live in an interview.
• Use AI to invent examples that don’t reflect your actual experience.

Job applications – using AI when you apply

We want to get to know you, honestly

A good rule of thumb: refine, don’t replace. Using AI to spell-check, tidy formatting, or reword a clunky sentence – fine by us.

What we don't want is AI-generated scenarios that never actually happened. We want to hear about your real experiences, opinions and skills – because you're the person we'd actually be working with. AI can help you shape how you say something; it can't be the one who did the work.

Using AI to sharpen your real examples

Say the question is: “Tell us about a time you solved a tricky problem for a customer with limited resources.”

• Think of a real situation where you actually did this, and write down what you’d normally say about it.
• Ask AI to review the phrasing and structure, and suggest improvements.
• Edit it back into your own words before submitting – AI answers can read a bit stiff and corporate. We’d rather hear from an actual human, so write like one.

If the question is more like “Why are your skills suited to this role?”, try this instead:

• Paste the job description into AI and ask it to pull out the key skills required.
• Then match those skills to your own real past experience – with actual examples.

Using AI to invent imaginary examples

This is where it goes wrong. Don't ask AI to write you a made-up example of solving a customer problem, then paste it into your application as if it were your own experience. And don't ask AI to list the traits of an ideal candidate for the role, then simply claim you have them with nothing to back it up.

Using AI at assessment and interview stage

Everyone who reaches this stage has been hand-picked by our hiring team. We're looking for people with the skills and the “be useful, be curious, do the right thing” attitude that keeps ANNA running – we have a flat structure, no bosses telling people what to do, and everyone here is a doer. If you've made it this far, we're genuinely looking forward to meeting you.

AI for interview prep

• It's a great research tool. Paste the job description in and ask for example interview questions to help you prepare.
• Use it to help frame competency-based answers in a STAR/STARR format.
• Use it to research market or industry trends relevant to the role.
• It's one tool among several – use it alongside anything we've already sent you about the process.
• Be mindful about what you feed it: avoid putting confidential information about yourself or a previous employer into an AI tool. You can't guarantee how that information is stored or used.

AI for take-home tasks, live tasks and interviews

• Depending on the role, you might get a take-home task, jump straight into a call, or work through a live scenario with the team on video.
• Same principle applies: refine, don't replace.
• Think about whether AI tools are something you'd actually use day-to-day in the role – that's a reasonable guide for how much to lean on them here. Not sure? Ask your recruiter. We'd genuinely rather you check than guess.
• Interviews are conversations. A few notes to support you is fine, but please don't run AI live during the interview – it breaks the conversation and stops us getting to know you.
• Leaning too hard on AI here tends to backfire: you could end up in a role that's a bad fit for what you can actually do, or miss out because your real strengths never got a look-in.

AI and reasonable adjustments

Before your interview, your recruiter will check whether there's anything we can do to support you with reasonable adjustments. If you're planning to use an AI tool for something like live note-taking, let your recruiter know beforehand so we can sort out how best to support you.

The ANNA Talent Team

Got questions about our hiring process? Drop us a line at careers@anna.money.