AI first-round interviews for IT services hiring
Sivett runs the first-round technical interview for every shortlisted candidate, so engineers meet only the ones who clear the bar. Each candidate gets a link and takes the interview when it suits them. Sivett reads the JD for the competencies it calls for and the level each one needs, and assesses every interview against both, with a coding round when the role needs one.
The interview result: the level each question asked for, and the level each answer reached
Why the first round shouldn’t need an engineer’s time
In IT services, the people qualified to run a first technical round are the ones billing to clients. Every hour they spend on a first round that goes nowhere is an hour off a client project, and every panel slot that has to be found adds days to time to fill.
Sivett takes that round off the calendar. Candidates who clear screening get an interview link and take it whenever suits them, evenings included. Your engineers meet only the ones who have already shown they can do the work. What first-round interviews cost in engineering time.
What the candidate goes through
- A single-use link. No account and no sign-in.
- Identity and equipment checks. Camera, microphone, screen sharing and full screen are verified before anything starts.
- Consent. They are told the interview is recorded and monitored, and agree before it begins.
- A practice run. A short tour with sample questions, so the format isn’t a surprise.
- The interview. Each question appears, they get a moment to think, then they answer to camera.
- A coding round, when the role needs one. Multiple-choice questions, a bug fix and a coding problem, within 15 minutes.
Most candidates finish in 30 to 45 minutes. Someone who can’t take it now can ask to reschedule, and gets a fresh link when they’re ready.
Competencies and levels, set from the JD
Sivett reads your JD, works out which competencies the position needs, and sets a level for each, from L1 to L4. L2, for instance, means functional: real, bounded work with some awareness of failure. A backend-heavy full-stack role might ask API design a level higher than front-end.
Every question is written for one competency at its level, and every answer is read on the same scale, so the report shows both: asked at L3, answered at L2, with the answer that decided it. What a candidate has built changes how a question is framed, never how hard it is. Whether a role gets a coding round is suggested from its title and skills, and you can change it.
Proctoring and integrity
The interview is monitored throughout, and the candidate agrees to that before it starts. Leaving full screen or trying to close the session is warned about on screen and recorded.
Those events feed an authenticity signal that is flagged for the next interviewer to probe live, never scored against the candidate, and the reviewer can override it. Each flag comes with the innocent explanations to weigh first, such as an accidental key press or a dropped connection. Connection and device problems are logged separately and never treated as an integrity signal.
One question from the ledger, with the probe it hands the next interviewer
What the hiring manager gets
A candidate report that reads in minutes and checks out in depth.
- An interview score that weighs level. Harder questions count for more, and an answer that goes past its level offsets one that falls short, so the score can pass 100%.
- Asked against achieved. How many answers went above the ask, met it or fell below it, question by question.
- A summary that describes. Where the answers landed, in plain words. It doesn’t recommend; the decision stays yours.
- A question ledger. For every question: the competency from the JD, why the answer reached its level with the deciding quote, what it didn’t cover, the full transcript and the recording.
- Coding kept separate. Pass or fail per exercise, never folded into a competency and never a block on its own.
- Probes for the next round. Drafted from the gaps, so the next interviewer starts where the first round left off.
Your team decides
The AI interview replaces the first-round screening call, not your technical panel. A recruiter reads the report and records the outcome: selected, rejected or no-show. The interview score and the match score stay separate, so a strong resume with a weak interview is exactly the kind of gap you get to see.
Interview links can go out automatically when a candidate clears screening, or by hand. The setting is per position, and every decision is written to the candidate’s history.
Results
“My team used to spend the week chasing candidates. They spend it choosing now.”
Head of Talent, Algoleap Technologies
Algoleap Technologies is an AI-native and product engineering services firm with 30+ recruiters. No recruiter time was spent on first-round screening. Every position Algoleap’s recruiters open runs through Sivett.
AI interviews: questions.
How long does an interview take?
Candidates should allow 30 to 45 minutes somewhere quiet with a working camera, plus up to 15 minutes when the role includes a coding round.
Do candidates need an account?
No. The interview opens from a single-use link with no sign-in. Before it starts, their camera, microphone, screen sharing and full screen are checked, and a practice run shows them the format.
How do you prevent cheating?
The interview is proctored throughout, and candidates agree to that before they start. Leaving full screen or trying to exit the session is warned about and recorded as an authenticity signal for the next interviewer to probe live. It is never scored against the candidate, and connection problems are logged separately so they’re never mistaken for cheating.
What if a candidate can’t take it now, or drops out halfway?
They can ask to reschedule, and the recruiter sends a fresh link when they are ready. An interview that is started and never finished is detected automatically, so nobody is left stuck mid-pipeline.
Does the AI decide who goes through?
No. The interview replaces the first-round screening call, not your technical panel. The report describes where the answers landed; it doesn’t recommend. A recruiter reads it and records the outcome, and later rounds stay with your engineers.
Month one is on us.
Setup, JD tuning, and your first positions running live. We’d rather not bill you while we’re still configuring.
12-month term · 90-day exit · every recruiter included