Canva bucks major AI job interview trend and now 'expects' it for job seekers
Australians have been warned against using artificial intelligence to help them get a job, however one major company is actively encouraging it. Canva is bucking the anti-AI trend during the hiring process and has told certain candidates they are 'expected' to use large language models (LLM) when they sit down for a technical interview.
The Aussie graphic design platform said AI-assisted coding tools are used by its software engineering team every day, so it's only natural that job seekers display their skills with the tool. Recruitment expert Jovana Karajcic told Yahoo Finance this 'makes sense' but might not open the same floodgates for other industries.
"Maybe a few other companies might take on this stance by using AI in interviews, but I think at the end of the day, you can't compare robots to the human touch," she said.
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The candidate might have ChatGPT running in the background while an interviewer asks them a tricky question, and the LLM can spit out the perfect technical answer within a second.
Karajcic has discouraged job seekers from doing this because recruiters are usually able to notice when someone is speaking from their brain, compared to what AI has told them to say.
"You can either hear the keyboard clicking, or they take a long pause... they might also repeat the question," she told Yahoo Finance.
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"You can also see their eyes just going left to right, left to right, or panicking with the mouse."
She said when you're interviewing a candidate, you want 'real, raw' answers, especially considering you might not be able to use ChatGPT in your day-to-day job.
But that's where Canva has carved out its niche.
How Canva is making AI its friend in technical interviews
Before making this change, the company expected software engineering candidates to be able to write code themselves.
Canva added that it was fully aware some candidates were 'covertly' using AI tools during technical interviews, so they decided to stop trying to 'fight this reality and police AI usage'.
"This dismissal of AI tools during the interview process meant we weren't truly evaluating how candidates would perform in their actual role," it said.
