I got my startup job because of an AI Interview...
While talking with a few startups in SF, I got a DM from Aaron Wang, asking if I'd be open to interview for a founding sales role…
I agreed, and he told me that their product, an AI recruiter named Alex, would conduct my first-round interview.
My thoughts were something like this:
"Oh boy, an AI recruiter…this will be rough... but glad they're at least willing to dogfood their product. Not so common these days." I snagged some time on Alex's calendar.
As soon as I got on the video call, I was impressed. Alex's voice was relaxing. I could see our conversation transcribed. She was asking in-depth and personal follow-up questions. Alex took me off guard…
This morning, I rewatched my interview. Five minutes into our conversation, she was two follow-up questions deep, asking about my negotiation process to close a deal at my last startup. I was shocked. I walked out of my office and was a bit stunned. My wife asked me how it went, and I wasn't quite sure how to respond. I remarked, "A LOT better than I thought."
Aaron: After the first round with Alex, I met several times with Aaron, and I became more impressed with the product, the growth, and Aaron himself. Aaron has the tenacious spirit of his parents, who were doctors in China and sacrificed their credentials to start over in the U.S. Aaron moves fast and is focused. He shared his passion for helping the job market become more efficient for candidates and employers. I caught the vision.
John: I met with John Rytel, Aaron's cofounder, and got the sense that he was an incredible engineer who focused on building for the customer.
It's been several months since joining the Apriora team, and we're moving FAST - adding Alex to the teams of numerous staffing firms and recruiting teams.
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I attached a ~6-minute YouTube video in the comments if you want to check out Alex, our AI Recruiter, interview Aaron in the company's early days.