Glossary
Asynchronous interview
An asynchronous interview is any interview where the applicant and the employer don’t take part at the same time: the applicant completes it when it suits them, and the team reviews it later.
“Asynchronous” means “not at the same time.” It describes timing, not technology. The applicant does their part on their own schedule, and the hiring team does its part later. Nobody sends a calendar invite, and nobody has to work out time zones.
Common formats
- Written questions. A form with typed answers. Cheap to run, but easy to fake with copied or AI-written text.
- One-way video. Questions set in advance, recorded answers, no follow-up questions.
- Audio-only recordings. Like one-way video without the camera. This suits jobs that involve talking, and people with weak internet connections.
- Conversational AI interviews. An AI asks the questions and, in most tools, asks follow-up questions based on the answers.
Who it helps
It helps people whose days don’t fit office hours. A store worker on a 9-to-6 shift can take the interview at 10:30pm. A student can do it between classes. An applicant eight time zones away doesn’t have to be up at 3am. It also helps small teams: a founder can review 20 interviews on a Sunday morning instead of spending a week on calls.
Keeping it human
The biggest risk is that applicants feel they’re sending answers to nobody. A few habits prevent that:
- Say honestly how long it takes. “About 15 minutes” sets expectations. “Quick” doesn’t.
- Give a fair deadline. Three to five days is typical. Twenty-four hours is unfair to people who already have jobs.
- Explain what happens next, including when they’ll hear back.
- Keep real people involved. Name a recruiter in the invite, and have a real person make the decisions.
- Test it on a phone. Many applicants will take it on one.
Mistakes
- Making it long because it costs you nothing. It costs the applicant, and they’ll give up partway.
- Never meeting a person. This format works for the first interview. Later interviews still need a live conversation.
- Silence afterwards. Someone who spent 20 minutes on your interview deserves an answer, even a short one.
Interviews that applicants take on their own time usually cut time to screen, the wait between applying and getting a first result, more than anything else. That’s because nobody waits for a free slot in someone’s calendar.