How to choose an AI interview assistant: eight things to check first

1. How "invisible" is achieved

There are two very different kinds of invisibility. On macOS and Windows an app can ask the operating system to exclude its window from screen capture. Then the window never reaches the shared feed or the recording, whatever you share. Other tools rely on a small, translucent or easily hidden window, which is discreet but still visible to anyone watching your screen.

If a vendor only says "discreet" or "hidden" without saying how, assume the second kind. On Linux the first kind does not exist at all, because the operating system offers no such option.

2. Test the invisibility yourself

1. Start a call with yourself in the app you will use: Zoom, Teams, Google Meet or Tencent Meeting.
2. Join from a second device, such as your phone.
3. Share your entire screen, not one window, and open the assistant.
4. Look at the phone. Also record the call and play the recording back.

Ten minutes of this tells you more than any marketing page.

3. Whose voice does it hear

An assistant that listens through your microphone hears the interviewer only through your speakers, and it also hears you. With headphones it hears nothing from the other side. An assistant that captures system audio hears the call directly, so it works with headphones and does not confuse your answer with the question.

4. Does the answer start by itself

Some tools wait for a hotkey after each question. In a live conversation that is one more thing to do while you are already talking. Check whether the answer starts automatically when the interviewer stops speaking, and whether a follow-up question continues the previous answer instead of starting from zero.

5. Coding rounds

For technical interviews, check whether the tool can read a screenshot of the task, including code already in the editor, and how long it takes to return a working solution. Try it on a medium LeetCode problem before the real thing.

6. What a job search actually costs

Prices come in four shapes: per hour, per interview, per month, and one-time. Work out the cost for your real plan. A typical search is several interviews over a few weeks. Hourly pricing looks cheap until you add up the hours. A monthly subscription is easy to forget to cancel. Also check whether the vendor publishes its prices at all. If the price appears only after you register, that is a signal in itself.

7. Where your audio goes

The assistant hears your interview, so read what is stored and for how long. Look for a clear statement on whether recordings and transcripts are kept, and whether you can delete them.

8. Try it on a mock interview first

Never let the real interview be the first time you use the tool. A free tier is only useful if it lets you run a complete mock interview with the same features you will rely on later.

How Interview Copilot answers these questions

• Invisibility: excluded from screen capture by the operating system on macOS and Windows. On Linux it is not hidden, and we say so.
• Audio: system audio, so it hears the interviewer directly and works with headphones.
• Answers: start automatically; follow-ups continue the previous answer.
• Coding: solves a screenshot of the task.
• Price: a free tier without a card, and Pro paid once for one month, with no auto-renewal. The price is on the home page, no sign-up needed.

For prices of Western competitors checked against their own pages, see Cluely alternatives.

How the app helps here

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