Candidate Explainer

Welcome to your Chat Interview.

It’s your time to shine.

Are you a recruiter or hiring manager looking for help with using the Sapia.ai platform? Visit our user help centre here.

Your time to shine

The Chat Interview is your opportunity to express yourself, in your own words, to your prospective employer.

Often when applying for roles, especially with big companies, candidates aren’t able to fully express why they would be great for the job. With thousands of CVs to review, great candidates like you can get missed. That’s why we designed the AI-enhanced Chat Interview. To give every candidate a fair go, and the chance to be interviewed and assessed equally in the AI interview process.

Read on for some info on how Chat Interview works, and some top tips on how to complete your Chat Interview for the role.

If you have any technical issues and need to troubleshoot all of your answers can be found on this page. Please look for your question below.

On this page


What is Chat Interview by Sapia.ai?

Chat Interview is a text-based interview and assessment which allows prospective employers to interview every applicant who applies for a role. Every candidate is assessed on the same set of attributes derived from their responses, and nothing else. No sensitive characteristic such as gender, age and race are used in our AI. Our use of data means we can measure for adverse impact, which is impossible with human decisions. After completing the Chat Interview you will receive a free personality profile and coaching tip, based on your responses. This is for your eyes only, and not shared with your prospective employer.


How do I access and complete Chat Interview?

You’ll access Chat Interview in one of two ways, depending on how your prospective employer has implemented it:

  1. You will receive a link from via email, inviting you to complete your Chat Interview. Clicking this link will take you to your Chat Interview, where you’ll need to enter your details (including name and email address) and agree to the privacy statement to continue to the interview.
  2. You’ll access Chat Interview from within your prospective employers ATS (Applicant Tracking System) – the system that you log in to submit your job application. You’ll click straight from the ATS to start your Chat Interview.

Chat Interview can be completed on a compatible smartphone (including Android and Apple iOS), tablets, and personal computers.

You’ll need to use an up-to-date web browser. Chat Interview supports Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, and Mozilla Firefox. We recommend Google Chrome for the best user experience.


Tips for completing a successful Chat Interview

  1. Find a quiet space where you won’t be distracted. You should allow between 20-30 minutes to complete your Chat Interview.
  2. Make sure you have a stable internet connection, and if you’re using a handheld device like your phone or laptop, make sure it’s fully charged.
  3. You should aim for your responses to be between 50 and 100 words per question asked. You are limited to 500 words in each of your responses
  4. Be sure to check your spelling and grammar. It’s easy to make typos so reviewing your responses to each question before submitting is important.
  5. Draw upon your personal and professional experiences when providing examples in your responses. These don’t need to be work experiences. They can be from school, family, friendships, or hobbies also.
  6. Take your time. Chat Interview is not timed and you are not penalized for how long it takes.
  7. Feel free to save and come back to your Chat Interview if you need to. When you start your Chat Interview, you’ll receive an email with a link to go back to your saved answers, so you don’t need to start again, and you won’t lose your submission.
  8. Don’t copy answers! Chat Interview checks for plagiarism from various internet sources, and can detect if answers come from content generators like ChatGPT.
  9. Most importantly, be yourself! Be sure to show your personality and who you are in your responses, as this is what is counts.

My Chat Interview link is not working, what should I do?

You have clicked the link to your Chat Interview, but a window comes up that says, ‘browser unsupported’. If this happens make sure you have the latest version of either Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge. You can download any of these browsers for free either from their respective websites, from the App Store, or from Google Play.

If you are using one of these four supported browsers and the ‘browser unsupported’ window continues to show after clicking the link; clear your browser history. If you’re not sure how to do this, you can use your preferred search engine to find instructions for the browser you are using.

If you have done the above and it’s still not working, copy the link and open it in a private browsing window, e.g. Incognito in Chrome. This option will automatically clear all history and cookie data and will allow you to continue with your Chat Interview.


I cannot click on the ‘continue’ button … it seems to be disabled?

When landing on the Chat Interview you have entered your personal details, but you can’t click on the ‘continue’ button.

  • Make sure you have entered all personal details including first and last name, email, and phone number.
  • When entering your location make sure you have selected one of the options that appears are you begin typing.
  • Click ‘I accept, continue’ check box – there will be a visible tick in the box.


I can’t save my response or get to the next questions?

  • Next to the text box is an arrow which points to the right. Make sure you click this as it will save the response, and the next question will appear.
  • Remember – using ‘enter’ will create a new line, it won’t allow you to go to the next question. You have to click on the arrow.


I am not happy with my response, and want to change it, how do I do that?

Scroll up to the text box you want to edit, to the left of this response you will see a pencil icon, press this and you will be able to edit your response.


There is no scroll bar – how can I review my answers?

Move your mouse to the body of Chat Interview (in the middle of the page) and then scroll up or down. On mobile, just touch the screen at the centre of the window and swipe up or down. This will move the screen and enable you to review responses and change them if need be.


I’ve lost the original link to my Chat Interview – how do I get back in?

  • If you have started the interview and submitted your personal details including an email address, search for an email from notification@sapia.ai with keywords in the title ‘Online Interview Started’. This has your unique link back to your you Chat Interview. Don’t forget to check your spam/junk folder.
  • If a link was sent from the company you have applied for, search for the company name in your email (including junk/spam folders). Other key words to search for include: ‘Online Interview’ or ‘Chat’ or ‘Assessment’.

I can’t finish my Chat Interview right now – can I leave and come back?

Absolutely – there is no time limit. When you begin you will receive an from notification@Sapia.ai, or from the company that you applied to, which contains your unique link to your Chat Interview. All your answers will be saved so you can pick up where you left off. If you cannot see the email in your inbox, make sure to check your spam/junk folder.


What is a text interview?

A text interview is your opportunity to tell your story, for your prospective employer to get to know the real you. You’ll be asked a number of behavioural interview questions that are directly related to the role and the company that you’re applying for. They’re similar to the types of questions you might be asked over the phone or face to face in a regular interview – except that here, you type your answers. You can complete this interview on a mobile, tablet, or computer, and you can do it whenever you like. You can take as much time as you like to answer each question, so it’s a lot less pressure than a regular interview.


How many questions will I be asked and what type of questions are they?

You will be asked between 5-7 text-based questions, and it’s really important that you use between 50-150 words to answer each question.

These questions are mainly “behavioural interview questions” and they will generally ask you to provide an example from your personal experience of when you have demonstrated a particular work-based trait or behaviour.

You may also be asked some multiple-choice questions as part of your interview as well. 

 


Will I be recorded on video or seen by a camera in any way?

No and no! There is no video recording. There is no camera used. All you’re assessed on is your written answers to the questions, and nothing more.

It is what’s known as ‘blind screening’ – so that every candidate gets a fair go.

We want you to be as comfortable as possible when answering your interview questions, so there’s no need to worry about being recorded.


Can I use my profile to apply for other jobs?

Unfortunately, we don’t offer this right now. But if you think this is something you would like to use, let us know by clicking the ‘enquiry’ button at the top of this page.


Where can I go to for help with accessing or submitting Chat Interview?

We’re always here to help. If you’re having trouble accessing or submitting your Chat Interview, please click ‘HELP’ at the bottom of this page and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

So that we can help you faster, please include the following information in your email:

  • Your name
  • The email address that you used for your job application &/or Chat Interview
  • The company you’re applying with, and
  • The role you’re applying for.

Please note, we can only help you with your Chat Interview experience, as we have no visibility of your application before or after Chat Interview.

Any questions you have about your job application overall, including its progress after completing the Chat Interview, should be addressed to your prospective employer.


What can I expect after I’ve submitted my answers?

You’ll receive an email with your My Insights personality profile, and a coaching tip to help you with your job search. This is based on your responses to the Chat Interview questions. After that, it’s up to the recruitment team at your prospective employer to get in touch with you. They’ll handle your application from there.


How are the My Insights personality profiles generated?

We create your individual personality profile and coaching tip from your answers to your Chat Interview.

Specifically, we create the personality profile using linguistic analysis, utilising machine learning to infer personality traits aligned to the HEXACO model.

HEXACO is a widely used and accepted six trait model of personality that conceptualises personality in terms of these six dimensions:

  • Honesty/Humility: Sincerity, Fairness, Greed Avoidance, Modesty
  • Emotionality: Fearfulness, Anxiety, Dependence, Sentimentality
  • Extraversion: Social Self-Esteem, Social Boldness, Sociability, Liveliness
  • Agreeableness: Forgiveness, Gentleness, Flexibility, Patience
  • Conscientiousness: Organisation, Diligence, Perfectionism, Prudence
  • Openness to Experience: Aesthetic Appreciation, Inquisitiveness, Creativity, Unconventionality

Insights and Coaching Tips

The insights you receive are derived from how you score based on your answers, on each personality dimension within the HEXACO framework. This generates a description that explains the likely behaviour of someone with that score level, on that dimension. It’s important to note that there is no right or wrong score for personality; each of us will score differently on each trait and as such would have a different insight for each dimension. The coaching tips are based on the highest scoring trait and a bank of coaching tips created by our career counsellors.


How is my personal information used and stored?

When you are applying for a job, you’re trusting us with your information. We understand that this is a big responsibility and we work hard to protect your information and put you in control.

In our privacy policy, you can see exactly

  • what information we collect,
  • why we collect it,
  • how we use it and
  • how you can update, manage, export and delete your information.

Click here to see it


How do you keep my data secure?

When it comes to security, we use three practices:

  1. Security by design – we don’t think about security as an afterthought, at every stage of our product design and during development we implement security controls proactively at every layer to ensure we produce the most secure product we can.
  2. A culture that respects data and security – We’ve built a culture at Sapia.ai that respects your data. Every single member of staff at Sapia.ai must complete data privacy and security training. Additionally we have dedicated security, risk and privacy staff who are committed to ensuring your data is safe.
  3. Process and practice – We’re not just a product, we’re a company, and we understand that we need help keeping Sapia.ai as a company secure. This is why we’ve partnered with the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) for guidance and advisory in the changing cybersecurity landscape. We also adhere to industry standards such as ISO 27001 and SOC 2 to make sure we maintain a high level of security posture as a company operating every day.

What if Sapia.ai is breached?

In the event we are breached, we have developed emergency response processes and playbooks that ensure we can respond to breaches by controlling the breach and communicating the breach. In the event of a serious breach, we’re committed to ensuring that we communicate breaches to impacted candidates as quickly as possible.

If you continue to have technical problems and you have followed the troubleshooting instructions we are here to help.

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