Run an AI mock interview
This guide shows you how to run an AI-led mock interview in PrepAI and turn its feedback into real improvement. The AI interviewer is powered by Google Gemini's free tier and is available any time, with no scheduling.
Steps
- Open mock interviews. Go to the interviews section (
/interviews). - Start an AI session. Choose the AI-led format.
- Pick a focus. Select a topic and/or difficulty so questions match what you want to practise.
- Begin. The session is timed to mirror a real interview.
- Answer the questions. The AI asks questions and adaptive follow-ups based on your responses.
- Think out loud. Narrate your approach as you would with a human interviewer — communication is half the grade.
- Finish. You receive structured feedback and a session score.
- Review and log. Your score feeds the dashboard so you can track the trend.
Getting useful feedback
- Be specific in your answers. Vague answers get vague feedback; concrete reasoning gets concrete critique.
- Treat the score as guidance. The AI is excellent at spotting gaps and rehearsing articulation, but it's a language model — look at the trend across sessions, not a single number.
- Re-run with the same focus. Repeating a focus area shows whether the feedback stuck.
When to use AI vs human sessions
| Use AI sessions when… | Use peer/mentor sessions when… |
|---|---|
| You want unlimited, instant reps | You want higher-signal, human feedback |
| You're rehearsing articulation and structure | You're practising collaboration and communication under real back-and-forth |
| It's late and nobody's available | You can schedule with a peer or mentor |
Do AI reps daily and human reps weekly for the best of both.
Self-hosting note
If you run your own instance of PrepAI, the AI features need a Google Gemini API key — see Configure a Gemini API key. On the hosted app at interviewpai.aoneahsan.com, this is already configured.
Next
Pair this with coding practice: drill the topic first, then rehearse explaining it live.