AI made online interviews stricter: candidates are asked to show the room and their hands

Online hiring hit a wave of AI-powered fraud: employers report AI avatars on video interviews, mass-generated resumes and cases where someone else sits the interview for the candidate. According to a survey by the Checkr platform, 59% of HR managers suspect candidates of misrepresenting information or covertly using AI during interviews.

Procedures have tightened noticeably in response. Candidates are asked to raise their hands into the frame — showing there is no second device feeding hints — to switch off virtual backgrounds and pan the camera around the room, and to share their screen. The hand gesture also exposes AI avatars: generative models reproduce it poorly. Companies verify IP addresses, and some employers brought back in-person stages: one firm runs technical testing only face to face, on a corporate laptop. In IT hiring, practical assignments and pair programming gained ground.

For companies in Kazakhstan hiring remotely, the takeaway is practical: trust verifiable skills, not resumes and polished speech. A short hands-on task drawn from real work, one in-person or video stage with simple checks, and identity verification before the offer are cheap insurance against hiring a "candidate" who does not actually exist.