# Technical AI interviews A technical AI interview on Intervieux is a spoken conversation focused on domain knowledge and technical reasoning, questions about how a candidate would approach a problem, why they'd choose one method over another, and how they'd explain a technical concept out loud. It's a conversation, not a code editor. Candidates who want to sit down and actually write or run code have that as a separate feature, technical challenges, built for exactly that. ## What it is Technical is one of Intervieux's seven interview types, run through its own dedicated conversational voice agent. Where a general interview asks about background and motivation, the technical type steers toward how a candidate thinks: explaining a past technical decision, walking through how they'd debug an unfamiliar problem, or describing a tradeoff between two approaches. The AI follows up on the reasoning given, pushing for more detail where an answer is thin the way a human technical interviewer would ask 'why' a second time. ## How it works 1. **Choose style and personality** — Set the tone with one of three interview styles and twelve interviewer personalities, including options like analytical or challenging that suit a technical conversation. 2. **Start the session** — The voice agent opens with a technical question suited to the type, no code editor involved, purely a spoken conversation. 3. **Explain your reasoning out loud** — Answers are spoken, not typed, which forces the same kind of clear verbal explanation a real technical interview demands. 4. **Field follow-up questions** — The AI probes deeper on thin answers and moves on when reasoning is solid, adjusting in real time rather than working through a fixed list. 5. **Review the Technical dimension score** — The report scores the session across five dimensions, with Technical showing written reasoning specific to how the candidate's technical answers held up. ## Conversation, not a code editor This interview type tests how a candidate talks through technical reasoning, not whether code compiles. Candidates who need to actually write and run code against test cases have that available separately through technical challenges, which uses real code execution rather than spoken explanation. ## The Technical score dimension Every Intervieux interview is scored across five dimensions, and a technical session is where the Technical dimension carries the most weight in practice, backed by written reasoning explaining what drove the number, not just the number itself. ## Built for depth over breadth Where the comprehensive type spreads across several areas in one session, the technical type stays on domain reasoning throughout, which suits practicing the specific skill of explaining technical thinking clearly under a real back-and-forth. ## Calibration keeps a confident answer honest, and code stays out of it Grading on Intervieux runs through a model with calibration floors and caps built in specifically so a technical answer that sounds fluent but says little can't outscore one that's less polished but actually correct. The written reasoning attached to the Technical dimension explains what drove the number, not just the number itself, which matters more here than on a type where the answer is harder to check against a right or wrong standard. A technical interview starts with a hands-on challenge stage: coding, debugging, or SQL with real code execution where the role calls for it, or a written exercise graded by rubric where it does not, before the spoken round begins. For that, technical challenges is the separate feature built around real code execution across languages like JavaScript, Python, and Java, with hidden and visible test cases and adjustable difficulty. The two work as a pair: this type rehearses the conversation, the other rehearses the keyboard. ## Who it's for Technical interviews suit candidates for roles where being asked to explain their reasoning out loud is part of the real process, engineering, data, and other technically evaluated positions. It's practice for the verbal half of a technical interview loop, distinct from the hands-on coding half covered by technical challenges, and it also suits anyone who tends to freeze up when a technical interviewer asks a follow-up question they didn't prepare for, since that back-and-forth is exactly what this session is built to rehearse. A candidate who already has a coding portfolio can still get value here, since talking clearly about past technical decisions is a separate skill from writing the code behind them. ## Frequently asked questions ### Do I write or run any code during a technical AI interview? No. This interview type is a spoken conversation about technical reasoning. Writing and running actual code against test cases happens in a separate feature, technical challenges. ### How is the Technical score dimension different from the overall score? Overall reflects the full session, while the Technical dimension is scored specifically on the technical content of the answers given, each with its own written reasoning. ### Can I set the interviewer to be more challenging for technical practice? Yes. Twelve interviewer personalities are available, including options like challenging and analytical, which can be paired with a formal or semi-formal style for a harder technical conversation. ### Is a technical interview the same as a technical challenge? No. The technical interview is a spoken conversation about reasoning. A technical challenge is a separate feature involving real coding, debugging, SQL, or written problems with actual code execution. ## Related pages - [Technical challenges with real code execution](/features/technical-challenges) - [Comprehensive AI interviews](/features/comprehensive-interviews) - [5-dimension interview scoring with calibration](/features/interview-scoring) - [Browse open roles](/jobs) ## Practice explaining your technical reasoning out loud Start a technical AI interview and get a scored, dimension-by-dimension report on how clearly your reasoning held up under follow-up questions. Start practicing free: https://www.intervieux.ai/register · Hire with Intervieux: https://www.intervieux.ai/employers/signup