The 2027 State of Interview Intelligence Report

Job seekers are 8x more likely than talent leaders to rate an interview process poorly.

New research from Textio and Kyle & Co finds employers are confident their interview process is working—while candidates report unprepared interviewers, missing feedback, and fraud detection gone wrong.

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Last year, we showed what’s actually happening inside interviews.

Textio’s 2025 research analyzed 10,000+ written interview assessments across nearly 4,000 candidates. We found the likable candidate gets the job, even if they’re not the most qualified.

12xMore likely that a candidate who received an offer was described as having a “great personality”
39%More feedback written about a candidate when the answer was no
25xMore often women candidates were described as “bubbly” than men

This year, as AI continues to both improve and hamper hiring processes, we’re measuring the state of interviewing:
for candidates, and for employers.

Employers and job seekers disagree about the quality of the interview process.

Talent leaders scored their own company’s interview process at +48.25 on a standard recommendation scale. Job seekers, rating a process they had actually been through, scored it +2.87.

Employers report things are going well. Candidates report mixed experiences. Something isn’t working as designed.

88%of employers say rejected finalists always or usually receive substantive, personalized feedback.
48%of job seekers have been ghosted after completing at least one interview, including 25% more than once.

Candidates judge a hiring process by how it was run.

Asked to name the single thing that matters most in judging whether a hiring process was good:

Candidates want more consistency and communication in hiring. They’re getting throwaway feedback or straight up ghosted instead.

81%of employers say rejected finalists always or usually receive substantive, personalized feedback
57%of job seekers rejected at a final round got a templated line, no explanation, or no reply at all. One in eight never heard back.

Employers are confident they can spot cheating. Candidates say they’re catching the wrong people.

Asked to name the single thing that matters most in judging whether a hiring process was good:

88%of employers say how confident talent leaders are that their interviewers can tell when a candidate is using AI assistance during a live interview
48%of job seekers have felt an employer wrongly suspected them of cheating or misrepresenting themselves

To be sure: 83% of job seekers say candidate misrepresentation is at least fairly common, and 24% admit to exaggerating a skill or credential. The fraud and fabrications are there—but current detection techniques fail.

Bad interview processes cost companies customers, not just candidates.

88%of candidates who had a poor interview experience say they would never apply to the company again
48%say they would never apply again and they would stop buying from the company

Employer brand = Company brand = Company revenue.

Get all the insights and tips in the report.

The full report includes:

The nine major findings, explained
All the survey data, contextualized
The 100-point Interview Intelligence Index
Predictions on the near-future of interviewing
10 practical takeaways for talent leaders
One more list item possibly?