Would you believe me if I told you that I lost my previous job to AI?

However, losing a job means you get to start over, and I always had freelancing in mind, but I needed help.

That’s when I leaned on Google Gemini to automate mundane tasks in this newfound freelance journey.

But before I got into freelancing, I gave a couple of job interviews and, in the process, learned about the most overlooked Google Gemini feature called Gemini Live.

While some of us use Gemini to plan a vacation, I use Gemini to organize my income, taxes, and invoices. I also use it to create a guardrail for social media scripts based on storytelling principles and hooks. Google Gemini is my paid intern.

Gemini Live, on the other hand, can be more than an AI butler in your smart speaker or smartphone. It can mimic an interview.

What is Google Gemini Live?

The roleplay you’ve been waiting for

Gemini Live is a voice chat feature built into Google Gemini that lets you have a two-way live conversation with the AI on any topic.

While some companies market their AI voice chat feature as an AI girlfriend, it can be used for productivity.

I used Gemini Live to create a mock interview based on publicly available data from the job recruiter, but it won’t work if you just whip out your phone and tell Gemini Live to run you through an interview process. You have to lay the groundwork.

Like any AI, this will require a ton of context to stop it from drifting and turning into a space cadet.

I started by giving Gemini my resume and the job description I got from the hiring manager before my interview was scheduled. Gemini analyzed the two and told me about my strengths and weaknesses with respect to the job.

After this context was set, I asked Gemini, in the chatbox, to help me with potential questions (and answers) based on the job description and my resume. This will clear up the fundamentals of how to answer in an interview.

In the next step, Gemini suggested a mock interview, and I went along. This initial mock interview is basic and can be answered in the chatbox with text.

Gemini still threw a lot of AI spiel at me when it suggested some answers, but I was clever enough to overlook those. I had to separate the correct structure and topic from the AI jargon.

Regardless, this will prepare you for the screening test that companies do before sending your profile to the next round.

Gemini created my interviewer before I met him

Your AI isn’t dumb; you didn’t explain enough

Remember I said AI needs a ton of context? Well, I gave it a lore dump on the company and my next interviewer.

After the screening test (in real life), I was told the next interview would be with the senior HR manager of the company.

I looked up the interviewer’s LinkedIn profile and sent it to Gemini to process their background along with any publicly available data on them.

Then I asked Gemini to pull any information about their internal processes and salary structure. If the company is well-established, it is easier to find on the internet.

Otherwise, you might have to go through company reviews on Glassdoor and other job recruiting websites. This step is not necessary, but more context is always better.

After Gemini had the context and details, I clicked the blue logo with three lines in the search bar, which fires up Gemini Live.

My Gemini Voice was now contextually aware of the recruiter and the company, and I told it to do a mock interview with me.

After clearing some basic questions, I asked Gemini to ask me harder questions and grill me. These questions target the gaps in my skill set that may not be a big issue for the job role, but they help the interviewer understand if I can handle difficult situations.

It also pinpoints the questions that might come from the interviewer based on their position and seniority level.

For example, the senior HR wanted to make sure I wouldn’t leave the company in a few years. Meanwhile, the hiring manager was more interested in aligning my expectations with the company’s goals and systems.

The grilling prepared me for tough questions, so I didn’t get caught off-guard during my interview.

I did this twice because the Gemini Live practices kept my answers focused. I tend to drift during conversations and stretch out my answers, but Gemini Live spotted these errors and suggested polished versions of my answers.

You don’t need to remember all of these answers, or follow the polished version. The Gemini Live mock interview helps you spot the mindset and topic for your next interview.

My conversation with Google Gemini Live helped me understand what the interviewer might be looking for. It also trained me on the nuances of interview speak.

Pay to win

In the next episode of … how I met my boss

As AI advances, software engineers are the first on the chopping block, closely followed by copywriters and interns.

The irony of using AI to get a job after losing my job to AI isn’t lost on me.

However, after using it for interviews, I understand that AI needs guardrails and context to become a powerful tool rather than an AI girlfriend or slop generator.

I kept updating the chat window as I progressed through my interview rounds for context, and I kept adding the subsequent interviewer’s LinkedIn profiles to my Gemini’s context memory.

After my first two rounds, I gave Gemini a brief of the conversation I had with the hiring manager. This allowed the AI to follow the hiring process and predict the next set of questions.

I must point out that I have a paid Google Gemini subscription, and I always use the latest and most advanced model in the chat before starting any conversation.

I made it a habit to select ‘Extended Thinking’ because I don’t want the AI to miss out on the established context.

Did I get through? Yes. I made it through to the end, and Gemini helped me understand the correct salary I should quote based on market data.

However, I didn’t go ahead with the role because something better came up. Something that involves telling people how to use Gemini to land their next job (wink).