By now you’ve probably heard that AI is taking over the first round of job interviews. You submit your application, get invited to record a video response, and find yourself staring into a camera explaining your career arc to nobody.
It’s uncomfortable for everyone. But if you’re a working mom returning after a career pause, or trying to pivot out of a role that stopped working around your family, there’s something the mainstream career blogs conveniently skip over: the AI isn’t neutral.
It was trained on historical hiring data. And that data has never favored women who left the workforce to raise children.
Research has shown that AI hiring tools have excluded qualified female candidates when their resume shows a recent employment gap and as any working mom knows, career gaps are rarely optional.
These systems are trained on past hiring decisions, which means they don’t necessarily learn fairness. They learn patterns that were shaped by flawed human assumptions and because the tools are marketed as “data-driven,” those decisions are much harder to challenge.
So yes, the game has a bias built in. And you still have to play it. Here’s how.
…
Reframe the gap before the AI can penalize it.
The most common advice out there is to “address your gap confidently.”
Cool, thanks.
But here’s the more specific move: your written application materials such as the ones the ATS scans before you ever get to the video interview, need to account for that gap with language that signals active engagement, not passive absence.
That means listing contract projects, volunteer work, freelance consulting, or even professional development you did during that time.
You owe no one an explanation for being home with your kids.
But the algorithm scanning your resume doesn’t know that. It’s looking for continuous professional activity. Give it something to find
In the video, structure is your best friend.
After you complete a virtual interview, the AI evaluates you and generates composite scores for recruiters. It is rating things like integrity and communication.
The company inputs what it’s looking for, and the AI highlights those qualities. Translation: your content matters, but so does how you deliver it.
If you’ve received an invite from HireVue, Spark Hire, or Willo, congratulations — you’ve made it past the resume screen. Now you’re being evaluated by the platform itself, and it’s scoring more than just what you say.
The framework that works best in AI interviews is the same one experienced HR people have used for years: Situation, Action, Result.
State the context quickly, describe what you specifically did, and land on a concrete outcome.
What trips people up, especially those returning after time away, is spending too much time on the setup and not enough on the result.
The AI doesn’t know your story. It’s scoring the structure.
Practice your answers out loud. Record yourself. Then watch it back on mute first, just to see how you’re showing up visually. Then audio only, to catch filler words and pacing.
Don’t rehearse your personality away.
Career coaches note that candidates can fall into a “doom loop” of over-preparation, producing answers so scripted they read as robotic to both the AI and the human reviewer who sees the recording later.
AI platforms are increasingly sophisticated at detecting when answers feel canned and a human being will eventually watch this tape.
You are a 7+ year professional who also managed to keep small humans alive. That combination of competence and adaptability is genuinely interesting.
Don’t sand it down to sound corporate-safe.
The technical stuff that actually matters.
Cover the technical basics first, always:
Have a strong Wi-Fi connection.
Have access to a headset or external microphone.
Find a quiet room (I’ve done many interviews hidden away in closets).
These are not optional.
According to one AI interview CEO, muffled audio can result in a zero score on that question because the system cannot transcribe you accurately.
Test your setup before the interview window opens. You won’t get a second chance to re-record most platforms, and “the kids were loud” isn’t a technical consideration the algorithm accounts for.
One last thing.
The fact that you have to perform well for a machine before you ever get to a human who can actually hear your story is frustrating. As it should be.
The system was not built with you in mind. But getting past that first filter is what gets you into the room where your experience, your skills, and your judgment can actually do the talking.
Beat the bot first. Then go show them who you are.
…
Author Info: I’m an USAF veteran, mom of 4, and certified HR professional by trade. I curate flexible, well-paying remote roles for experienced working moms — twice a week, straight to your inbox. Subscribe free at flexpertjobs.com