Chakra conducts your interview and evaluates your responses and work against the criteria defined by the hiring team. After the interview, Chakra generates an evaluation report for the hiring team to review.

How evaluation criteria work

Before the interview, the hiring team creates an interview plan. The plan defines the interview sections, the topics covered in each section, and the criteria for a strong response.

All candidates assigned to the same interview receive the same plan and are evaluated against the same criteria. Chakra can phrase questions differently and ask follow-up questions based on your responses, but the topics and evaluation criteria remain the same.

Chakra scores each criterion independently. A strong response in one area does not compensate for a weaker response in another area.

How the interview works

• Chakra follows the section order defined by the hiring team.

• Depending on the interview setup, the interview can include a hands-on section in addition to conversational sections.

• Chakra reserves time at the end of the interview for your questions.

• Chakra asks one question at a time and provides a brief, neutral acknowledgment before continuing.

• Chakra does not tell you whether a response is correct, correct your response, or display your score during the interview.

• Chakra tracks the time and tells you when time is running short. It then moves to the remaining topics.

Conversational responses

Chakra evaluates only what you say and demonstrate during the interview. It does not infer skills or experience that you do not discuss.

Specific examples provide stronger evidence than general or theoretical statements. For example, saying, “I improved reliability,” provides less evidence than explaining what you changed and the results you achieved.

When relevant, describe:

• Your role in the situation

• The actions or decisions you took

• The reasoning and trade-offs behind your decisions

• The outcome and how you measured the results

Longer responses do not automatically receive higher scores. If you do not have experience with a specific tool or concept, say so. Chakra can ask about a related skill instead.

Follow-up questions

Chakra can ask follow-up questions to clarify your response, request an example, or explore your reasoning. For example, it can ask about constraints, trade-offs, failure handling, implementation details, or results.

A follow-up question does not mean that your previous response was incorrect.

Hands-on section

Some interviews include one of the following hands-on question types:

• Coding question: You solve a problem without AI assistance.

• AI-assisted question in the Agentic Development Environment (ADE): You use an AI assistant to plan, build, and review a solution.

While you work

• Chakra remains mostly quiet during the build phase so that you can focus. You can ask clarifying questions about the requirements, inputs, edge cases, or scope.

• You do not need to talk while you work. Chakra does not penalize you for remaining silent.

• Chakra can remind you how much time remains. It does not submit your work while time remains in the build phase. The build phase ends when you click Submit or when the time expires.

How Chakra evaluates your work

Follow-up discussion

After you submit your work, Chakra reviews it with you. It can ask about:

• How you understood and scoped the requirements

• Why did you make key implementation or design decisions

• What you reviewed, challenged, or changed in the AI assistant’s output for an AI-assisted question

• How you validated your solution

• How your solution handles edge cases, risks, or scale

• How would you adapt your solution if an important constraint changed

• What would you improve if you completed the exercise again

If you do not finish your implementation, Chakra will still conduct the discussion. It focuses on your intended approach and how you would validate it.

Interview integrity

During the interview, Chakra monitors integrity signals such as tab switches, exits from full-screen mode, your visibility in the webcam frame, and potential use of unauthorized external assistance.

Chakra includes these signals in the interview report. You must complete the interview independently and do not use help from another person or an unauthorized tool.

Interview report

After the interview, Chakra generates a report that includes section-level scores, feedback, and supporting evidence from your responses.

For hands-on questions, the report also includes:

• The solution evaluation

• The follow-up discussion evaluation

• The AI fluency evaluation for AI-assisted questions

• A summary of your work

Chakra does not make hiring decisions. The hiring team reviews the report with other relevant information and determines the next steps.