Leadership Coach | Speaker | Gen Z Career + Culture Strategist | Join the Presence to Power Community
August 18, 2025
I just wrapped up interviewing almost 20 Gen Z candidates, most still in or fresh out of university, with limited work experience. What I discovered goes way deeper than interview skills—it reveals something important about how this generation is learning to navigate professional spaces, and what happens when their usual tools aren’t available.
The AI Dependency Reality
Here’s what I noticed: many candidates could write incredibly polished cover letters and applications. Some even tried to reference notes or scripts during our video calls. But when I asked follow-up questions or pivoted to something unexpected, they would freeze.
It became clear that AI had helped them sound professional on paper, but they hadn’t developed the muscle of thinking out loud in real-time. The contrast was big —perfectly written communication, but genuine struggle with spontaneous conversation about their own work.
The Performance Anxiety Trap
The candidates who struggled most were trying desperately to sound experienced. They were so focused on demonstrating expertise that they disconnected from the value they actually brought. I watched smart, capable people tie themselves in knots trying to sound like seasoned professionals instead of who they really are – ambitious and accomplished students and grads who are willing and able to learn.
When I asked: “Tell me about a specific piece of content you created and why it worked,” the anxious candidates gave me 5-minute monologues about their entire work history, desperately trying to showcase everything at once.
But the strong candidates? They slowed down and actually answered: “I created an Instagram post about our new product launch that got 300% more engagement than our average. It worked because I had researched what the audience wanted and used humor to grab their attention in an industry which doesn’t usually use humor. Then I asked a specific question that encouraged comments.”
A lot of the candidates didn’t even have direct experience to draw from, but I was just as interested to hear about what they posted on their own accounts and their understanding of how social media works. The best candidates here acknowledged their limited experience out loud and then proceeded to answer the question.
Honestly, the responses to this question, which I thought was a fairly straightforward one for a social media manager role, were overwhelmingly pretty poor. I found this surprising.
Why do I think this happened? I think it is because critical thinking is being impacted by increased anxiety, which is exacerbated by access to AI. There’s a gap between what sounds perfect on paper and what people actually can say on the spot, and it is getting worse.
The Critical Thinking Shutdown
The pattern that really stood out to me was that anxiety seemed to block their analytical abilities. When I asked, “What do you think Gen Z are struggling with in their careers?” many candidates started speaking immediately and fast, defaulting to surface-level observations about social media and content creation.
They gave long, off-topic answers and looked away from the screen or down at their hands. Or tried to go back to what was a clearly pre-prepared AI answer to a completely different anticipated question.
When I followed up with, “What resources could I create as a business to support those challenges?” 90% talked about creating more engaging content for Gen Z audiences—completely missing that I was asking them to think strategically about workplace challenges, not marketing tactics.
It’s important to note that many of the candidates were international students for whom English is not their first language, but that the candidates who excelled weren’t necessarily the most experienced or fluent English speakers. They were the ones who took a breath, engaged with the actual question, and offered thoughtful analysis: “Too many choices,” “Leadership paths that don’t appeal to them,” or “Comparison with their peers.” The ones that said, “I think Gen Z would like resources that have audio components”, “Access to mentors”, or “A place that they can connect to other people”, were thoughtful and insightful. That was the sort of critical thinking I was analysing.
The Slowing Down Advantage
To me, this indicated that the standout candidates didn’t need to have the most experience or perfect English—but instead had greater emotional regulation, which enabled them to be present and engaged. They seemed genuinely excited and curious about what the job would entail. Instead of rushing to prove themselves, they listened carefully and responded authentically with each question.
This is actually a learnable skill: slowing down, managing the anxiety response, and staying connected to your natural curiosity and critical thinking abilities. It’s the foundation of my communication and resilience program I deliver to companies.
What This Means for Gen Z Job Seekers
Stop trying to perform experience you don’t have. Employers interviewing recent graduates aren’t expecting seasoned professional insights. We’re looking for:
- Critical thinking: Can you analyse a problem and offer thoughtful perspectives?
- Genuine engagement: Are you curious about the role and the challenges we face?
- Authentic communication: Can you have a real conversation about your work and how you approach things?
Practical advice:
- Practice talking about your projects out loud, not just writing about them
- When asked a specific question, pause and make sure you’re answering that actual question
- It’s okay to say “That’s a great question, let me think about that for a moment” (in fact, some candidates asked me to clarify what I meant, which made me realise that the way I asked the question wasn’t that clear, interviewers also make mistakes and don’t communicate well at times!)
- Show curiosity about the role instead of just trying to impress (we LOVE enthusiasm – for me as a founder, nothing makes me happier to engage with someone that seems excited about what I do and wants to know more, this is the sort of person I would hire over someone that looks better on paper).
What This Means for Employers
We need to recognize that this generation has grown up fully digital and, more recently, with AI assistance, and may genuinely struggle with unscripted professional conversations. Instead of getting frustrated at that, we should set our expectations clearly. A couple of times, I stopped someone and said, “That is helpful context, and I am interested to know about that, but what I actually asked was about X. Could you share your ideas and opinions on that?” Yes, it is a little more spoon-feeding than we might have done in the past, but we need to meet candidates where they are and guide them towards what we want clearly. This is the right sort of intervention and support.
Consider building in moments for candidates to slow down and think. Ask follow-up questions that help them demonstrate their analytical abilities. Encourage curiosity and engagement over polished performance by showing genuine interest in their thoughts and asking them to elaborate. I interviewed more than 20 candidates over two days, but I wanted to make sure that each one had the opportunity to feel like they were the first person I had spoken to.
The Real Opportunity
This generation has incredible analytical abilities and genuine enthusiasm for learning. The key is creating interview environments where those qualities can shine through the anxiety and performance pressure. For employers: meet them where they are. For Gen Z: trust that your curiosity and critical thinking are exactly what we’re looking for.
Not on my email list yet?
Make sure you don’t miss future tools, trainings, and insights. I send weekly content to help you build a career that fits who you are — not just what the market expects. Join My Mailing List
Bye for now, Madeline.
