Video First Hiring Is Replacing Resumes with AI Interviews
The traditional hiring system is broken. Job seekers spend countless hours tailoring resumes and drafting cover letters only to send them into a digital void. At the same time, companies use automated screening software to filter out hundreds of applications, often missing great talent because a piece of paper did not have the exact keywords. Generative AI has mostly made this worse by flooding recruiters with an unmanageable mountain of generic submissions.
A startup based in Stockholm called Fika Jobs wants to flip this broken script. They are building a video first hiring platform that replaces static text with short video profiles and automated AI interviews. Think of it as a blend between LinkedIn and TikTok, designed to highlight a candidate’s actual personality, drive, and communication skills right away.
The image in file image_bf0a63.jpg shows the team behind this shift, and their plan is picking up steam. Fika Jobs just raised 4 million dollars in a pre-seed funding round to scale up its engineering team and prepare for a public launch.
The user experience is straightforward. Job seekers start by linking their existing LinkedIn profile to the platform. Fika’s AI reads the background data and builds a custom set of personalized interview questions. From there, the candidate sits down for a rough 10 minute video interview with an AI agent. Right now, Google’s Gemini models power this interviewer.
Once the interview wraps up, the platform automatically cuts the best responses into short video clips. It organizes these clips directly into a live public profile. Instead of submitting a new application for every single job opening, candidates maintain this active profile so employers can find them naturally.
The inspiration for the platform came from cofounders and brothers Jakob Dubois and Alexander Dubois. While building their previous startup, they almost missed out on a fantastic hire because the person’s resume looked unimpressive. They decided to hop on a call with him anyway, and within minutes, his grit and ambition won them over. This convinced the brothers that the most valuable human traits are impossible to capture on a flat sheet of paper.
While competitors like Apion and Mercer use AI to sort through traditional resumes, Fika Jobs builds a pool of talent that the AI has already screened and interviewed. This approach helps companies quickly judge cultural fit and soft skills, which helps candidates from non-traditional backgrounds who might get ignored by standard resume filters.
This shift does bring serious challenges. Video profiles introduce real risks regarding bias. When employers see a candidate’s face, age, gender, and physical appearance before evaluating their actual skills, it can lead to discrimination. Traditional resumes have plenty of flaws, but they do hide these visual traits, which is why many corporations have actually pushed toward blind resume screening.
Fika Jobs plans to open its platform to a select group of beta testers very soon, with a broader public launch scheduled for later this year. The company is starting its rollout in Sweden before targeting international markets. Over 100 firms are already on the waiting list, and 50 companies have already tested the software. The platform is completely free for job seekers, while employers pay a 10% fee on the candidate’s first year salary after a successful hire. Luminar Ventures led the funding round, with help from Alliance VC and the cofounders of King, the studio behind Candy Crush.
