
Using AI to interview at Oatly
Isn't technology a weird and wonderful thing? We think so. And we think it can be used to do amazing things, like helping you get a job. Maybe even with us. We've written this guide so you can get the best out of AI as a tool – how to use it, and what to avoid.
You might be thinking: what does an oat drink company know about artificial intelligence? After all, we only do oats. But the future is calling, and AI is becoming a bigger part of daily life – we want to embrace that as part of our hiring process too.
We don't mind if you use AI to help you apply or interview at Oatly. But our interview process is all about knowing if we're a good match for each other. Most importantly, we want to know about you.
Imagine you're on a date with the world's first and biggest oat drink company, and instead of sharing your thoughts on our small talk questions like "what's your opinion on cow's milk?" or "what's your favourite thing about oat drink?", you pulled out your phone and asked AI to answer it for you and then read it out loud. Woah. Don't call us, we'll call you.
So instead, we wanted to give you a bit of a guide to using AI while you're going through our recruitment process. Not just ways you could take advantage of it and make a great impression – but things to avoid so you don't end up with the dreaded it's not you, it's me.
Do:
- Use it to help you with your thinking. You could use it to do some research or consider some alternative view points you might not have thought of. We think it's best to use it alongside your own research and considerations.
- Use it to think about the role you're applying for – the ways your existing experience and skills match the job role, and examples that come to mind.
- Try using it to practice for an interview. You could ask it to ask you some mock questions, and then get some feedback on how you did.
- Use it to structure your answers and proof read your work so you can make some improvements, or check for any spelling or grammar issues.
- Use it as a reasonable adjustment or accommodation in the hiring process (because of a neurodiversity, for example). Just let our recruitment teams know how and why, and we'll be happy to help.
Don't:
- Copy and paste an answer from AI into your application. That's not you talking, and we want to know what you think – the person. The human element is what will help you really stand out.
- Give examples from an AI that don't actually match your experience or skills. We'll want to ask you all about your experience – so if you've made it up, the role probably won't be a fit for you.
- That also goes for using AI during any online interview or call we have with you. See: our awkward date.
Do you use AI?
That’s a fair question, potential-soon-to-be-oat-employee. Every application is reviewed by human eyes at Oatly. Though we can’t send everybody detailed feedback (we get a lot of applications), we don’t use AI to do any shortlisting by default. If that's not the case, we'll always tell you in the job description.
We may use AI to help us with note taking and summarising interviews we have with you from time to time. We’ll always tell you if we’re going to use an AI note taker and get your thumbs up first to make sure you’re cool with it. Have a chat with our hiring team if you’ve got any questions.
Finally...
Our teams are looking to hire wonderful people, not AI. Bringing more of yourself to an application and speaking from your real life experiences and examples will always catch our attention more than a copied answer.
If you're not sure, you can always talk to our team. We'll send you an email after you've applied for a job, so please send us a message if you'd like to talk to us about AI for anything – including if you'd like to use AI as an adjustment in the recruitment process. Or maybe you just want to have a really big, long talk about oats and how amazing they are. Either way, we're here to help!
We published this on 4th June 2025, and all the information was correct at that time. If something looks wrong or you'd like to check on something, get in touch with us.