Employability has been a key area of interest for researchers, especially as China faces increasing pressure in the labor market due to shifting supply and demand dynamics. Despite a steady increase in the number of graduates over the past five years, employment rates have declined, and the rates of slow employment, a slower state of employment, which usually manifests itself in graduates failing to find a job for a long time after graduation or choosing to delay employment, have been rising. Graduates’ self-confidence in their employability is one of the most critical indicators of successful employment. Given the rapid digitization in higher education and employment preparation, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, such as AI mock interviews, have gained increasing attention. Previous researches have shown that innovations, such as digitalization, asynchronous methods, and AI mock interviews, are beneficial for career preparation. However, empirical studies on the application of AI mock interviews in China remains limited. This study aims to investigate the impact of AI mock interviews in improving graduate perceived employability and short-term employability performance through a quasi-experimental design. A total of 42 participants were selected via convenience sampling for the experiment conducted in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. The findings suggest that AI mock interviews can improve graduate perceived employability and its dimensions except reconsideration of commitment, and also effectively optimize graduates’ employability performance in real interview scenarios. This research provides new insights for higher education institutions focusing on improving career planning strategies and offers a practical foundation for enhancing graduates’ self-assessment of their perceived employability in a more competitive labor market. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2025.
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