A HireVue interview is a recorded interview you complete alone: HireVue describes its OnDemand interview as one you do without another person at the other end, choosing when and where to sit it (HireVue's candidate FAQ). Prospects describes the format as a much less personal experience, with questions on screen, answers recorded on video and often a time limit (Prospects). LSE Careers fills in what you see when it starts — the question, a few seconds to read it, then a separate spell, commonly 30 to 90 seconds, to record your answer (LSE Careers).
How many questions, and how long it takes
Most video-based assessments include between five and eight questions, and HireVue's candidate FAQ says most take under 20 to 30 minutes while recommending you set aside 45 (HireVue). Put the longer window in your diary rather than the shorter one. Setting up, the practice question and the answers themselves all come out of that time, and you do not want to be watching the clock by question three.
Where it comes in the process
LSE Careers says a pre-recorded video interview typically comes at an early stage and often replaces a telephone interview (LSE Careers). Open your invitation when it arrives and write down what it says about the stage you are at, the number of questions and the time allowed for each answer. Those details are set by the employer who invited you, so read the invitation rather than assuming they match anything you have read here.
What the question looks like
HireVue says a video-based assessment presents the question either in writing or as a video clip, and gives you several minutes to respond to each one (HireVue). Note the timing in your own invitation before you decide how much you can fit into an answer.
Camera, light and eye contact
HireVue's candidate tips ask you to check your lighting and keep it in front of you, because light from behind makes it hard for interviewers to see you (HireVue). Move the lamp and the chair before you open the interview link, not between questions.
Prospects suggests the camera should sit at eye level, and that you look into it rather than at the screen (Prospects).
LSE Careers puts the point in terms of what the interviewer sees: look into your camera lens, which creates an illusion of eye contact (LSE Careers).
Notes: three different answers
HireVue says you can keep your notes next to you during the interview in case you need a reminder (HireVue).
LSE Careers advises avoiding notes if you can, because an interviewer who sees you referring to them might assume you are underprepared or not committed (LSE Careers).
Prospects suggests practising so that you are not reading notes word for word, which can sound robotic and unnatural (Prospects).
The rule for your own interview is whichever one your invitation sets out; write down what it says before you decide what goes on the desk.
Stopping and starting
LSE Careers says you can normally choose when to start each answer, but once you have started there is usually no way to stop and restart the recording (LSE Careers). Work on the basis that your first take is the one that will be watched.
Prospects advises finding out beforehand whether you are allowed to stop and restart if technical issues come up (Prospects). If your invitation does not say, note the two points — whether stopping is allowed and whether restarting is allowed — before your interview day rather than during it.
What to have ready
HireVue's candidate FAQ suggests researching the employer's culture, values and products, and being ready to explain how your skills align with them (HireVue). Write those points out before you record, so you are not composing them on camera.
HireVue's interview tips list the subjects employers tend to enjoy hearing about: your learning ability, problem-solving, dependability and how you work as a team player (HireVue). Go through your own examples against that list and keep the ones you can talk about comfortably.
Practising aloud, and the practice question
Most on-demand interviews give you only a few minutes to answer, and HireVue's tips suggest practising your answers aloud within that timeframe (HireVue). Say them out loud rather than running them through in your head.
LSE Careers warns from the other direction: over-rehearsed answers can easily sound robotic or wooden in a recorded interview (LSE Careers).
HireVue says you get the chance to complete a practice question before the actual interview (HireVue). Use it to check your sound, your framing and how long you really take.
What HireVue says about facial recognition
HireVue states that it never uses the video recording of your interview to identify you, which is sometimes called facial recognition (HireVue).
Do this week
- Write short stories about challenges you have faced, the approach you took and the result you got; HireVue's candidate tips suggest this as preparation (HireVue).
- Open your invitation and write down three things: how many questions there are, how long you get for each answer, and whether stopping and restarting is allowed.
- Set your camera at eye level and move your light so it sits in front of you rather than behind.
Graduate Chat is a practice site for people going for their first graduate job in the UK or Australia, and you can run a mock interview with Pip: tell it the role and the country, say your answer aloud, type the short version, and it marks the answer out of five before showing a stronger version built from what you said. Pip will not help during a live test or assessment — using it that way would be cheating (how Pip works).