HireVue practice interview: how to prepare
A HireVue on-demand interview asks you questions on screen, and you record your answers on your own time. Before the real questions, HireVue lets you answer practice questions.
HireVue says you can practise as many times as you need, and that practice answers are not recorded or seen by anyone other than you. Use those minutes, and rehearse beforehand too.
What is a HireVue interview?
HireVue is software that many employers use for the first round of hiring. In an on-demand interview there is no live person. Each question appears on screen, you get some time to think, and then you record your answer. The employer reviews the recordings later.
HireVue says any internet-connected device with a front camera and a microphone works, including a phone or a tablet. Your invite arrives by email, and the welcome screen tells you how long your interview should take.
How do HireVue's practice questions work?
Before the real questions start, you can answer practice questions to get used to the timing and the camera. On its candidate page, HireVue says you can practise as many times as you need to feel comfortable, and that practice questions are not recorded or seen by anyone other than you.
Use the practice to check three things:
- Your sound. Speak normally and make sure the level is clear, not too quiet.
- Your framing. HireVue suggests keeping your head and shoulders lit and in view.
- Your timing. Notice how long the thinking time feels and how fast the answer time goes.
Each employer sets its own thinking time, answer time and number of attempts. Read every instruction screen before you start the real questions.
How should you rehearse before the day?
The built-in practice gets you used to the screen. It does not prepare your answers. Do that in the days before.
- Read the job description and list the three skills it mentions most.
- Prepare one real example for each skill. Note the situation, what you did, and the result.
- Answer common questions out loud while recording yourself, e.g., 'Tell me about yourself' and 'Describe a time you solved a problem.'
- Time each answer. Aim for one to two minutes.
- Watch one recording back and fix one thing before the next attempt.
HireVue says it is fine to bring notes. Keep them short, a few words per example, so you look at the camera and not the paper.
What is hard about a recorded interview?
With no person in front of you, there is no nod to tell you that an answer landed. Many people talk too long or stop too early. Practising with a timer fixes most of this, because you learn what one to two minutes feels like.
Looking at the camera instead of your own face on the screen also takes practice. Our guide to AI video interview practice covers camera position, light and eye line.
Rehearse with an AI interviewer
On Just One Interview, an AI interviewer asks questions for the role and skills you type, and you answer out loud in your browser. The report scores each answer and counts your filler words, so you can see what to fix before the real recording. The free plan includes 20 minutes of practice a month. Practice is recorded on video only if your camera is on, and it is never shown to employers.