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1. What Are the Various Types of Video Interviewing Formats?
- Asynchronous/One-way video interviewing
One-way video interviewing is when a candidate records their answers to a prewritten set of questions. Once the applicant has captured their answers, they can then submit their videos through email, a private company server or a file hosting service like Dropbox, rather than speaking with the hiring team directly. This allows for greater flexibility, as candidates can answer the queries in their own time.
- Live video interview
A live video interview is more of a traditional candidate screening process, where the hiring person and the applicant have a dialog through a video conferencing platform. Compared to asynchronous interviewing, the interviewer has an opportunity to ask follow-up questions and deep dive into answers.
2. Best 12 Video Interviewing Examples You Can Ask
2.1 Open-ended Questions
1. “Let us know a little about yourself”
This query allows you to get an initial reading on the personality of your candidate and whether they will be a good fit for your team. An ideal answer should contain a brief overview of the person’s career so far, with highlights that demonstrate an understanding of the job specifications.
2. “Why do you want to work with us?”
This question will provide an indication of how much research the applicant has done into your business and its aims. A person with serious intent will have taken the time to learn about your organization and be able to reply with an answer that demonstrates they understand some of the strengths – and perhaps some of the weaknesses – that exist.
3. “What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?”
Video interviewing examples don’t come more classic than this query, which encourages individuals to show off their best qualities and how they can use those to promte your company’s objectives. On the other hand, a person who is able to explain where they have struggled in the past and how they have countered those issues clearly has strong adaptability and problem solving skills.
2.2 Close-ended Questions
4. “Do you prefer working in a team or independently?”
Depending on the role you are hiring for, the ideal person may be someone who works best in a team or someone who flourishes when they have greater self-sufficiency. Each type has its advantages and disadvantages, the important thing is to understand what is the best fit for your team.
5. “How many years have you been associated with your previous job?”
This is a slight variation on another common question, “Why did you leave your last job?” Both these video interviewing examples are designed to help you learn a bit more about the motivations of an applicant and what is driving them to seek out a new opportunity. It may be that their reasons for leaving their previous role will also prove problematic at your company, in which case they will be a poor fit.
6. “What unique ideas would you bring to your role if you are hired?”
In a competitive pool of potential hires, you want someone who can make themselves stand out from the crowd. This question requires applicants to display creativity and originality in their replies. At the same time, you will be able to judge how well they understand the specifications – and, indeed, the constraints – of the job for which they have applied.
2.3 Hypothetical Questions
7. “Suppose you are a project supervisor and were unable to achieve your goals. How would you respond?”
Sometimes people fail, but most of the time it’s not the end of the world. The most important thing is the response that ensues. A good answer to this query should explain how an individual might learn and improve following adversity. A poor answer would dwell on negativity or try to shift blame.
8. “Let’s say your team members are getting stressed out due to workload and there is a decline in their morale. How will you improve things?”
Video interviewing examples for experienced candidates need to address common leadership dilemmas, such as how to manage a dip in team motivation. A solid applicant should be able to draw on past situations to explain how they have previously overcome problems with morale, which is a fairly common challenge in the work environment.
9. If you were given a generous budget to invest in employee training. What training would benefit them, and how would you arrange it?
Part of your motivation for hiring a new person may be that you want to shake up your existing procedures, whether that’s related to employee training or other aspects of the company. This question will help you assess whether the potential new hire has the capacity to bring new ways of thinking and working into the business.
2.4 Unique Interview Questions
10. “How would you explain your job role to a 5-year-old child in simple terms?”
Fun video interviewing examples like this one have a serious underlying aim: to see whether a person understands the crux of what is required of them in a role. This query also lets a candidate express a bit more of their individual humor and creativity, qualities that are important for a positive, innovative office milieu.
11. “Given a chance, would you prefer working remotely/hybrid/in the office? Why?”
Considering that one of the top issues businesses are wrestling with at the moment is how much remote and/or hybrid working to incorporate, you should be clear up front about a potential new member of staff’s expectations regarding their working patterns. As part of this, make sure you ask precisely why they want to work remotely, so as to gauge whether they have concrete, sensible reasons for their choice.
12. “What are your future career aspirations?”
Rounding out this list of sample video interview questions and answers is one of the most common queries. Asking about future career aspirations helps you paint a picture of how well an individual’s personal desires match up against what your company can offer. There’s no point in going through a laborious hiring process just to end up with someone who will only stay for a year or two due to a mismatch in priorities.
3. Tips for Video Interviewing
- Conduct a technology test
Make sure you have everything set up properly beforehand, especially if you are attempting to utilize a new piece of software. The last thing you want is to experience a technical fault that wastes time and presents the impression of unprofessionalism.
- Notify the candidates in advance
Give your candidate plenty of advance notice, so that they can adequately prepare for the process. You might even consider giving them some video interviewing examples in advance. After all, the purpose is not to catch people out but to get them to show their best qualities.
- Set up a good place
There’s nothing more irritating than to be unable to clearly hear a person’s responses. Find a quiet, well-lit meeting room in your office that is suitable for a video discussion. If you’re working from home, make sure you check your background to ensure everything appears professional.
- Ask consistent questions
In order to get a good comparison of the different candidates, you need to ask consistent questions of each one. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask follow-ups, just that you need to create a standard template that you can work from. This is especially important for asynchronous interviews.
- Create a feedback process
Learn as you go from your video interviewing setup by asking each candidate to complete a feedback questionnaire. Particularly if you’ve just begun utilizing virtual interview questions and answers as part of the hiring process, this will help you refine the experience
4. FAQs
4.1 What do you do in a video interview?
A video interview is an opportunity to screen candidates remotely, without necessitating a face-to-face encounter. This is not only more convenient, but also means you can optimize your time to see more individuals in a smaller window of time.
4.2 What should I say in a video interview?
For the interviewer, the key is to get a sense of the personality and suitability of a candidate for your advertised position. A CV can tell you the bald facts about a person’s experience, but speaking with them via video will add context and detail.
4.3 What are the different types of video interviews?
There are two main types of interview: asynchronous, which involves pre-recorded video interview questions and answers, and live. You can also ask candidates to introduce themselves in a video pitch, explaining why they are the best person for the job.
4.4 How do you interview a candidate for a video?
The most important factor is to have a consistent candidate screening approach. Using the video interviewing examples outlined above, you should be able to construct a custom framework to suit your company’s unique hiring needs.
