What is a HireVue interview?
A HireVue interview is usually a recorded video interview: a question appears on screen, written or on video, and you record your answer. HireVue's candidate FAQ says most include five to eight questions and take under 20 to 30 minutes. HireVue says its AI does not use facial analysis, video or audio data to evaluate you, only the transcript of what you say, and that humans make the final hiring decision. It does not publish a pass mark.
Last checked 28 September 2026. Every statement about HireVue on this page links to HireVue's own page, with the date we read it.
HireVue's two interview formats, and Career1's practice, side by side
HireVue sells both a recorded video interview and a conversational AI Interviewer, so check which one your invitation describes. The Career1 column shows what a practice run can rehearse and what it cannot.
| HireVue video interview | HireVue AI Interviewer | Career1 practice interview | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Format | A question on screen, written or on video, and you record your answer | A spoken two-way conversation in which the AI asks probing follow-up questions and records your responses | A spoken conversation in your browser, with follow-up questions, microphone only |
| Length | Most under 20 to 30 minutes; HireVue suggests allowing 45 | Not published | About 8 minutes |
| Questions | Five to eight in most assessments | Suggested from the job description, then customised and approved by the employer | Built from your resume |
| Redoing an answer | The employer switches question retries on or off | Not published | Practise again after seven days |
| What is assessed | Where AI scoring is added, only the transcript of what you say | Each response, against the employer's criteria for the role | Nothing is scored; you get written feedback |
| Who decides | The employer | HireVue says recruiters always make the final call | Nobody: practice is never shown to a company |
| Cost to you | Free for candidates | Free for candidates | Free |
Sources: HireVue, candidate FAQ, checked 28 September 2026; HireVue, AI in hiring, checked 28 September 2026; HireVue, 2025 AI Explainability Statement (PDF), checked 28 September 2026; HireVue, AI Interviewer, checked 28 September 2026; HireVue, pricing page FAQ, checked 28 September 2026; Career1's free AI mock interview.
What HireVue publishes about its interviews
Career1 is an independent AI interview platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to HireVue. HireVue is a trademark of its owner, which now writes its name as Hirevue. Every line below comes from HireVue's own pages, linked beside it with the date we read it. The example questions further down were written by Career1 and are not HireVue's. HireVue does not publish a pass mark or how a particular employer has set up its assessment, and Career1 has no way to know.
- Most video-based assessments include between five and eight questions, and you get several minutes to respond to each one.
- Source: HireVue, candidate FAQ, checked 28 September 2026.
- Most video-based assessments take under 20 to 30 minutes, and HireVue advises setting aside 45 minutes to be safe.
- Source: HireVue, candidate FAQ, checked 28 September 2026.
- If you lose connection partway through, you can pick up where you left off using the same link you started with.
- Source: HireVue, candidate FAQ, checked 28 September 2026.
- Common question types are situational judgement questions, scenario-based simulations where you act out your response, and past behaviour questions about challenges you have faced.
- Source: HireVue, candidate FAQ, checked 28 September 2026.
- Not every HireVue interview is scored by AI: HireVue says not all of its interviews have an assessment added.
- Source: HireVue, candidate FAQ, checked 28 September 2026.
- HireVue video assessments don't use facial analysis, video, or audio data to evaluate candidates. HireVue says it analyses only the transcript of your responses.
- Source: HireVue, AI in hiring, checked 28 September 2026.
- HireVue never uses the video recording of your interview to identify you, which is what is sometimes called facial recognition.
- Source: HireVue, candidate FAQ, checked 28 September 2026.
- On 12 January 2021 HireVue announced it had decided not to use any visual analysis in its pre-hire algorithms going forward.
- Source: HireVue blog, 12 January 2021, checked 28 September 2026.
- Where AI scoring is used, speech is converted to text by a third-party system, Rev.ai, and answers are scored against rating scales built from expert human raters' evaluations.
- Source: HireVue, 2025 AI Explainability Statement (PDF), checked 28 September 2026.
- The employer chooses settings including question retries, preparation time of up to five minutes or unlimited, and whether you receive a feedback report.
- Source: HireVue, 2025 AI Explainability Statement (PDF), checked 28 September 2026.
- Candidates who opt out of AI evaluation take the same assessment, and recruiters rate their answers by hand on the same scales.
- Source: HireVue, 2025 AI Explainability Statement (PDF), checked 28 September 2026.
- The ultimate decision on what to do with the results always remains with the employer, not with HireVue.
- Source: HireVue, 2025 AI Explainability Statement (PDF), checked 28 September 2026.
- HireVue keeps your data for the retention period chosen by the company you are interviewing with, and deletion requests go to that company.
- Source: HireVue, candidate FAQ, checked 28 September 2026.
- A candidate who tells the employer they are autistic may be able to ask for the questions in advance, and anyone can request accommodations from the recruiter or hiring team.
- Source: HireVue, candidate FAQ, checked 28 September 2026.
- Hirevue is free for candidates, and there are no app downloads required.
- Source: HireVue, pricing page FAQ, checked 28 September 2026.
- You get a practice question first, you can keep notes next to you, and HireVue says not to worry about making eye contact with the camera.
- Source: HireVue, candidate interview tips, checked 28 September 2026.
- HireVue also sells an AI Interviewer that asks probing follow-up questions in a two-way conversation, and says candidates can opt out and recruiters make the final call.
- Source: HireVue, AI Interviewer, checked 28 September 2026.
Does HireVue use facial recognition, or analyse your face?
No to both, according to HireVue's own pages. They are two different questions, though: whether HireVue identifies you from your video, and whether it scores your face. The three sources on scoring come first.
What HireVue says it scores today
HireVue's AI in hiring page: "Hirevue video assessments don't use facial analysis, video, or audio data to evaluate candidates. Instead, we analyze only the transcript of your responses."
Source: HireVue, AI in hiring, checked 28 September 2026.
What its 2025 Explainability Statement says
HireVue's AI "relies only on what is said by the candidate and does not use any video analysis or other audio characteristics (meaning that we do not assess a candidate's facial expressions, body language, their background and surroundings, or tone-of-voice)."
Source: HireVue, 2025 AI Explainability Statement (PDF), checked 28 September 2026.
When it changed
In a post dated 12 January 2021, HireVue's Lindsey Zuloaga wrote that the company had "made the decision to not use any visual analysis in our pre-hire algorithms going forward." Descriptions of HireVue scoring faces describe the years before that decision, which is why you still come across them.
Source: HireVue blog, 12 January 2021, checked 28 September 2026.
Facial recognition is a separate question
Identifying you is not the same as scoring you. HireVue's candidate FAQ answers the identity question: "Hirevue never uses the video recording of your interview in order to identify you, which is sometimes referred to as 'facial recognition.'" It says nothing about scoring, so it is not evidence of the 2021 change. The three sources above are.
Source: HireVue, candidate FAQ, checked 28 September 2026.
Does HireVue use AI to score you?
Sometimes. HireVue's FAQ says not all Hirevue interviews have an assessment added. Where one is, its 2025 Explainability Statement describes three steps, and leaves the decision with the employer.
1. Your speech becomes text
HireVue converts speech to written text "using a third-party speech-to-text transcription system developed by a company called Rev.ai."
Source: HireVue, 2025 AI Explainability Statement (PDF), checked 28 September 2026.
2. A language model reads the meaning
HireVue's own language model reads the transcript for meaning rather than for particular words. HireVue writes that this "makes it more difficult for candidates to 'game' the video interview process by mentioning particular words or phrases in their responses."
Source: HireVue, 2025 AI Explainability Statement (PDF), checked 28 September 2026.
3. Answers are scored against rating scales
Answers are scored "based on expert human rater evaluations of answers to similar competency-based interview questions", on behaviourally anchored rating scales that describe low, medium and high performance for each competency.
Source: HireVue, 2025 AI Explainability Statement (PDF), checked 28 September 2026.
The employer sets it up and decides
The employer chooses settings such as preparation time, question retries, whether you receive a feedback report, and whether results appear as tiers such as top, middle and bottom. HireVue's statement says the ultimate decision "always remains with the employer."
Source: HireVue, 2025 AI Explainability Statement (PDF), checked 28 September 2026.
You can ask to be assessed without AI
HireVue's statement says candidates who opt out of AI evaluation "complete the same HireVue assessment experience, but their responses are not scored by AI. Instead, recruiters manually review and rate these candidates' interview responses" on the same scales. Its AI Interviewer page also says candidates can opt out.
Sources: HireVue, 2025 AI Explainability Statement (PDF), checked 28 September 2026; HireVue, AI Interviewer, checked 28 September 2026.
What HireVue does not publish
HireVue does not publish a pass mark, a cut-off score, or how a particular employer has configured its assessment, and Career1 has no way to know them. A HireVue pass mark quoted elsewhere did not come from any of the HireVue documents on this page.
What you may have read about HireVue that is not true
Each correction below is HireVue's own answer, quoted from its own pages as they read on 28 September 2026.
“HireVue's AI scores your facial expressions.”
Not since 2021, by HireVue's account. Its AI in hiring page says its video assessments "don't use facial analysis, video, or audio data to evaluate candidates". The full correction, with all three sources, is in the facial recognition section above.
Source: HireVue, AI in hiring, checked 28 September 2026.
“You lose points for too little eye contact, or for blinking.”
HireVue's FAQ answers this exact worry: the assessment evaluates your answers to questions about skills for the job, and its advice is to "do what feels most natural to you". Its interview tips say: "don't worry about making eye contact with the camera. Just be natural!"
Sources: HireVue, candidate FAQ, checked 28 September 2026; HireVue, candidate interview tips, checked 28 September 2026.
“Your tone of voice is being scored.”
HireVue's 2025 Explainability Statement lists tone of voice among the things it does not assess, along with facial expressions, body language, and your background and surroundings.
Source: HireVue, 2025 AI Explainability Statement (PDF), checked 28 September 2026.
“Say the right keywords and you pass.”
HireVue's FAQ says an assessment "considers the whole context of a response, not just certain words here or there", and its AI in hiring page says "there are no magic keywords to trick the system". Prepare real examples instead.
Sources: HireVue, candidate FAQ, checked 28 September 2026; HireVue, AI in hiring, checked 28 September 2026.
“A robot decides whether you get the job.”
HireVue's AI in hiring page: "Although AI may play an important role in evaluating candidates, humans make the final hiring decision." Its FAQ describes the interview as replacing a screening call, with person-to-person interviews later for those who move on.
Sources: HireVue, AI in hiring, checked 28 September 2026; HireVue, candidate FAQ, checked 28 September 2026.
“You only get one take at each question.”
It depends on the employer. HireVue's Explainability Statement lists question retries as a setting the employer switches on or off, and says its AI-scored interviews "allow candidates multiple attempts to answer each question, if they feel that the first attempt did not go as well as they would have wanted."
Source: HireVue, 2025 AI Explainability Statement (PDF), checked 28 September 2026.
What happens to your HireVue recording?
How long it is kept
HireVue's candidate FAQ: "Hirevue stores your personal data based on the retention period (for the amount of time) chosen by the company that you're interviewing with. We automatically purge personal data when that company's retention period expires."
Source: HireVue, candidate FAQ, checked 28 September 2026.
Who can delete it
HireVue says the employer controls the interview data, "so send your deletion request to the company you're applying to", for example by emailing the recruiter you have been in contact with.
Source: HireVue, candidate FAQ, checked 28 September 2026.
How Career1 handles recordings, for comparison
Career1's practice interview uses your microphone only, records no video and is never shown to a company. Career1's vetting interview records video with audio, which is never sent to OpenAI, and nothing in Career1 analyses faces, expressions, tone of voice or accent. The full detail is in Career1's privacy policy.
HireVue interview questions, by category
HireVue does not publish its questions, and they differ by employer and role, so this is not a leaked list. Career1 wrote these as typical examples of the situational and past-behaviour questions HireVue's FAQ says are common, each with what a strong answer shows.
Behavioural
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Tell me about a time you worked with a team to reach a goal.
What a strong answer shows: Your own contribution, named clearly, rather than what the team did. One concrete moment where your part changed the result.
-
Describe a time you had a conflict with a colleague.
What a strong answer shows: That you raised the disagreement directly, kept it about the work, and can say what the working relationship was like afterwards.
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Tell me about a mistake you made at work.
What a strong answer shows: Ownership without drama: what went wrong, what you did to put it right, and the habit you changed so it did not happen again.
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Describe a time you had to meet a tight deadline.
What a strong answer shows: How you prioritised, what you chose not to do, and whether you told anyone early that the deadline was at risk.
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Tell me about a time you went beyond what was asked of you.
What a strong answer shows: Initiative tied to an outcome someone cared about, not simply working longer hours.
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Describe a time you had to adapt to a change you did not choose.
What a strong answer shows: How quickly you adjusted, what you did in the first days, and something you learned from it that you still use.
Situational
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A customer is angry about a problem you did not cause. What do you do?
What a strong answer shows: Listening first, owning the next step even though the cause was elsewhere, and a clear follow-up. Blaming another team on camera reads badly.
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You have three urgent tasks and time for two. How do you decide?
What a strong answer shows: A method based on impact, deadlines and who is affected, and telling the person whose task slips instead of letting them find out.
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You notice a colleague cutting a corner that could cause a problem. What do you do?
What a strong answer shows: A sense of proportion: raising it with the colleague first where that is reasonable, escalating when the risk is real, and keeping it about the work.
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Your manager asks you to do something you think is the wrong approach. How do you respond?
What a strong answer shows: Disagreeing with a reason and an alternative, then committing to the decision if it stands. Neither silent compliance nor refusal.
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Your instructions are unclear and your manager is unavailable. What do you do?
What a strong answer shows: Checking what you can, making a sensible assumption, writing it down and flagging it, rather than waiting or guessing silently.
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A project you are responsible for is going to miss its deadline. What do you do?
What a strong answer shows: Telling people early, with a revised plan and options, rather than a surprise on the due date.
Motivation
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Why do you want to work for this company?
What a strong answer shows: Something specific about this employer that connects to your own experience or goals. A sentence that fits any company is the weak answer.
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Why are you interested in this role?
What a strong answer shows: That you understand what the job involves day to day, with evidence you would be good at it and would want to do it.
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What do you know about what we do?
What a strong answer shows: Preparation beyond the homepage, connected honestly to the role you applied for.
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Where do you see yourself in a few years?
What a strong answer shows: A direction that fits where this role can lead, without promising to stay forever or hinting you will leave soon.
-
What motivates you at work?
What a strong answer shows: A genuine answer backed by an example of when you did your best work, which tells the reviewer what brings that out.
Skills for the role
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Walk us through the experience that makes you right for this role.
What a strong answer shows: Selection: the two or three experiences that match the job, in a clear order, instead of reading out your resume.
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Describe a problem you solved using data or analysis.
What a strong answer shows: What the information was, what you concluded, what you did about it, and how you checked you were right.
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Tell me about a time you learned a new skill or tool quickly.
What a strong answer shows: How you learn: what you did first, where you got stuck, and evidence you could use the skill properly afterwards.
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How would you explain something complicated to someone outside your field?
What a strong answer shows: A real example, with the comparison or simplification you used and how you checked they had understood.
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How do you organise your work when you are handling several things at once?
What a strong answer shows: A system you actually use, whatever it is, and a time it caught something that would otherwise have slipped.
-
Tell me about a time you persuaded someone who first said no.
What a strong answer shows: Understanding their objection before arguing, and a result you can state, not just that they eventually came round.
Why recorded interviews are harder than they look
There is nobody to read
In person you can see an answer landing. On a recorded interview there is only the camera, so answers drift long or stop short.
The timer changes how you answer
The employer sets how long you get to think and to answer. Under a countdown people drop the example and give a summary, which is the part reviewers mark down.
Generic questions invite generic answers
Most questions are behavioural and could come from any employer, so a specific, concrete example is what sets an answer apart.
How to prepare
-
01
Expect behavioural questions
Most are a version of: tell me about a time you handled a conflict, missed a deadline, disagreed with a manager, learned something fast, or delivered under pressure. Prepare one real story for each.
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02
Answer with situation, action, result
Set up the situation in a sentence, spend most of the answer on what you did, and finish with the outcome, ideally with a number.
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03
Rehearse out loud, with follow-ups
Say your answers aloud to something that pushes on the vague parts: a friend, a recording of yourself, or a free private practice interview with Career1's AI interviewer, which asks follow-ups and tells you what to work on.
What reviewers listen for in your answers
- One specific example
- A real situation described concretely beats a general statement about how you usually work.
- What you did, not the team
- Saying we launched it tells a reviewer little. Saying you owned the rollout and fixed the step that kept failing says what you would bring.
- An outcome
- How it ended, and what changed because of what you did.
- An answer that fits the time
- A clear opening and a finished point, rather than running out of time halfway through the story.
- Practice you can repeat
- Career1's practice interview is private, has no video and no score, gives written feedback, and you can take one every seven days. It is never shared with companies.
Keep preparing
- Free AI mock interview: a private spoken practice of about eight minutes, built from your resume, with written feedback and no score.
- Interview questions by role: 20 or more questions for each role, each with what a strong answer shows.
- AI interview questions and how answers are scored: what AI interviewers ask, and the difference between a recorded one-way interview and a conversation that follows up.
- How to pass an AI interview: what these systems evaluate, and how to prepare in the days before.
Questions people ask
What questions does a HireVue interview ask?
HireVue does not publish a question list, and questions differ by employer and role. Its candidate FAQ names three common types: situational judgement questions about what you would do, scenario-based simulations where you act out a response, and past behaviour questions about challenges you have faced. For AI-scored assessments, HireVue says each question is designed by its IO psychology team to draw out one job-related competency.
How many questions are in a HireVue interview?
HireVue's candidate FAQ says most video-based assessments include between five and eight questions, with several minutes to respond to each. Its 2025 AI Explainability Statement describes an example AI-scored assessment of four to six video questions plus two to three game questions. The employer configures the interview, so the instructions on your own invitation are the final word.
How long does a HireVue interview take?
HireVue says most video-based assessments take under 20 to 30 minutes, and advises setting aside 45 minutes to be safe. Its Explainability Statement puts an example assessment of video questions plus games at typically 15 to 25 minutes. If your connection drops partway through, HireVue says you can pick up where you left off using the same link.
Does HireVue use facial recognition?
No. HireVue's candidate FAQ says it never uses the video recording of your interview to identify you, which is what facial recognition usually means. Scoring is a separate question, and HireVue's answer there is also no: its AI in hiring page says its video assessments don't use facial analysis, video or audio data to evaluate candidates, and analyse only the transcript of your responses.
Does HireVue use AI to score you?
Sometimes. HireVue says not every interview has an AI assessment added. Where one is, its 2025 Explainability Statement says your speech is transcribed by a third-party system, Rev.ai, and HireVue's language model scores the transcript against rating scales built from expert human raters. The employer sets up the assessment and makes the decision, and HireVue does not publish a pass mark.
Does HireVue analyse your tone of voice or eye contact?
Not according to HireVue. Its 2025 Explainability Statement says its AI relies only on what the candidate says, and does not assess facial expressions, body language, background and surroundings, or tone of voice. Its interview tips go further, telling candidates not to worry about making eye contact with the camera and to just be natural.
Can you retake an answer in a HireVue interview?
It depends on the employer. HireVue's Explainability Statement lists question retries, switched on or off, among the settings the employer chooses, along with preparation time of up to five minutes or unlimited. The same document says its AI-scored interviews allow multiple attempts per question. The instructions before you start tell you what applies to your interview.
Can you use notes in a HireVue interview?
HireVue's own interview tips say you can keep your notes next to you in case you need a reminder during the interview, and that you get a practice question first. Keep notes to a few words per story: reading a full script aloud is hard to do naturally, and a prompt is all you need to find the example you prepared.
Who sees my HireVue interview, and how long is it kept?
The company you applied to. HireVue says it keeps your personal data for the retention period that company chooses, purges it automatically when that period ends, and cannot decide on deletion itself, because the employer controls the interview data. To have it deleted sooner, HireVue says to send your request to the company, for example through your recruiter.
Can I ask not to be assessed by AI in a HireVue interview?
HireVue says yes. Its 2025 Explainability Statement says candidates who opt out of AI evaluation take the same assessment, their answers are rated by recruiters by hand on the same scales, and opting out does not exclude them from the hiring process. HireVue's FAQ adds that you can request accommodations from your recruiter or the hiring team.
Is HireVue free for candidates?
Yes. HireVue's pricing page answers this directly: Hirevue is free for candidates, and there are no app downloads required. Its candidate FAQ suggests choosing whichever device you are most comfortable with, a computer, tablet or phone, and recommends an internet connection of at least 350 Kbps for both download and upload.
How do you pass a HireVue interview?
HireVue publishes no pass mark, so passing means giving the employer clear evidence of the competencies the role needs. HireVue's advice is to research the role, prepare real examples with the results you achieved, and practise out loud. Its AI in hiring page says there are no magic keywords, so a specific story beats a rehearsed phrase.
How can I practise for a HireVue interview?
Practise answering out loud, not in your head, to something that asks follow-up questions. Career1's practice interview is free, about eight minutes by voice, private, with no video and no score, and written feedback afterwards, once every seven days. Career1's separate vetting interview is a single attempt with no retakes that becomes a profile companies can find, which you can hide.
Is Career1 part of HireVue?
No. Career1 is an independent AI interview platform and is not affiliated with HireVue. HireVue is a trademark of its owner. This page exists because candidates preparing for a HireVue interview need accurate information about it, checked against HireVue's own pages, and somewhere honest to practise answering out loud first.
Also worth reading
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