How to Prepare for Hirevue Interview?

1. What is HireVue?

HireVue is a digital recruiting company that uses video intelligence to score candidates. Their clients are talent acquisition or recruitment teams from top investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Morgan Stanley who want to discover the right candidates at a faster rate. 

Companies are using HireVue to replace initial phone screens and even first-round live interviews. The technology is catching on because its proponents argue that HireVue strips gender, age, race, and other biases from the interviewing process. 

Here is the link to HireVue’s website.

2. How does HireVue work?

Before the interview, the company will send you the information you need to get started. You can choose to do the interview on your laptop, tablet, or smartphone, as long as your devices have a camera, a microphone, and an internet connection. Once you are in the system, you will be given the instructions about the process, including a video tutorial.

During HireVue interviews, candidates will be provided with pre-set questions prepared by the banks. They will have to answer those questions in front of the camera only ONCE. Because candidates are given only 1 chance to record their answers, it is therefore extremely important that they anticipate and practice questions beforehand. 

The technology deployed by HireVue is artificial intelligence. This technology is developed in conjunction with insights from top industrial-organizational psychologists to improve the quality of hiring practices of various firms. HireVue uses proprietary machine learning algorithms that analyze data points found in the video interview to predict future job performance of the candidate. 

HireVue’s technology will focus on non-verbal cues such as facial expressions, eye movements, body movements, details of cloths, and nuances of voices. As mentioned earlier, these non-verbal cues are stored and collated as data points. They will be processed by HireVue technology to produce meaningful assessments. 

3. Benefits of HireVue

• HireVue offers you the opportunity to show off more of your personality, public speaking skills, and demonstrate your work ethic as well as confidence in front of a screen in another format other than writing. 
• There is no need to travel in the early stages of the interview process. You can take at any time that fits your schedule. Candidates will be given some time to prepare, usually within two days of the invitation.
• HireVue attracts and captures more candidates from more schools because talent isn’t just found from target schools. Furthermore, HireVue also helps to eliminate certain biases which can be found in in-person interviews.

4. HireVue best practices

Before the interview:

• Read any instructions that you receive from the employer. They might offer recommendations regarding dress codes and the types of questions they’d ask later.
• Familiarize yourself with HireVue and common questions often asked by the bank you are interviewing for.
• Once you have access to HireVue’s online portal, you will have a chance to practice with some sample questions. Record your answers and watch the recordings so that you can improve later in the real interview.
• Make sure to check if the technology is working properly. If you are using the smartphone, you’ll need to download the HireVue app. If you use a laptop, you will need to have access to a webcam, a microphone, and the internet. 

During the interview:

• Always maintain eye contact in front of the camera. Imagine you are talking to a real person on the other side of the screen.
• Enunciate words clearly. Try to avoid stuttering or having long pauses. You want to come off as being ready to answer whatever questions thrown at you.
• Dress appropriately. Wear professional clothing such as a suit and tie for the interview.
• Keep it natural. Don’t sound too rehearsed. Remember to show your personality along the way just like you do live interviews or phone calls. 

5. Common HireVue questions

5.1. Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs is one of the most prominent banks that use HireVue. All applicants are required to conduct HireVue interviews after applying for a program. The HireVue interview includes 3-5 questions with 30 seconds to prepare a response, and up to 2 minutes to answer. HireVue will stop the recording automatically after the time is up. 

Here are some common questions you will be asked by Goldman Sachs:

1. Why Goldman Sachs?
2. Why this division?
3. What does this division do and how does it fit into the firm?
4. Tell us about a time that you had to work in a team.
5. How does your experience and background help you in this division?
6. Tell us about a project you’re proud of.
7. Tell us about a time when you were faced with a confrontation. 

5.2. Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley’s HireVue format is a little different from Goldman’s. Candidates will be given 48 hours to complete it. There are two questions, each with 1 retry attempt. Each question is given 30 second for preparation, then 90 seconds to answer. 2 questions that usually appear on HireVue interviews are:

1. What’s a recent transaction you are interested in?
2. Tell us about a time you saw something wrong in a team/project/activity you were doing. How did you react? What did you do?

5.3. JP Morgan

JP Morgan will give candidates 7 questions, 30 seconds for preparation, and 3 minutes to record your answers. Common questions that appear on JP Morgan HireVue interview are:

1. Why are you a good fit for this position?
2. Why JP Morgan and why do you think that you will succeed in this role?
3. What skills have you gained from your work/internship that will be useful for the job you’re applying to?
4. Why are you looking for a new role?
5. What were your primary responsibilities at your current/previous position ?
6. What are the areas where you need to improve?