A HireVue interview is usually an on-demand video interview: you open the employer's link, answer each question on camera on your own schedule, and submit before the deadline. There is no live interviewer. The employer picks the questions and sets the prep time, answer time and number of retakes, and every candidate for that job gets the same questions. HireVue says most video-based assessments have 5-8 questions and take under 20-30 minutes. People on the hiring team watch your answers. Some employers also use HireVue's optional AI scoring, which you can opt out of and which, HireVue says, scores only the words you say, not your face or tone of voice.
Facts from HireVue's own pages, checked November 3, 2026. Employers can change settings, so your invitation email wins if it says something different.
| Format | On-demand (one-way) interview: you record answers to the employer's questions, with no live interviewer |
|---|---|
| Questions | Picked by the employer and the same for every candidate for that job; most video-based assessments have 5-8 |
| Time to set aside | Most take under 20-30 minutes; HireVue suggests setting aside 45 |
| How questions are shown | Text by default, or a video clip, audio clip or image |
| How you answer | Mostly on video; some questions take audio, a typed answer, multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank |
| Prep (think) time | Set by the employer: none, a timed countdown, or unlimited |
| Answer time | Set by the employer, or unlimited; recording stops when time runs out |
| Retakes | Set by the employer: unlimited (HireVue's default), 1 to 5, a single take, or none on timed "spontaneous" questions |
| Which take counts | Your last recording, not your best one |
| Practice | Three generic practice questions you can redo as often as you like; nobody else sees them |
| Deadline | Set by the employer and shown in your invitation, as a date or a window such as 48 hours |
| AI scoring | Optional for employers; you are told and can opt out; it scores a transcript of what you say |
| Other assessments | Some employers add game-based assessments, coding challenges or job simulations |
| Devices | Computer, phone or tablet with a camera and microphone; Chrome recommended |
HireVue lets employers mix several formats in one interview. These are the ones candidates meet most. For the questions employers ask, with example answers, see our HireVue interview questions guide.
The core of most HireVue interviews. You read or watch the question, then record your answer on camera within the employer's time limit.
Tip: Check the retake count before you start. The employer sees your last take, so do not re-record a good answer chasing a perfect one.
A question can be a video clip, an audio clip or an image instead of text. HireVue's own example is an audio clip of an angry customer that you respond to as if you took the call.
Tip: Answer the way the prompt asks: respond as you would on the job, not with a description of what you might do.
Some questions take a typed answer (up to 4,000 characters by default), a single or multiple choice, or short fill-in fields. Screening questions such as work eligibility often use this format.
Tip: Treat a typed answer like a short email to the hiring manager: lead with the answer, then give one example.
Short games, each a few minutes long, that measure cognitive abilities such as working memory, or personality (HireVue's Portrait game uses images and adjectives). The cognitive games get harder as you succeed and easier when you miss.
Tip: Watch each instruction video fully. If a game looks blurry in Chrome or Edge, HireVue suggests its app, Firefox or Safari.
Technical roles may get a CodeVue coding challenge in a language the company picks, or a task where you share your screen. Both need a desktop or laptop; screen sharing needs Chrome or Edge.
Tip: On a Mac, allow your browser to record the screen in System Settings before you start, or the screen task will not work.
Some employers use Virtual Job Tryout, a role-based assessment HireVue gained when it bought Modern Hire in 2023.
Tip: If your invitation does not say which parts are included, ask the recruiter before you start.
In most HireVue interviews, people do the evaluating. When you submit, HireVue notifies the recruiter, and the hiring team watches your answers and rates them against its own criteria. HireVue says it is not involved in hiring decisions, so timing and feedback come from the employer.
Some employers also license HireVue's optional AI scoring. It turns your spoken answer into text, works out what the answer means, and scores it against job competencies such as adaptability, problem solving, communication and willingness to learn. HireVue says it trained the models on ratings by industrial-organizational psychologists, and that the system reads meaning rather than counting keywords.
HireVue's 2025 Explainability Statement says its AI relies only on what you say and does not assess your facial expressions, body language, background or tone of voice. HireVue stopped using facial analysis in March 2020 and announced it in January 2021, as SHRM reported at the time.
If an interview uses AI scoring, you are told first and can opt out. Candidates who opt out take the same interview, and recruiters rate their answers by hand on the same scales. Either way, HireVue says people make the final decision.
HireVue's setup checks your camera, microphone and connection. If it passes, you can close the browser and come back later, so do it as soon as the invitation arrives.
There are three generic practice questions you can redo as often as you like, and nobody else sees them. Use them to check your light and sound, because you cannot review your recordings in the real interview.
Most questions ask about your experience. Prepare 5-6 true stories, shape them with STAR, and rehearse out loud with a timer, as HireVue itself suggests. Our HireVue interview questions guide has example answers.
Put a light in front of you, not a window behind you, find a quiet spot, and dress as you would in person. If your connection drops, reopen the invitation link: HireVue returns you to your last unanswered question.
The employer sees each answer you submit: your last recording for each video question, any typed or multiple-choice answers and, if used, AI scores. Practice answers are never uploaded. You cannot watch your own recording on HireVue after you finish.
HireVue gives employers integrity tools: tracking when you switch tabs or windows, copy and paste controls, and photo snapshots in some interviews. HireVue says these are signals for a person to review and that it does not reject candidates automatically.
HireVue does not describe a tool that detects AI-written spoken answers. Its own research makes a simpler point: reviewers can often tell when someone reads a prepared text, because read speech sounds more formal than natural speech. In its tests, ChatGPT answers scored around average and sounded generic.
Not for your interview. Each employer picks its own questions, and HireVue says its practice questions are generic. Lists of "HireVue questions" circulate, but HireVue's AI reads meaning rather than keywords, and its own study of copied scripts found that candidates who used them scored poorly anyway. Your best answers are your own true stories, rehearsed out loud. OphyAI's AI mock interview gives you scored feedback on them.
Interview Copilot in the desktop app has a One-way Interview mode for HireVue. It reads each question as it appears on your screen, or when you press Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + A, and suggests an answer in a window hidden from screen sharing and recording. If the question plays as a video or audio clip, it answers from what it hears through system audio. OphyAI's AI mock interview lets you rehearse the same kinds of questions first. HireVue records your webcam for every answer, though, so the reviewer sees your face and eyes. The window is hidden from screen capture, not from the camera.
HireVue gives employers signals, not verdicts: tab and window switching, copy and paste controls, photo snapshots and identity checks, all for a person to review. It does not describe a detector for AI-written spoken answers, but its research says reviewers can often hear when someone reads a script, and it checks for answers copied between candidates. OphyAI is hidden from screen sharing and recording, not from your webcam or the person watching your video.
Compare every platform: Can online assessments detect AI?
The OphyAI desktop app for Mac and Windows shows live answers in a floating window that is hidden from screen sharing and screen recording, so it stays private even when you share your whole screen.
Start with practice. OphyAI's AI mock interview asks role-specific questions out loud, follows up like a real interviewer, and gives you a scored review (Communication, Technical, Problem Solving, Confidence) with a full transcript. The Free plan covers one 15-minute session.
Interview Copilot in the desktop app is the live option. When a HireVue question plays as a video or audio clip, it hears the question through system audio and suggests an answer in a floating window that macOS and Windows leave out of screen sharing and recording. Its One-way Interview mode reads each written HireVue question as it appears on your screen, or when you press Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + A. The Teleprompter layout shows one short beat at a time in large text. Each session uses 15 credits.
Know the limits. A HireVue interview records your webcam for every answer, so the reviewer sees your face and where you look. OphyAI is hidden from screen capture, not from the camera, and HireVue says reviewers can often tell when an answer is read.
Hears the interviewer through system audio, with no virtual audio cable or extra setup.
The desktop app has a One-way Interview mode for HireVue and Spark Hire style interviews. It reads each question as it appears on your screen, or when you press Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + A, and suggests an answer in the overlay. If the question plays as a video, it answers from what it hears.
The answer window is excluded from screen sharing and recording by the operating system (macOS window sharing set to none, Windows display affinity set to exclude from capture). Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams see what is behind it, not the window.
Free download. Each Interview Copilot session uses 15 credits. See everything it does
Hiding a window from screen share does not hide it from a camera pointed at your screen, someone in the room, or proctoring software that inspects running apps.
HireVue says most video-based assessments take under 20-30 minutes and suggests setting aside 45 minutes. Most have 5-8 questions. HireVue's example of an interview with games is 4-6 video questions plus 2-3 games, about 15-25 minutes in total.
Only if the employer allows retakes. HireVue's default is unlimited retakes, but employers can set 1 to 5, a single take, or a timed "spontaneous" question with no retake. The employer sees your last take, not your best one, and once you submit an answer you cannot go back to it. Only the hiring company can give you a new attempt.
The employer decides, and the screen tells you before each question. On a timed question, the countdown starts when you click to view it, and recording starts on its own when it ends. Candidates report prep windows from about 30 seconds to 2 minutes; some questions have no timer at all.
Only if the employer licensed HireVue's AI scoring for your interview, and then you are told and can opt out. It scores a transcript of what you say against job competencies. HireVue says it does not analyze your face, body language, background or tone of voice, and it stopped using facial analysis in 2020. People make the hiring decision.
HireVue's AI does not look at your face or eyes. But people on the hiring team watch your recordings, so they can see where you look, and HireVue's own tips say to look at the camera when you speak. Asked about eye contact and blinking, HireVue's FAQ says to answer naturally and back up your answers with specific examples.
HireVue notifies the recruiter as soon as you submit, and the hiring team reviews your answers on its own timeline. HireVue is not involved in the decision and cannot give you a status update or show you your recording, so contact the company with questions. Some employers send a Candidate Feedback Report.
No. HireVue blocks access to the real questions until you start, and every candidate for the same job gets the same questions and the same time. The practice questions are generic, so prepare for the role instead: read the job description and practice common question types.
Some employers add short games to the interview. Cognitive games measure abilities like working memory and adapt to you, getting harder as you succeed; the Portrait game measures the Big Five personality traits with images and adjectives. HireVue says its games take about 6-15 minutes, and you can pause a game with the pause icon.
A computer, phone or tablet with a camera and microphone, and a stable connection (at least 100 kbps; 350 kbps recommended). On a computer, use Windows 10 or newer or macOS 10.12 or newer, with the latest Chrome (recommended), Firefox or Edge, or Safari 15 or newer. On a phone, use the HireVue for Candidates app or a current browser.
Read on November 3, 2026. HireVue On-Demand Interview is a product of HireVue; OphyAI is not affiliated with HireVue.
Download OphyAI Desktop and bring Interview Copilot into your next video interview: it hears the question, or reads it on your screen, and suggests an answer in an overlay your screen share leaves out.
