How a recorded interview works
Pre-recorded interviews usually open at a set time and stay open for a few days. You record your answers in that time and send them back. The interviewer watches them later.
Read the invitation closely for the number of questions, the time limits, and whether you can try again.
Use any practice questions to check whether you can stop or re-record an answer if something goes wrong.
Set up your space
- Charge or plug in your device, and check your internet connection.
- Find a quiet space with no interruptions.
- Log in at least half an hour early, to check everything works.
- Look at your camera, not the screen, to keep eye contact.
Test your picture and sound first with our free camera and microphone test. It records nothing.
Answering on camera
With nobody in the room, it's easy to rush. Use your thinking time.
For questions about your past, answer in STAR order. STAR stands for situation, task, action and result.
Smile, look interested, and sit up straight, as you would in a live interview. Practise with a timer set to the invitation's think and answer times.
If software helps judge your answers
Some employers use automated tools, including AI, in hiring. A few places have laws about it.
In New York City, employers that use an automated employment decision tool must tell candidates who live in the city. They must also say which qualifications or characteristics it will assess.
Elsewhere, if the invitation doesn't say how recordings are judged and stored, you can ask. And never use any tool, ours included, for help during a real recording.
A recorded answer, in STAR form
Here is a made-up answer to a common question. It takes under a minute to say.
Made-up example
Kai, recording answers for a graduate program
Question
Situation
Task
Action
- I picked a free website builder and did its two-hour beginner course that night.
- I sketched each page on paper and agreed the layout with my group.
- I built one page a day and asked a classmate to test it on her phone.
- I kept a list of fixes and cleared it every Friday.
Result
Set your timer to the invitation's answer time, and practise until an answer like this fits.
Questions
Can I re-record my answers?
It depends on the employer. Use any practice question to check whether you can stop or re-record an answer.
Where should I look?
At the camera, not the screen. That's how the viewer sees you making eye contact.
Is AI used to judge recorded interviews?
Sometimes. In New York City, employers must tell candidates who live there when they use an automated tool. They must also say what it assesses. Elsewhere, you can ask the employer.
Sources
Written by Seal the Offer from these pages, last checked on . Rules change, so check the employer's own page and the job ad before you apply.