Our Video Screening Questions
We ask all our Top Talents to answer video questions and we create with their answers a final video that is the equivalent of an initial screening interview performed by a very good recruiter. We do not have to dwell on questions related to notice period or salary expectations because this information is already collected in our application form for talents.
This leaves room to delve into 3 main elements useful in evaluating candidates:
– past performance and achievements
– future ambitions and expectations
– the skills and potentials expressed through ideal type situations (but often found in the practice of daily work)
If you are looking at ways to practice for your language and technical assessments visit this page.
Let’s analyze the typical questions we ask in each of these phases of the video interview and their function.
Questions related to the past
We know that these type of questions will be the subject of future selection rounds (especially with hiring managers), so we use this initial part of the video interview to put talent at ease and let them talk freely about themselves.
Typically in this section of the interview we include 3/4 questions including:
– Tell me about yourself?
– Summarize your professional experience
– What types of things were you responsible for doing at your last job?
– Name two of your weaknesses and tell how you try to mitigate them.
– Why Should We Hire You?
– Why Are You Looking for a New Role?
– Tell me about a work related achievement that you are proud of.
There are no right or wrong answers, so we ask applicants to be very honest. We also ask that they answer, if possible, in English so that they can be understood by as many recruiters and companies as possible. Talent is asked not to name companies and people they have worked with. Instead of saying ‘I worked for Google taking care of these tasks and achieving these results’ they should say ‘I worked for a multinational company active in online search services taking care of these tasks and achieving these results.’
Questions related to the future
In this part of the video interview, we ask candidates to answer questions that seek to project them into their future employment and that take into account the candidates’ aspirations and ambitions. We generally ask 3 to 4 such questions, which may be:
– What are your career goals?
– What would be your dream job and why?
– In what work environment would you thrive?
– What does an ideal workday look like for you?
– What Motivates You in a Job?
– Type of Work Environment and Management Style Do You Prefer?
– What Do You Look For in a Company’s Culture?
– What are Your Values and why?
Situational Questions
In the last part of the video interview we ask situational questions, which put talents in ideal situations, but really possible in the real work context. These questions are not meant to be scary, they just want to investigate the ability to act and react in certain situations. Again, there are no absolute right or wrong answers. This part of the interview consists of 3/4 questions that aim to bring out different traits based on the professional background of each different talent. For the purpose of example, we will only ask questions related to Leadership to talents who are team managers or aspire to be in the near future.
We have a wide range of areas to test and these include: problem solving, cognitive flexibility, critical thinking, results orientation, ability to plan and organize, emotional intelligence, willingness to learn, resilience, leadership, team working, negotiation skills, and altruism. Typical questions in this part of the interview are:
– You have to make a presentation to the company management in an hour, but you are sure you will not be able to meet the deadline. How do you handle the situation?
– Your manager assigns you an urgent project even if you have other important deadlines. How do you sort this?
– You and your team have not met your goals on a project. You weren’t able to finish all activities on time. What would you do differently next time?
– You have to take an important decision without having all the necessary information. How do you handle the situation?
– You have several priorities to be managed at the same time. How do you find which one to manage first?
– You realize that one of your colleagues cannot focus on work and is having difficulty meeting deadlines. How do you behave?
– You are a new employee in our company. What do you want to achieve in your first 30 days of work?
– Your boss gives you negative feedback about how you interact with colleagues. He thinks you are uncooperative. How do you react?
– A team member you are responsible for publicly questions your role. How would you handle the situation?
– A colleague of yours does not like you personally. How do you develop and maintain a professional working relationship with him?
– I’m your manager. You have to convince me to approve a new project that I believe is risky for our business. How would you do it?
– You noticed that a colleague made a serious mistake in a presentation. How do you handle the situation?
Interview Recording Tips
Are you preparing for our video interview but feeling uncertain? Here are some tips to help you feel prepared and confident:
– Choose a quiet and well-lit space for your interview. Make sure your background is clutter-free and professional looking.
– Test your internet connection and equipment beforehand to ensure a smooth interview. You don’t want to have technical difficulties during the interview.
– Dress professionally as you would for an in-person interview. This will help you feel more confident and make a good impression
– Practice your answers to common interview questions (have a look at the ones in this article).
– Make sure that you are not too close to the camera or too far from it, ideally your face should be in the middle part of the screen and occupy around 1/3 of the space. Try to not be in the middle of the frame, instead position yourself slightly on one side (right or left)
– Don’t leave too much air/space above your head and don’t have your neck at the bottom of the screen (your shoulders should be there). Have a look at the picture below for a great example of framing for you interview
– Remember to make eye contact with the camera instead of looking at yourself on the screen. This will help you appear more engaged and focused.
Conclusions
With OnlyTopTalent’s video screening interview, companies save a lot of time and can proceed, thanks also to all the other information we collect about our talents, to the next stages of the selection process, such as the interview with the hiring manager. We reduce the time to hire by up to 50%. Candidates also don’t have to repeat the same information a thousand times, and they can simply use this interview for the counts they receive from companies outside our platform as well. In short, our video interview it is a win-win solution that only brings benefits.
