The HireVue interview: the recorded round, the AI Interviewer, and how to prepare for each

The facts below come from HireVue’s own pages: the candidate FAQ for the recorded round, and the AI Interviewer page for the conversation.

In what we read, most employers named in public run the recorded round. The AI Interviewer is new: HireVue launched it on June 18, 2026, after buying Hireguide’s technology in March. No employer using it is named in anything we read.

Employers rarely say which vendor they use, so most of what is public comes from their own candidate pages and from candidate reports.

• Delta’s flight attendant process has an assessment and then a self-recorded On-Demand Interview through HireVue, according to Delta’s careers page as relayed by Thita in October 2026.
• JPMorgan Chase’s early-careers handbook names a first-round recorded interview on HireVue for its programs. Our JPMorgan Chase guide collects what candidates report about it.
• Candidates report HireVue rounds at Bank of America, Wells Fargo and UnitedHealth Group. Wells Fargo and UnitedHealth Group describe a recorded step on their own pages without naming the vendor. The reports and their sources are in our Bank of America guide, our Wells Fargo guide and our UnitedHealth Group guide.

A single report is one person’s experience, not the employer’s policy.

1. The link. The invitation gives you a link. HireVue says to choose the device you are most comfortable with: a computer, a tablet or a phone. It suggests you set aside 45 minutes, though most assessments take under 20 to 30.
2. The questions. Most have between five and eight, shown as text or as a short video of someone asking.
3. The clock. HireVue says you get several minutes to respond to each question. Candidate reports vary by employer: about 30 seconds to prepare and two to three minutes to answer are common, and some employers allow a retake while others do not. Read your own screen and practice to that clock.
4. If the connection drops. HireVue says you can pick up where you left off with the same link.
5. Nobody follows up. It is a recording, so there is no one to ask what a question means and no follow-up to rescue an answer that missed. Every answer has to stand on its own.

Your employer writes its own questions, and HireVue does not publish them. These are prompts candidates said they got in recorded rounds, collected with their sources in our employer guides.

• A time you were challenged ethically, at work or at school. From our JPMorgan Chase guide.
• A time you noticed a problem and acted before it became a real one. From our JPMorgan Chase guide.
• A time you presented complicated information to someone who did not know the subject. From our JPMorgan Chase guide.
• What steps you took to learn about the program. From our JPMorgan Chase guide.
• Why this bank, paired with standard behavioral questions. From our Wells Fargo guide.
• DevOps concepts and your resume, in a recorded round for a software role. From our UnitedHealth Group guide.

Most of them are behavioral questions. A story with a specific moment, what you did and what changed answers most of the list. The “why” questions need something else: one thing you read about the employer and one reason it fits the work you want.

HireVue’s launch release describes dynamic, two-way voice interviews available to every applicant at any hour. The product page adds the rest:

• The AI suggests questions and answer rubrics from the job description, and the employer approves them.
• It asks probing follow-up questions on your answers, in a two-way conversation.
• It answers candidate questions.
• It runs in several languages, including English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
• You give consent before it starts, accommodations are available, and candidates can opt out to an equivalent path without AI.

HireVue does not publish how long the conversation lasts or whether it limits each answer. If the invitation gives a time, plan for that. If it does not, the AI screens other vendors run take about 20 minutes, as our guide to the AI interview explains.

In the recorded round, HireVue’s FAQ says the assessment highlights your job-related competencies and helps recruiters make the first cut. It also says HireVue does not use facial recognition to score candidates. An employer may still use technology to check that the person in the interview matches the ID they present.

The AI Interviewer scores each answer against its rubric: Meets or Does Not Meet, or a custom 1 to 5 scale. HireVue says it reports scores only, not actions. Recruiters see the scores in their applicant system, and the launch release says candidates are ranked for review. Suspicious cases can be flagged for a person to review.

Both formats run integrity checks. HireVue’s page on cheating and fraud lists browser-focus tracking, limits on copy and paste, and image capture during eligible recorded rounds. It says the identity, environment, audio, screen and browser checks should be explained before the interview begins, and that a single behavior should not automatically be treated as proof of fraud.

HireVue’s FAQ says no course will help you game its assessment. That fits what both formats score: what you say about the job. Preparation is about saying it clearly.

For the recorded round. Give each answer a short structure: the situation in one sentence, what you did, and what changed. Rehearse to a timer set to the clock your invitation names, because the first try almost always runs long. Look at the camera lens, not your face on the screen. You can practice these questions out loud with the behavioral interview, which is the closest thing we have to this round.

For the AI Interviewer. Say the direct answer first, then the example, because the rubric came from the job description and matches your words to it. Use the posting’s words, say “I” for what you did, and put a number on the result. If a question is unclear, ask. It answers candidate questions, and an answer to the wrong question scores as a miss. If you need a moment, say so instead of going quiet.

For both. Use one screen and close other tabs, since browser focus is tracked. Use no AI help during the interview. If you need an accommodation or would rather take the path without AI, ask the recruiter before you start.

Star Interview’s AI screening interview is closest to HireVue’s AI Interviewer. It is by voice, built from your job description, with a clock on each main answer and plain follow-ups. It differs in one way that matters: it does not answer your questions about the role, where HireVue’s AI Interviewer does. It is not the recorded round, and it is not on video, so check your camera and your light separately.

For the round in general, read our guide to the AI interview. If your invitation came from another vendor, we have guides to the Mercor AI interview and to micro1’s Zara interview.

Star Interview is not affiliated with HireVue or with any employer’s interview vendor.