One-way Interviews

One-way interviews are becoming increasingly more common in today’s busy world of job search and recruiting.  Employers are turning to this style of interviewing in order to learn more about their qualified applicants personalities prior to setting up an official interview.  The employer will typically supply the candidate with a link to the interviewing platform or software.    Upon following the link, the candidate/job seeker will answer some preliminary questions before getting into the actual interview questions.  During the one-way interview, the interviewee is the only one present and is typically given a time limit in which they have to review a question and provide the answer.  Some formats require the candidate to provide an answer to the prompted question in a written format, while others may require the answer provided by recorded video response. Either way, the length of time to provide the response is typically timed and limited.  Some formats of one-way interviews may also allow you to resubmit a recording or response after the initial attempt.  It’s important to remember that all positions, employers, industries, etc. are rather different, therefore they may have very different interviewing needs as well.

As previously mentioned, employers are turning to this one-way format to learn more about an applicant’s personality before bringing them in for official interview.  These interviews can also be used in the preliminary rounds to help to trim down on number of candidates to bring in for an interview.

Tips for navigating the One-way Interview:

  1. Keep an eye out for time limits the employer has given in which you must complete the one-way interview.  It is common for the employer to request that the interview be completed within a certain number of hour or business days from the email, so be sure to stick to these timelines and not procrastinate even though it can be completed on your own time.
  2. Similar to video interviews, you’ll want to be sure to avoid distractions for yourself and the employer.  Utilize a quiet space where you won’t be interrupted and be aware of what the backdrop of your recordings will look like.
  3. As with all interviews, you will still want to prepare ahead of time.  Since there is usually a time limit on the amount of time you can view a question and a limit on the amount of time you have to provide a response, you will want to be sure that you are able to quickly provide an appropriate response.
  4. While it is okay to ask questions of the employer prior to the one-way interview, you can assume that the platform or interviewing software will provide details about the number of submissions and the length of time you will have to provide your responses.  If information about how much time you have to complete your information is unclear, it is best to address this with the employer/recruiter directly.
  5. It is recommended that you utilize a desktop or laptop for video interviewing, rather than a cell phone.  The shaking of a handheld device can be distracting and off-putting to an interviewer. The computer ensures more stability, so if you have to use a phone try to make sure it has a sturdy surface to sit on during the interview.