One of the enduring impacts tech has created on recruitment is one-way video interviews for candidates. Hireflix has created a platform for recruiters to present candidates even though they are not in the same room at the same time.
This saves time and adds another level of convenience for employers and job seekers. The success of one-way interviews lies in the questions asked, but again, they are limited to text/a few gifs/links.
The question you ask is the bridge between telling someone about your organization and showing them how they can use their skills to help you achieve your hiring goals.
In this post, we look to the finer details and provide best practices on how to craft impactful questions -specially tailored for one-way video interviews- in order to support your strategic initiatives, leading you to strong hiring results.
One-Way Video Interviews: a Primer
One-way video interview–With one-way video interviews, candidates respond to pre-recorded questions at a time that is convenient for them. No real-time interaction, unlike typical interviews where candidates orally respond to questions, hence recruiters can view responses later.
These interviews replace the initial screening process and provide additional advantages of fairness and a standard evaluation format.
This is where the tech enters, but while the technology is slick, it is only as good as the questions behind it. Bad questions can produce responses that are too general or do not apply to the specific topic, and it makes it hard to distinguish candidate A from B. Tools like Hireflix facilitate the setup of these interviews, but the design of the questions remains in the recruiter’s hands.
Why Question Design Matters
Your choice of questions can have a big impact on the entire interview—as well as your hires. When you do a one-way video interview, there is no immediate clarification or follow-up after your prompt; therefore, you will need to anticipate the ambiguity of your prompts and remove them.
Where the former type of question often results in confusion on how to answer, the latter frequently nets you a crystal clear, high-performing response.
You serve several missions by taking care in question design:
- Better understanding the candidate’s talents and worth
- Candidates are encouraged to be themselves
- Evaluating candidates consistently and fairly.
On platforms such as Hireflix, it is up to the recruiters/hiring managers to ensure the same happens, so a good question-setting strategy is required.
Characteristics of Effective Questions
One-way video interviews allow for a consistent set of effective questions. Neat, precise and one that follows a structured pattern, avoiding miscommunication. What are some of the key features it should have?
Clarity
Questions should be kept simple. It is important to use language that all candidates can understand with ease. No tech jargon, no over-complicating things. Offering a question similar to, “Can you describe your experience at work?” is not recommended.
Example, An area of focus could be communicating, however, the actual challenge could include a variety of questions: Eg, Describe a time when you had to lead a team through a different issue(or opportunity), what did this look like?
Intentionality
Each question should have a strong raison-d’être. Ask yourself, what insight or skill do you want to measure before asking the question? You might ask about communication skills and stress management if you are hiring for a customer service role.
Open-Ended Structure
One-way video interviews are built on the premise of open-ended questions through which a candidate will have to give broad answers. Closed questions which have only a yes/no answer will never give you the depth that is necessary when trying to gauge how suitable candidates are.
Instead, consider questions, such as “what drives you to be better at your career?” to encourage detailed responses.
Role Relevance
Frame questions around the role-specific challenges and responsibilities. By making the questions specific, your feedback can be more meaningful when you receive it. If your role is software engineering, for example, you might ask, “Tell me about debugging a complicated code problem.
Time Sensitivity
Since over interviews are recorded, all these questions should have an answer which does not require much time (1–2 minutes at best). Pairing two or three questions together in one does not work out well because this might overwhelm the candidate, as some of them require a long answer.
Composing Behavioural and Situational Questions
The best format to use for question types is behavioural and situational, as these contrast a lot. For example, this is where you might begin by asking candidates to relate it to something real-life or a hypothetical scenario, so that you can get a better sense of both their abilities as well as how well they would mesh into your company culture.
Behavioral Questions
In behavioural prompts, you ask candidates to reflect on their past, and it can give you a pretty good idea of what the future will hold. Behaviour questions at their best open with phrases such as, “Tell me about a time…” or “Can you give an example…”
For example, a leadership evaluation behavioural question can be: “Describe a time where you had to juggle multiple priorities on a team project. How did you ensure success?”
Situational Questions
A situational question, on the other hand, gives candidates a fictional scenario. These questions are especially valuable for jobs that require exceptional problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
For instance, What would you do if a client asked for features or services that go beyond what your company currently provides? These types of questions force candidates to be on their toes and show how they will make those hard decisions.
Incorporating Soft Skills
Although technical abilities are essential, soft skills like empathy, communication, and teamwork are more in demand among hiring managers. “Can you give me an example of a time when you helped a co-worker who was having difficulty on the job? What did you do to help?” reveals the interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence of a candidate.
Assessing Whether You Are a Fit for the Company through Questions
Making sure a candidate fits into your company culture and values is another big part of crafting the right questions. Platforms like Hireflix will be able to standardize this evaluation, guaranteeing fairness across all the applicants.
For instance, if one of your core company values is fostering innovation, you may ask an open-ended question like, “How do you go about generating creative solutions to complex problems?” Responses to these questions can also indicate if a candidate answers those 25 value-quotes with the one true colour that suits your organization well.
On the other hand, these are also self-reflective questions for candidates to determine if this company is right for them, which makes meaningful connections during hiring.
The Impact of Technology on Question Development
Most tools similar to Hireflix will also allow you to collect feedback and thus improve your question bank over time. Patterns emerge by reviewing the type of responses you get: what provides actionable answers, and what prompts aren’t working as intended.
Platforms like Hireflix wrapped with automation / AI tools are increasingly being used to extract sentiment analysis or for a deeper understanding of candidates that stand out in terms of tone, vocabulary and non-verbal cues. After all, applying this technology means that your one-way video interviews keep getting better and more effective.
Putting It All Together
As you lay out questions for one-way video interviews, keep in mind that these are more than just openers or ways to get the conversation going — they form the very basis of how you will judge a candidate.
All of these, with platforms like Hireflix providing the machinery to conduct such interviews, and all it takes is for you to put in the effort and thought into how your questions are structured, which will then determine the quality of the hiring outcome.
With attention to clarity, intentionality, open-ended structure and alignment with both role specifics and also company values—you can develop questions that make it possible for candidates to show up as their best selves. Ensuring you are up-to-date by constantly reviewing and tweaking your questions is vital to maintaining a competitive edge in an ever-changing hiring environment.
When you go to set up the next one-way video interview, think about how each question could be approached from a talent identification and relationship-building perspective rather than just as a method of making the most data-informed hiring for your team.
Most importantly, good questions not only bring you great people but also lay the foundation for long-term organizational success.
Article and permission to publish here provided by Rafiul Shuvo. Originally written for Supply Chain Game Changer and published on August 11, 2025.
Cover photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash.