# The One-Way Video Interview Run, From Rules Screen to a Logged Submission

*Take one recorded-interview invite from rules screen to submit, with answers sized to 70 to 80% of the limit, a written retake rule, a transcript check, and a dated log.*

- Canonical URL: https://www.refolk.ai/candidates/guides/one-way-video-interview-run
- Pillar: Interviewing
- Format: Playbook
- Published: 2026-11-05
- Last reviewed: 2026-11-05
- Reading time: 21 min
- Keywords: how to prepare for a one-way video interview, asynchronous video interview retakes time limit, should I retake my answer in a recorded interview, how are AI video interviews scored, pre-recorded interview how long should answers be, request deletion of video interview recording

## Key takeaways

- In a large vendor dataset, the average one-way interview answer used 70.2% of the time allowed, and the median used 75%, so size rehearsed answers to roughly 70 to 80% of the stated limit.
- HireVue says its AI scores the transcript of what a candidate says, not facial expressions, body language, appearance, background, or tone of voice, so microphone quality matters more than lighting.
- On Spark Hire, limiting think time also limits the candidate to one take, and once an answer is submitted it cannot be redone even if takes remain.
- Write the retake rule before recording: retake only for an audio failure, a cut-off before the point, or a wrong question, and never to polish delivery.
- HireVue support cannot extend a deadline or reset an interview, so log the employer contact at intake and send extension and deletion requests to the employer.
- Under Illinois 820 ILCS 42, an employer that used AI to analyse your interview for an Illinois-based role must delete the videos within 30 days of your request, including copies held by others.

This guide covers one recorded video interview from start to finish. This format is also called a one-way or asynchronous interview: you get a link, a deadline, and a set of questions to answer on camera with nobody on the other end. It's for a candidate holding one invite who needs to answer every question without wasting takes, getting cut off by the timer, or giving answers a transcript scorer can't follow. It gives a timed procedure from the rules screen to a logged submission, plus the follow-up and deletion dates that come after.

## Which platform the invite is likely to come from

For a US role, the invite will most likely run on HireVue. In Refolk's index of professional profiles, 439 US profiles list HireVue as a skill, compared with 29 that list Spark Hire. The employer chooses the settings that matter, though, so knowing the platform tells you what the interface looks like but not what the rules are.

**439 - US profiles in Refolk's index that list HireVue as a skill**

That is 15.1x the 29 US profiles listing Spark Hire, and 8.1x the 54 UK profiles listing HireVue.

| Platform | Country | Profiles | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| HireVue | US | 439 | Baseline |
| HireVue | UK | 54 | US is 8.1x UK |
| Spark Hire | US | 29 | HireVue is 15.1x |

**What this proves:** the people who list these tools on their profiles are mostly on the employer side. They set the question count, the timer, and the takes, and they're the only ones who can extend your deadline. In a sample of 25 US HireVue profiles, EY and Deloitte led with 3 each. UK HireVue profiles include people at J.P. Morgan Asset Management and National Grid. Spark Hire titles in the sample include Talent Acquisition Lead and HR Staffing Coordinator.

**Where it misleads:** a skill listing counts the people who administer a tool, not how many interviews run on it. The employer lists come from 25-profile samples and are too small to rank anyone. Use the counts as a rough guide to which interface you'll see. Don't treat them as market share.

I haven't checked the help pages of other platforms, such as Willo or VidCruiter, for this guide. If your invite comes from one of them, read its rules screen with the same intake template. Don't assume HireVue's or Spark Hire's behaviour carries over.

## The run, in order

The run has eight stages, from the day the invite arrives to any deletion request. Hands-on time is roughly an hour to an hour and a half, plus 1 to 3 days of rehearsal. Each stage has a clear finish line, so you always know whether it's done.

#### One-way video interview run

1. **Log the rules screen** - On the day the invite arrives, spend 10 to 15 minutes writing down question count, prep time, answer limit, takes, deadline with time zone, AI notice and consent text, and integrity checks. Done means one line per setting, the deadline converted to local time, and the employer contact recorded.
2. **Accept terms knowingly, then run the tech check** - Read the consent text before accepting, because HireVue puts accepting terms before the practice question. Spend 15 minutes on Chrome on a desktop (Safari on iPhone or iPad) with permissions granted; done means a played-back practice clip with clear audio.
3. **Rehearse each answer to 70 to 80% of the limit** - Over 1 to 3 days, build one story per likely question and time it against roughly 70 to 80% of the answer limit. Done means each story lands inside the limit twice in a row.
4. **Write the retake rule before recording** - In 5 minutes, write the only conditions that justify a retake: audio failure, cut off before the point, or wrong question. Done means the rule is visible while you record.
5. **Record every question under the rule** - Record in one sitting of about 20 to 45 minutes, reading the settings shown before each question. Done means every question is recorded and every retake met the rule.
6. **Run the transcript check before submitting** - For each answer, spend about 2 minutes playing it back with your eyes closed, listening only to the words. Done means the point is clear from the words alone.
7. **Submit and log the submission** - Submit, then spend 5 minutes recording the date, platform, consent given, and employer contact. Done means a complete log entry.
8. **Set the follow-up date and send any deletion request** - Pick and log a follow-up date, and send any deletion request in writing to the employer, not the platform. Done means both dates are in the log.

Two notes on the timings. The 20 to 45 minute recording window comes from candidates' reports of finance-employer interviews. Your total depends on how many questions you get and the limit on each, so calculate it from your own intake record. And on HireVue, accepting the terms comes before the practice question. That means you give consent before you've tested anything, so read what you're agreeing to at that point, not afterwards.

## What to record from the rules screen

Write down every setting the rules screen shows, each on its own line, on the day the invite arrives. On both major platforms the employer sets almost every number, so an article's "you get 30 seconds to prepare" means nothing until you've read your own screen.

| Platform | Prep time | Answer limit | Takes |
|---|---|---|---|
| HireVue | Employer sets it (about 30 s reported) | Employer sets it (90 to 180 s reported) | Employer sets it (0 to 3 reported) |
| Spark Hire | 30 s to 5 min, or unlimited | 30 s to 3 min | Employer sets it; 1 if think time is limited |
| Vendor dataset | Median 30 s, over 93% under 90 s | Mean use 70.2% | Measured, figure not retrieved |

The HireVue figures in this table come from candidate reports, not from HireVue. Its candidate documentation says you get several minutes per question but doesn't publish a fixed limit for everyone. The Spark Hire ranges come from a secondary review and haven't been checked against Spark Hire's own pages. Spark Hire's candidate page does confirm the three per-question settings: think time, takes, and time limit, which it calls your response's maximum duration, adding that you don't need to use all of it.

Each setting changes something specific:

- **Question count** tells you how long the recording session will be and how many stories you need.
- **Prep or think time** is the gap between the question appearing and recording starting. On Spark Hire, a limited think time means a countdown runs and recording starts automatically.
- **Answer limit** is the ceiling you'll size your answers against in the rehearsal stage.
- **Takes** tells you how much your retake rule has to work with. On Spark Hire, the one hard rule I found is that limiting think time also limits you to one take.
- **Deadline** comes in one of two forms on HireVue: an exact due date with a time zone, or a recommended timeframe such as "within 48 hours". Treat a recommended timeframe as firm.
- **AI notice and consent text** tells you whether AI scores the answers, whether a human reviews them, and what you're agreeing to. Copy it word for word, because the consent you give is what you'll rely on later if you ask for deletion.
- **Integrity checks** such as image capture or browser-focus monitoring run separately from scoring. Write them down so you aren't surprised by them.

> **Watch out:** A deadline without its time zone is a trap
>
> If you read the date and skip the time zone, the link can expire hours before you expected, and HireVue support cannot reset it. Write the deadline as shown and again converted to your local time.

**One-way interview record**

```
ONE-WAY INTERVIEW RECORD
Employer and role:
Requisition ID:
Platform:
Invite received (date):
Number of questions:
Prep or think time per question:
Answer limit per question:
Takes per question:
Deadline as shown (with time zone):
Deadline in my local time:
AI notice shown: yes / no
AI notice wording (copied):
Human review mentioned: yes / no
Integrity checks mentioned:
Employer contact (name, email):
Role location (state or country):
---
Consent given (what I accepted, date):
Submitted (date and time):
Takes used per question:
Follow-up date:
Deletion request sent (date):
Deletion confirmed (date):
```

*Fill the top half at intake and the bottom half after you submit; keep one record per invite.*

## How AI video interviews are scored

HireVue says its AI analyses the transcript of what a candidate says, not facial expressions, body language, appearance, background, or tone of voice. In practice, the words you say, as the microphone picks them up and the software transcribes them, are what gets scored.

HireVue announced it was dropping facial analysis in January 2021. It now links scores to specific competencies and to timestamps in the transcript. It published an AI Explainability Statement in 2022, which it describes as an HR industry first, and has since released an updated version. If you want the vendor's own account, read the current statement on HireVue's site. Two practical consequences follow:

1. **Thin answers change who scores you.** HireVue doesn't AI-score answers with too little content. It flags them for human review instead. A weak mic or crosstalk that thins out your transcript changes which reviewer you get, not just your score.
2. **The camera still matters, just not to the scorer.** Image capture and browser-focus checks still run, separately from scoring, and human reviewers can still watch the video.

#### What a recorded interview captures, and what gets scored

1. **Integrity checks** - Image capture and browser-focus checks, run separately from scoring
2. **Video** - Face, background, and eye contact; not AI-scored at HireVue, but human reviewers can watch it
3. **Audio** - Microphone quality decides how accurate the transcript is
4. **Transcript** - What HireVue's AI scores, tied to competencies and timestamps

*On HireVue, only the transcript is scored by the AI; everything above it is captured for other purposes or for human eyes.*

**What this proves:** for HireVue AI scoring, the microphone matters more than the lighting. A clear transcript of a well-structured answer is what the scorer has to work with.

**Where it misleads:** this is HireVue's description of HireVue. For Spark Hire, I haven't been able to establish from primary sources what its AI review reads. The one claim I found is third-party and unverified. If the notice says a human reviews your answers, everything on camera counts again. One third-party source also reports that candidates who opt out of HireVue's AI scoring may be reviewed manually instead. Read your own notice to see what applies to you.

## How long pre-recorded interview answers should be

Rehearse each answer to roughly 70 to 80% of the stated limit. That's where real candidates' answers cluster, it leaves a buffer against the timer, and the research suggests that filling the whole limit costs you clarity.

| Study | N | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Dunlop 2022 | Vendor data | Mean 70.2%, median 75% of the limit used |
| Orji 2025 | 185 | Mean answer 106.62 s; longer limits lowered performance |
| Langer et al. (prep time) | Not retrieved | Longer answers linked to higher ratings |
| Probing study | Not retrieved | Rating gain driven by response length |

**70.2% - Average share of the answer limit used, in a large vendor dataset**

The median answer used 75%, and 22.8% of answers used at least 95% of the maximum, which leaves no margin for a slow start.

The evidence pulls in two directions, and the 70 to 80% band balances them:

- **Length helps up to a point.** In the structured-probing study, the gain in ratings was driven by response length. More content gives raters more evidence for each competency they're scoring.
- **Filling the limit hurts.** Orji et al. found that longer response limits raised anxiety and lowered honest impression management and performance, after controlling for speaking time. Honest impression management means presenting your real strengths in a favourable light, as opposed to inventing them. My reading of the mechanism is that a visible timer pushes people to fill the time, and padding makes an answer less relevant.

> The answer limit is a ceiling, not a target. Fill it and you lose clarity, not gain credit.

Here's the band worked out for common limits:

- 60-second limit: rehearse to 42 to 48 seconds.
- 90-second limit: rehearse to 63 to 72 seconds.
- 120-second limit: rehearse to 84 to 96 seconds.
- 180-second limit: rehearse to 126 to 144 seconds.

Rehearse out loud with a stopwatch, not in your head. A story counts as ready when it lands inside the band twice in a row. One good run might be luck. Two in a row means the story has a structure.

Take your stories from the application you actually sent. A reviewer who has your resume open will notice if your answer and your bullet tell different versions of the same project. [Refolk](/candidates) keeps the tailored resume for each posting along with a score of how well you fit it, so you can rehearse from the exact version that employer received and put extra preparation into the requirements where your fit score is weakest.

**Where it misleads:** these are averages from particular datasets, not rules any platform publishes. There are no published experiments on how cut-off endings affect ratings. "Don't get cut off" is a precaution, not a measured effect.

## Should I retake my answer? The retake rule

Decide before you record. Retake only when the take failed in a way that changes what gets scored: the audio broke, the timer cut you off before your point, or you answered the wrong question. Never retake just to polish your delivery.

Advice sources genuinely disagree here. Interview Sidekick says to treat take one as a warm-up. AceRound says retakes usually make answers worse. Neither cites an experiment, and I didn't find one. My rule rests on the scoring evidence above: if the transcript of a take is complete and clear, a retake can only win back delivery points that HireVue's AI doesn't score, and you risk a worse transcript or using up a take you might need later.

#### Keep or retake

Horizontal axis runs from Point missing or cut off to Point complete. Vertical axis runs from Audio unclear to Audio clear.

| Quadrant | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| Clear audio, point missing | Retake if takes remain; you were cut off or answered the wrong question |
| Clear audio, point complete | Keep it, even if your delivery felt stiff |
| Unclear audio, point missing | Fix the setup first, then retake |
| Unclear audio, point complete | Fix the mic and retake; a thin transcript goes to human review |

*Retake only when the transcript is broken or the point is missing; a clean, complete take stays even if it felt awkward.*

> **Rule:** Write the retake rule down before the first question
>
> A rule made between takes, under a running clock, is a mood, not a rule. Write your three retake conditions where you can see them, and if a take meets none of them, keep it.

Three special cases:

- **One take only.** On Spark Hire, a limited think time means one take and automatic recording. Your rule here is preparation: know your opening line for each likely question before the countdown starts.
- **The screen doesn't say which take is submitted.** Treat every retake as replacing the previous one. Don't assume you'll be able to pick the best take.
- **You need a break.** On Spark Hire, you can pause, step away, and come back later using the same link, as long as you submit before the deadline. Pausing between questions is safer than forcing a retake when you're tired.

For HireVue, I couldn't establish publicly whether the first take is submitted automatically when retakes are off. Assume it is.

## How the run goes wrong

Most failures in this format are quiet. Nothing warns you, and you find out from a dead link, a missing take, or a thin transcript. Each failure below has a check that catches it before it costs you.

1. **Reading the deadline without its time zone.** The link expires earlier than you thought, and support can't reset it. *Check:* the intake record shows the deadline converted to your local time.
2. **Auto-record with one take on Spark Hire.** You expect to press record, but with limited think time the countdown starts recording automatically and you get a single take. *Check:* read the settings shown before every question, not just the first one.
3. **Submitting early.** On Spark Hire, any takes you haven't used are lost once you submit, and you can't redo the answer. *Check:* watch the playback before you press submit.
4. **Sizing answers to the full limit.** The answer gets cut off mid-sentence, or the longer runway raises anxiety and lowers clarity, as Orji et al. found. *Check:* rehearsed length is at or below about 80% of the limit.
5. **A transcript check that fails quietly.** Crosstalk, a noisy room, or a weak mic produces a thin transcript, which HireVue routes to human review. *Check:* play each answer back with your eyes closed and listen only to the words.
6. **The false belief that eye contact is scored.** HireVue says its AI doesn't score eye contact. People who spend their prep time on gaze and lighting often neglect audio. The opposite mistake is ignoring the camera entirely, when human reviewers may still watch. *Check:* see whether the notice mentions human review, and set your camera effort to match.
7. **Sending a deletion request to the platform.** HireVue support handles technical issues, not your data rights as an applicant. *Check:* the request goes to the employer contact in your record. Also remember that the Illinois right covers Illinois-based roles analysed by AI.
8. **Misreading NYC Local Law 144 as a right to an alternative.** The law requires the employer to tell you how to request an alternative. It doesn't require the employer to provide one. *Check:* read what the notice actually offers before you plan around an alternative.

Technical failures follow their own path, and it ends with the employer, not the platform.

#### When the interview will not load or record

1. **Update the browser** - Install the current version before anything else
2. **Switch browser** - Chrome generally; Safari on iPhone or iPad
3. **Clear cache, check permissions** - Clear the cache, then confirm camera and microphone access
4. **Contact platform support** - Describe the issue and give the browser name and version
5. **Ask the employer** - Request an extension or reset from the contact in your record

*Work through the platform's fixes in order, then go to the employer, because platform support cannot extend a deadline or reset an interview.*

Do the tech check days before the deadline, not minutes before. One employer's HireVue technical page lists 350 kb/s as the recommended bandwidth and 100 kb/s as the minimum. That page is old enough to mention Flash, so treat those numbers as a floor and check the current requirements on the platform's candidate help centre. Nobody publishes a ranking of which failures are most common, so test everything.

## Consent, retention, and how to request deletion of a video interview recording

Your rights over the recording depend on where the role is based, not where you live. Illinois gives the clearest right: if AI analysed your interview for an Illinois-based role, the employer must delete the videos within 30 days of your request. Send every request to the employer in writing.

**Illinois, 820 ILCS 42** (enacted 9 August 2019, effective 1 January 2020). Before the interview, the employer must:

- tell you that AI may be used to analyse your video interview,
- explain how the AI works,
- get your consent, which the University of Illinois's guidance says must be in writing.

After the interview, sharing is limited to people whose expertise or technology is needed to evaluate whether you're fit for the role. On your request, the employer must delete the videos within 30 days of receiving it and tell everyone else who holds a copy to delete theirs, backups included. The Act has no penalty or enforcement section. The only amendment I found adds demographic reporting and doesn't change the consent or retention rules. A separate amendment to the Illinois Human Rights Act (HB 3773) adds discrimination liability and notice duties for AI used in hiring.

**New York City, Local Law 144.** The employer must give notice at least 10 business days before using the tool and tell you how to request an alternative. As failure mode 8 says, the law doesn't oblige the employer to provide one.

> **Note:** Outside Illinois and New York City, check before you assert a right
>
> I have not verified the specific EU data protection articles on access, erasure, and automated decisions for this guide. If the role is in the EU or UK, read the regulation text and the employer's privacy notice before citing a right in your request.

These laws change. To check the current position for any state, use a public tracker of US AI laws, such as the Orrick US AI Law Tracker, then confirm against the statute text on the legislature's own site.

**Deletion request to the employer**

```
Subject: Request to delete my recorded video interview - [Role], [Requisition ID]

Hi [Contact name],

I completed the recorded video interview for [Role] on [date] through [platform]. I am writing to ask that you delete my interview videos and instruct anyone you shared them with to delete their copies as well, including backups.

The role is based in Illinois and my interview was analysed using AI. Under 820 ILCS 42 (the Illinois AI Video Interview Act), deletion is required within 30 days of receiving this request.

Please confirm in writing once the deletion is complete.

Thank you,
[Your name]
[Email used on the application]
```

*Send from the email on your application; delete the Illinois paragraph if the role is not Illinois-based or the interview was not AI-analysed.*

## After you submit: the log, the follow-up date, and keeping it current

Once you've submitted, finish the record you started at intake: the submission date, the consent you gave, the takes you used, and two dates for later, one to follow up and one to ask for deletion if you want it. The submit button is the halfway point of the paperwork, not the end.

How long employers take to respond after a one-way interview isn't publicly established, and I found no reliable norm for when to follow up. So choose a date yourself, based on what the invite or the recruiter told you about timing, and write it down. A logged date means the follow-up actually happens instead of turning into a vague worry. When you do follow up, write to the employer contact in your record, not platform support, and give the requisition ID.

If you're running several applications, file this record next to the tailored resume you sent for that posting. Refolk keeps those versions tied to each posting, so your follow-up note and any later interview round start from the same version of your story.

#### Before you call the interview done

- [ ] The intake record has one line for every setting, including the deadline converted to local time.
- [ ] The AI notice and consent text are copied word for word, with the date you accepted.
- [ ] A practice clip was played back and the audio was clear.
- [ ] Every rehearsed answer landed within about 70 to 80% of the limit twice in a row.
- [ ] The retake rule was written before the first question, and every retake met it.
- [ ] Every answer passed the eyes-closed transcript check before submit.
- [ ] The submission date and time, takes used, and employer contact are logged.
- [ ] A follow-up date is set and written in the record.
- [ ] Any deletion request went to the employer in writing, and its date is logged.

To keep this guide's method current, re-read the platform's candidate help centre whenever you get a new invite. The settings described here are vendor documentation and candidate reports, and vendors revise both. Re-check the vendor's current explainability statement for what its AI scores, and re-check the state law tracker before relying on a deletion right. The structure of the run doesn't change: read the rules, size answers to the clock, set the retake rule in advance, check the words, and log the dates.

## Frequently asked questions

### How long should my answers be in a one-way video interview?

Aim for about 70 to 80% of the stated answer limit. In a large vendor dataset, the average answer used 70.2% of the time allowed and the median used 75%. A separate study found that longer limits raised anxiety and lowered performance. For a 120-second limit, that means rehearsing to about 84 to 96 seconds. Leave enough room that a slow start doesn't get your ending cut off.

### Should I retake my answer if I have retakes left?

Only if the take failed in a way that changes what gets scored: the audio broke, the timer cut you off before your point, or you answered the wrong question. Don't retake to polish your delivery. Advice sources disagree here. Some treat the first take as a warm-up, while others say retakes usually make answers worse. Write your rule down before recording so you aren't deciding under the timer.

### Does HireVue's AI score eye contact or facial expressions?

No, not according to HireVue. It says its AI scores the transcript of what you say, not facial expressions, body language, appearance, background, or tone of voice, and it dropped facial analysis in an announcement made in January 2021. Human reviewers can still watch the video, and image capture and browser-focus checks run separately from scoring. So don't neglect the camera, but put your effort into clear audio.

### Can I redo an answer after I submit it?

On Spark Hire, no. Once you submit a response you cannot go back and redo it, even if you had takes remaining. Whether HireVue behaves the same way, or auto-submits a first take when retakes are off, is not publicly established. Watch the playback and run the transcript check before you press submit, and treat submit as final on any platform.

### How do I request deletion of my video interview recording?

Send a dated written request to the employer, not the interview platform. Platform support handles technical issues. If the role is based in Illinois and AI analysed your interview, 820 ILCS 42 requires the employer to delete the videos within 30 days of your request and to tell anyone it shared them with to delete theirs, including backups. Ask for written confirmation and log the date you sent the request.

### Who can extend my one-way interview deadline?

Only the employer. HireVue support says it cannot personally extend a deadline or reset an interview, so the request has to go to the recruiter or coordinator named on the invite. That's why the employer contact belongs in your intake record on day one. If a technical failure caused the problem, include the browser name and version and the troubleshooting steps you already tried.

---

*From the Refolk guide library. I revise these guides rather than replacing them, so the current version is always at https://www.refolk.ai/candidates/guides/one-way-video-interview-run*