8 Must-Know Video Interview Sample Questions and Answers

8 Must-Know Video Interview Sample Questions and Answers:

1. Why should we hire you?

Step 1. Determine what are the company needs and wants out of the position to be filled. If you want to get hired for the job, the interview answers must be centered around the company and not you.
Understanding the job description is vital and the quickest, easiest way to know what the organization is looking for in a candidate. What about the description seems most relevant? What is the emphasis placed on and mentioned first?
Step 2. Now that you realize what is wanted for this job vacancy, you need to give it to them.

Mention that you’ve done some research on the company, what you noticed about the job’s requirements, highlight your skills and experience that fit best with what they need by giving specific examples if you can. End with a suggestion that can be beneficial to the position.
Try to avoid just saying, “yes, I led some people in my last job, leadership won’t be a problem for me.” Rather tell them how many people you led, what type of guidance you gave and what you learned from the role. Be sure to show that you’re interested in leading, a great team player and that you enjoy it as well!
Your tone, expression and choice of words must show that you enjoy the type of work they need. Your ability to do something doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be interested, motivated and happy in the job. To solidify you as a choice you need to show genuine excitement and interest in working with the areas you’re discussing.


2. Why did you leave your last job?

How to answer if you willingly left your last job:
Don’t ever speak ill of (bad mouth) your former employer or company. An interviewer would most likely consider that you were the reason the problem occurred. 
Instead, try these as answer starters:
•    “I had been with the organization for several years and wanted to experience a new environment to continue growing.” Most people who advance far in their careers have worked in a variety of companies.
•    “I was offered a promotion at another company, so I left for an opportunity to advance my career.”
•    “I was offered a significant pay increase.”
•    “I left to work on a product I was very passionate about, or I left to work on a job centered around my studies.”
•    “A former boss or colleague recruited me to join their company.”
•    “My department brought in a new manager, and I felt it was the right time to leave.”
•    “I was hired for a certain role, but over time that changed, and I was no longer being allowed to do the work I was interested in so, I reevaluated my career goals and decided a change was needed.”.”
•    “I was no longer finding the work fulfilling or enjoying my work as much.”
•    “I had been with this company for several years and learned a lot but felt ready for a change.”
•    “I didn’t feel there was an opportunity to grow or advance further in that role so I decided a change would best for my career.”
•    “I didn’t feel the job was using my abilities to the fullest or challenging me enough.”

How to answer if you were fired or laid off:
If you were laid off, just be direct and upfront. Explain briefly why you were let go by your previous employer. You can start by following these steps:

Step 1. Be up-front and take responsibility if you were fired. If you were let go then explain the circumstances surrounding the layoff. 
Step 2. Show that you’ve learned/changed so it won’t happen again and that you’re ready for a new opportunity.
Step 3. Delivery is key when it comes to answering, practice your answer so you do not hesitate. 

Remember that taking responsibility doesn’t mean you have to say everything was your fault, because sometimes you join a bad company or have worked in a toxic environment, but companies want to hear you take accountability. Point out one or two things you could have done differently and take responsibility for that piece.
Why don’t I recommend just lying? 

Firstly, hiring managers are great at telling when you’re lying as they are trained in the art of interviewing. So, lying and saying you left your last job on your own when you were fired, is probably going to end badly!

Secondly, if they find out after you’re hired that you lied, it can be grounds for immediate termination which is worse than being direct and honest. Keep in mind that everyone makes mistakes (or joins bad companies), and a reasonable hiring manager will see that you’re taking responsibility, being honest and upfront, and will want you on their team!


3. What is your greatest weakness?

You need to give a real weakness if you want to be impressive on this interview question. Hiring managers have heard them all and will not be impressed with mediocre answers. 
Here are a few guidelines:

a. Choose a weakness that will not prevent you from succeeding in the role, preferably something skill-based, not personality-based and ensure that it is a real weakness.
b. Talk about what you’re doing to overcome this weakness by providing an example of how you've worked to improve upon your weakness or learn a new skill to combat the issue.
c. Demonstrate a level of self-awareness and an ability to look to others to provide you with the resources necessary for growth.

Example: “I wasn’t always very skilled in Microsoft Excel, but as my work has required it more, I’ve made it a point to organize some tutorials that I can refer back to, and this has improved the quality and speed of my work significantly.”
This is going to impress them because you’re showing your approach to solving problems or overcoming challenges. That tells them you’ll do a great job if new challenges come up in this next job, or if they ask you to learn new things.


4. What can you tell me about yourself?

This is one of the most common typical interview questions. It’s very open-ended but it allows the interviewer to hear a summary of your background and skills, giving them insight into what experience and qualifications you think are most relevant to the position you’re interviewing for. In general, you want to walk them through your career and bring them up to speed on your current situation (what you did in your last job, why you are job searching now, and what you’re looking for).
From the starting point, walk them through significant pieces of your career, like big projects, companies you worked with, challenges and learning opportunities, and the reasons you changed from one company to the next.
Keep everything under three minutes! They want you to be concise and stay on track. Do not get sidetracked no matter what. This is one interview answer you must practice at home.


5. Why do you want this job?

The intention is to effectively explain your priorities and goals and how this can benefit the company, show them that you’ve researched the job and know what it involves. You need to know one or two things that are important to you in your job search. Other than “I’m jobless, so I need a job” or “I want to get hired”. 
Sample Answer: “It’s important for me to coach, mentor and train other team members at my next job. While reading the job description I noticed that one of the first things you mentioned was your training program, so I was excited to learn more about the opportunity.”
Bonus tip: Talk about how effective you can be in this area. Mention if you have done anything in the past that’ll help you succeed in this position. Your skills, expertise and experience will allow you to make an immediate impact. 
This is what the recruiter wants, get specific and give examples.


6. Where do you see yourself in five years?
This is one of the tougher, yet common interview questions you’ll face and even if you don't know where you see yourself in five years, there's a right way to answer this question during your interview and answering doesn’t have to be difficult. 
Firstly realize- that you don’t have to know where you’ll be in five years but rather show the recruiter that you have ambition, goals, focus, and drive. They want to know you've at least considered your future and what you'd like to accomplish in this period.
Show that you’ve thought about your future which is important to you, that you are goal-oriented, and that your career fits into those plans.
Think about it…Why would they hire you if this job is taking you away from your goals? A recruiter would be worried that you’ll hate it and leave within the first year. It can be a useful practice to think about what an ideal resume might look like for someone in this role over the next five years.


7. What is your dream job?

So how are you supposed to answer this question at your interview. 
Here’s what to do: Instead of just using a specific job title in your answer, just explain what your dream job looks like and talk about the qualities that would make a job exciting to you by tailoring your answer to what this company offers. No need to lie… just make sure your answer isn’t opposed to what this position involves.

Here’s the process in bullet points:
•    Don’t use a specific job title. Choose words that describe the insight of your dream job.
•    Use at least a few phrases and words that relate to the job you’re interviewing for.
•    Finally show the interviewer that you’ve done some research about the company and explain why you’re interested in their job.
•    Sample answer: “The combination of creating services and or products that make a significant difference in the world and a chance to share it with as many people as possible is my dream job. My excitement about interviewing for this position comes from reading about the millions of people who benefit from your company’s services and or products. The work that your company is doing is having a big impact worldwide.”


8. What are your greatest strengths?

This is your chance to brag about yourself, but you need to do it the right way if you want your answer to impress the hiring manager. And don’t worry if you HATE bragging about yourself, I’ll walk you through it…

Here’s what to do:
•    First, know what you’re going to say ahead of time.
•    Do NOT just go in and “wing it.” Even preparing a half-decent answer will be better than making it up on the spot. This is one of those typical interview questions that you need to prepare for ahead of time.
•    And keep your answer to one or two strengths. It’ll make the next steps easier and reduce the chance of you making a mistake.
•    Always tailor your answer for the job.
•    Make sure you choose strengths that fit with what you’ll be doing in this job.
•    If the job involves working with customers and cooperating with a large team, why are they going to hire you if you say your greatest strength is working alone?
•    So look at the job description and take five minutes to figure out what the company needs before deciding which strengths you’ll share.
•    Then give PROOF:
•    Most job seekers don’t know this: giving a detailed example with stats and facts is 10-20 times more powerful than just saying you have experience with something.
•    So for your strengths, be sure to mention some facts and examples to back up your claim. Include specific numbers if you can.
•    “One of my greatest strengths is new customer acquisition. When I stepped into my last sales job our department hadn’t finished above our goal in eight months. I beat my individual sales quota by 75% and the department achieved 105% of our monthly goal. We haven’t been below our monthly goal since then.”
•    Practice These Video Interview Questions and Get Hired Faster
•    If you get confident with these video interview questions and answers above, you’ll give yourself a great shot at acing your interview.
•    A video interview isn’t that different from any interview, but you need to be comfortable explaining to an employer why you’re job hunting, what you’re looking for, and why you want their specific job.
•    Also be ready to share past accomplishments, with real examples of what you’ve done for other employers.
•    Finally, make sure you’re comfortable with the video format and your technology at home in general. For further help with this, we recommend our list of video interview tips.