Graduate scheme video interview questions, and how to answer them

Graduate schemes use one-way video interviews because they have more applicants than live interview slots. Candidates in the UK commonly report the recording early in the process, after the application form and sometimes around the same time as an online test. They commonly report an assessment centre or a live interview later, if they are progressed. The recording is a screen, not the whole process.

HireVue, Willo, and Spark Hire are platforms UK candidates commonly report. The scheme chooses the platform, the questions, and the timers, and it can change them. Nothing here is a claim about a named employer's current process. Read the invitation for prep time, answer time, the number of questions, and whether you may retake.

Competency questions ask for a story: a time you led, worked in a team, hit a deadline, solved a problem, or recovered from a miss. Strengths questions ask what you are like when nobody is scoring you: what you enjoy, what you learn without being pushed, what drains you. Some schemes use one style. Some mix them. Candidates commonly report both.

Other prompts candidates commonly report: why this scheme, tell us about yourself, a time you worked with people who saw it differently, and, for some employers, a short point about a business story in the news. Example prompts to practice with are on the graduate scheme video interview questions page. They are examples, not a scheme's paper.

Schemes hire people who are early in their careers. A seminar group, a part-time job, a society, a dissertation, or a first job is enough if the story is specific. A general claim such as being a strong team player does not give the reviewer anything to picture. One afternoon you can describe, including what you did and what happened next, does.

Use a different story for each question if you can. If you have to reuse one, change the first sentence so it answers the question on the screen, not the question you wish you had.

Situation, the task that was yours, two actions, and a result. For a 90-second limit, cut the situation first. Say the result even if it is ordinary. Handing the work in, and having it accepted, is a result. A percentage you rounded up is not.

Example answer: I ran the publicity for a student society event, and a week out we had sold few tickets. Filling the room was my job. I asked each committee member to invite ten specific people, rewrote the post so the time and the price were in the first line, and stood at the society fair for two hours. We filled most of the seats. It was not a sell-out. It was enough to run the event.

That is an example answer for practice. It is not from a real interview. Use a result you actually had.

Do not force a strengths question into a four-part work story. Say what you are drawn to, then one time it showed up without someone assigning it, then what you are like when the task is the opposite. Use that last part to show you know your limits. A speech about passion does not answer the question.

Example answer: I get absorbed when something does not reconcile. Last month a society budget was off and I stayed with it until I found a double-counted invoice. Nobody had asked me to. I am much worse at open-ended brainstorming with no page to check, so in a group I ask for the decision we are trying to make before I add ideas.

That example is for practice only. A strengths answer you copied will sound copied, because the question is about you.

For why this scheme, name the rotations or the training, then one reason it is this employer. A product, a public program, or a service you understand. Skip a mission statement you cannot say in your own words.

If they ask you to talk about a business in the news, use one story you have followed. What happened, why it might matter to this employer, and what you are unsure about. You do not need a figure. An invented statistic is worse than a plain observation, because a reviewer who knows the topic will hear it.

Example answer: I have been reading about a high-street retailer closing stores and spending on delivery. For a scheme in retail, or a firm that advises retailers, the open question is whether delivery can carry what the shops used to. I would not quote a figure I had not checked. I would say which part of the story I still do not understand.

That is an example for practice. It is not a view about any retailer, and it is not a question from a scheme.

Set the practice timer to the numbers in the invite. Write three words in the prep window. Start with the answer. Finish before the buzzer so the result, or the point, is in the recording. Look at the lens when you say it. A plain wall and a light in front of you are enough.

OneShot is a place to do that rehearsal. Your video stays in the browser. The transcript text, not the video, is sent so the answer can be scored. Do the practice before you open the scheme's link, and close this site when you do. A notes app or an AI tool during the real recording can cost you the offer.

HireVue, Willo, and Spark Hire are trademarks of their respective owners. OneShot Interview is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by those platforms or by any graduate scheme or employer. This page does not describe any employer's current process. The questions and sample answers are examples for practice. They are not taken from any interview.

Run one free practice session before you open the real link. You get a question, a countdown, and a single take, then a look at whether the answer had a point and a result. Close this site before the employer's interview starts.