Tell us about yourself.
This initial question is aimed at getting to know the real you. A recruiter has to get a feel for your true personality to help determine your fit and how effectively you would serve as a representative of their brand. It also helps them ascertain how well you would build relations and collaborate with the teams you'll be joining. This is why, on their website, Boeing insists you "Let your personality shine. Showing your personality through phone or video may feel awkward, but authenticity is valued. We're not only interested in your qualifications and work experiences, we want to get a sense of all the things that make you, you. Share your unique perspective, experiences, and personal interests. Be yourself during your interview, be curious and ask us questions. Be your authentic self."
The HireVue platform provides each employer with a database of strategic questions in their "interview guides", which consist of a preset system on their platform, where each company can choose from categorized interview questions that best apply to them and narrow them down from several sub-categories. These customized interview sets assist in recruiting talent most suited to their company's goals and culture. Most questions will be in the form of situational judgment questions, where you'll be asked what actions to take when confronted with a hypothetical situation. This offers what they call a structured interview process, arguing that "unstructured interviews create opportunities for unconscious bias and poor hiring decisions." They suggest using their services results in "structured interviews that ensure consistent talent assessment for fairer hiring."
HireVue's AI, which they label as their "assessment models," will record your interview, and assess data points from your responses by focusing on "skills, behaviors, and competencies specific to the job." It will study your adaptability, composure, communication, compassion, confidence, dependability, drive for results, emotional intelligence, general skills, initiative, integrity, safety and compliance, and willingness to learn, to name a few. The assessment model will attempt to classify your experience level for each focus point into five categories: novice, developing, intermediate, advanced, and expert. It will compile its findings into a candidate insight report, placing you somewhere on the scale between an unqualified candidate to a top performer. It will also submit the recorded interview, allowing the hiring authority to view each candidate's responses side by side if they so prefer, where the hiring decision will ultimately be made by the recruiter.
Even though this interview is not live, where you can interact with your interviewer, keep in mind it will eventually be viewed by them. So, even though you are talking to the algorithm, you want to keep your eye on the fact that the recruiter is still your audience, albeit removed from your view. Showing your personality will go a long way here. So constantly imagine you are speaking to a real person. Try to come across as relaxed as possible, speaking in a level, yet enthusiastic, tone. Maintain eye contact with your computer camera, and smile softly. Confidence, poise, and natural is the demeanor you want to strike. Spend time structuring your answers beforehand, keeping in mind the message you want to send. Compose a brief bio of who you are as a person and as a professional. Briefly detail where your career journey has taken you, and how it has led you here. Give your answers substance and be personable.
"My family has always worked in the defense industry. My grandfather worked for Northrop Grumman after the war until he retired. And my mother worked for Rockwell for nearly her whole career. My cousin works for Boeing in Pennsylvania, and living in Seattle, working for Boeing here felt like the natural and obvious choice for me. So having just graduated at the top of my class from the University of Washington with a bachelor's degree in advanced engineering, competing for a position with Boeing seemed like the obvious choice. I am fun to be around, have a great sense of humor, have a lot of energy, and am very driven and determined. I like to say that I am ready for whatever comes after what comes next."