Spark Hire Interview: How It Works, Questions, and Tips

A Spark Hire interview is a recorded video interview. You get a link by email, and you answer the company's questions on camera, on your own time, before a deadline. Nobody is on the other end. The company watches your videos later.

The company picks the settings for each question: how long you get to think, how long you get to answer, and how many takes you get. The screen shows all three before each question, so you always know the rules before you start.

Spark Hire is a video interview company. More than 10,000 organizations have used it, mostly small and mid-size employers and staffing firms. It is free for job seekers.

Who uses it: Small and mid-size employers, staffing and recruiting firms, schools, and nonprofits. Staffing firms often share your videos with their client companies.

1. Open the link in your email. It takes you to a page with the job, the number of questions, and the deadline. Opening the link does not start the interview.
2. Check your camera and microphone. If something does not work, try Chrome on a computer or Safari on an iPhone.
3. Record a practice video if you want. The company never sees it, and you can redo it as many times as you like.
4. Read the settings for the first question: think time, takes, and time limit.
5. Think, then record. If think time is limited, recording starts on its own when the countdown ends. If it is not limited, you press Start when you are ready.
6. Watch it back. Submit it, or retake it if you have takes left. Once you submit, you cannot redo that answer.
7. Repeat for each question. You get a confirmation screen and an email when you finish.

Each company writes its own questions, and no public list covers Spark Hire as a whole. Spark Hire tells employers to ask behavioral questions like "Tell me about a time when..." These are the questions that come up most in recorded screening interviews, with what each one tests.

1. Tell me about yourself. (Communication, fit)
2. Why do you want to work here? (Motivation, research)
3. Tell me about a time you solved a problem at work. (Problem solving)
4. Give me an example of a time you worked on a team to reach a goal. (Teamwork)
5. Tell me about a time you dealt with an upset customer or coworker. (Composure, people skills)
6. What would you do if you had two urgent tasks and time for only one? (Judgment, priorities)
7. Why should we hire you? (Self-presentation)

Answer each one with a real example: what was going on, what you did, and how it ended. The STAR method guide shows the shape.

Specific to Spark Hire:

• Use the practice video. It is the only take the company never sees, so check your light, sound, and framing there.
• Look at the settings before every question. They can change from one question to the next.
• If think time is limited, stay on the page. Leaving during a limited-time question can cost you that question.
• Do not skip. A skipped question sends the company a blank answer, and the company is told you skipped it.

For any recorded interview:

• Put the camera at eye level and the light in front of you, not behind.
• Use the think time to pick your example, not to write a script.
• Aim for 60 to 90 seconds per answer. End on how it turned out.
• Do it early in the window. If something breaks, you still have time to ask for a new link.

Both are recorded interviews with a think timer and an answer clock. Spark Hire leaves more choices to the employer, so think time can be unlimited and takes can go up to 5 or more. HireVue screens at large employers often give one take and a fixed 30 seconds to think. Spark Hire has no app; HireVue has one.

Got a HireVue invite instead? See free HireVue practice and the HireVue timing guide.

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New to recorded interviews? Start with the one-way video interview guide. Need a resume for the application? Build one on your phone, free to preview.