Preparing a video interview: 8 questions to rehearse

A video interview looks easier than an in-person one. You're at home, you have your notes, you could even cheat a bit. That's exactly the trap. The recruiter knows it, and they ask their questions differently. Here are the 8 questions that come up most often on video, and how each expects a sharper answer than face-to-face.

Why video changes the game

In person, you read body language, energy, the way someone shakes your hand. On video, the recruiter has almost none of that. They compensate by asking sharper, more situated, more quantified questions. Your stories need to be shorter, more structured, more illustrated with facts.

Before diving into the questions, two rules that hold for all of them:

• One answer is 90 seconds max. Beyond that, you lose attention. A recruiter checking out on video — you see it right away: eyes drifting to another screen.
• One story = one number. When you describe an achievement, give ONE verifiable number. "I ran the team for 18 months", "+25% conversion over the first 6 months", "€200K budget".

The 8 questions to prepare

1. "Why this role, and why now?"

The trap: only answering the "why this role" part (which you prepared) and missing the "why now" part (which requires real thinking about your timing).

The structure that works:

• What draws you to the role (1 sentence, precise — not "the challenge")
• What in your background leads naturally to it (1 sentence)
• Why you're moving now (1 sentence, honest)

Example:

"What draws me to the role is the international scope — running 5 markets at once is exactly what I missed in my current role. I spent 4 years structuring France pricing at X, I learned what it takes to scale. I'm moving now because my current company is stabilising, not growing — I want construction back."

2. "Tell me about yourself in 2 minutes"

Not "narrate your CV". They have the CV. This question is a test: can you extract the narrative from your career?

CAR structure:

• Context: the through-line of your career (1 sentence)
• Action: the key transition / decision (1 sentence)
• Result: where you stand today and where you want to go (1 sentence)

Example:

"My through-line from the start is B2B SaaS product — I started in customer success at X, became PM at Y, then lead PM at Z. At each transition, I sought more product complexity and less people management — I prefer structuring a problem over managing a team. Today I'm ready for a lead PM role on an international product, which brings me to you."

3. "What's your biggest professional achievement?"

The trap: picking something too old (you've done nothing since 5 years ago?) or too generic ("I contributed to an important project").

Criteria to pick the right one:

• Recent (< 24 months)
• Measurable (one number)
• Where you were the primary contributor, not one of 20 team members

STAR structure:

• Situation: the context in 1 sentence
• Task: what was expected of you
• Action: what YOU did specifically
• Result: the number

4. "And a failure, or a tough moment you went through?"

Trap question #1 in the market. Bad answers:

• "I'm a perfectionist, that's a flaw" → burned in 2 seconds
• "I haven't really had a failure" → you're lying or you've never tried anything
• A real catastrophic failure without explanation → you've shot yourself

The right answer:

• A real, measurable failure (a botched project, a costly decision, a hire that didn't work)
• What you understood from it
• What you do differently now

Example:

"Two years ago, I launched a feature thinking it would solve the churn problem with our enterprise clients. We spent 4 months on it. End result: 3% adoption — it was the wrong feature. What I missed was doing 5 user interviews before the development, not after. Today I never launch anything without a discovery phase — it's become my first reflex."

5. "Why are you leaving your current role?"

Be factual, not bitter. Golden rule: never openly criticise your current employer. The recruiter listens and thinks "that could be me she's criticising in 2 years".

Phrasings that work:

• "I've done what I had to do in this role, I'm looking for a new scope"
• "My company is stabilising, I'm looking for more construction"
• "The role I'm applying for here matches my natural next step"

Phrasings to avoid:

• "Management is toxic"
• "I'm not recognised"
• "The company is going down"

Even if true, these are red flags for the recruiter.

6. "Why our company more than another?"

The motivation and preparation test. The bad answer: a generic compliment ("your culture, your growth, your innovation").

What to do before the interview:

• Read the 3 latest public communications from the company (LinkedIn, blog, press)
• Identify 1 recent strategic decision (funding round, acquisition, product launch, repositioning)
• Read 2-3 LinkedIn profiles of employees in similar roles

Example:

"You raised Series B six months ago and you communicate clearly about European expansion. That's exactly when the Lead PM role becomes critical — you need to industrialise the product machine that ran on instinct. That's precisely what I did at X in an equivalent phase."

7. "What are your salary expectations?"

The dreaded question. A few rules:

• Never give a number first if you can avoid it. "Before we talk numbers, I'd like to understand your range for this role."
• If forced: give a range of 5-8K, not an exact number
• This range must be informed — you should know the market. Sources: Welcome to the Jungle (posted salaries), Glassdoor, LinkedIn Salary, sector contacts
• The low end of your range should be what you'd accept today; the high end, your target

Example:

"For this kind of role, I'm targeting a range between 65K and 73K, depending on the fixed-variable mix and benefits. If you have a specific envelope, I can adjust."

8. "Do you have questions for us?"

This is THE moment where you show the level of your preparation. Prepare 5 questions (you'll ask 2-3 depending on remaining time).

Avoid:

• Questions whose answer is on the website (how many of you, where are your offices)
• Purely self-interested questions first (salary, remote, vacation)
• Generic questions ("how would you describe the culture?")

Questions that land:

• "If I take the role, what will be the first difficulty I'll face in the first 3 months?"
• "What metrics would you use to evaluate my performance at 6 months?"
• "What made the previous person in this role succeed — or fail?"
• "If the project I'd be working on had to be stopped tomorrow, what would be the most likely reason?"
• "How does an important decision get made here — who calls it, how long does it take?"

The technical checklist (just before)

15 minutes before the interview, check:

• Frame: behind you, no clutter, no backlight
• Light: in front of you, not behind (else you're a silhouette)
• Camera at eye level (else you look like you're peering down on the recruiter)
• Mic tested (Zoom/Meet → check settings)
• Phone on airplane mode (any notification = visual parasite)
• CV open in a tab (not in front of you full screen, just accessible)
• Water within reach
• 2 minutes before: you're connected, waiting room empty

The Sirius method to prepare

If you want to go further, Sirius (our built-in AI) can help you structure your answers to the 8 questions above based on your CV and the target job offer. No ready-made answers — you keep the voice. But a clear structure so you never leave an interview thinking "I should have answered question 4 better".