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Unilever Video Interview?

Bit worried about the video interview - apparently it consists of different business scenarios and how you would deal with them?

Has anyone had any experience doing this interview? Or has anyone else got one lined up?

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Original post by mushpantsbc
Bit worried about the video interview - apparently it consists of different business scenarios and how you would deal with them?

Has anyone had any experience doing this interview? Or has anyone else got one lined up?


I wouldn't stress over it too much, they simply want to measure your response to a scenario as they would in a face to face interview. Use the S.T.A.R technique and you should be good to go.

I don't think the video interview is a digital one (where you have to record and send answers to a written question) , those are horribly awkward. It's much easier speaking to a live person.

hamza ahmad hamzaahmad786 luton hertfordshire
(edited 7 years ago)
Is there anyway you can prepare for it? The only thing that scares me is having to think on the spot and panicking
Yes to some extent. A friend of mine made a list and memorised the most common interview questions. The likelihood is they will always ask you questions such as tell me about yourself, why did you choose this company, what do you expect you will be doing, give an example when you worked in a team etc. By memorising these questions they will roll off your tongue easily (be careful not to sound like a robot)
It will also help you to relax so in the chance you are asked a question that you haven't prepared, you will have the confidence to answer it.

Keep a glass of water nearby, look at the persons forehead as opposed to eyes, always answer using the S.T.A.R technique (really important), study your own CV as they will definitely question you on it. Good luck.
Original post by roflcakes1
Is there anyway you can prepare for it? The only thing that scares me is having to think on the spot and panicking


Have you got one as well? For which department?
Reply 5
Original post by hamzaahmad786
I wouldn't stress over it too much, they simply want to measure your response to a scenario as they would in a face to face interview. Use the S.T.A.R technique and you should be good to go.

I don't think the video interview is a digital one (where you have to record and send answers to a written question) , those are horribly awkward. It's much easier speaking to a live person.

hamza ahmad hamzaahmad786 luton hertfordshire


Yes it is a recorded interview, not to a live person.
Original post by lou_100
Yes it is a recorded interview, not to a live person.


Do you know what to expect from it?
Reply 7
Original post by mushpantsbc
Do you know what to expect from it?


All I know is that mine is 3 interview questions which are likely to be competency-based but function-specific (so Marketing for me) and then 4th question is you get 10 minutes to plan something and 5 minutes to present it. I'm unsure what this is exactly... I think they give you some kind of business model or something? This is the part I'm worried for...
Original post by lou_100
All I know is that mine is 3 interview questions which are likely to be competency-based but function-specific (so Marketing for me) and then 4th question is you get 10 minutes to plan something and 5 minutes to present it. I'm unsure what this is exactly... I think they give you some kind of business model or something? This is the part I'm worried for...


Same as me really! I wondered if they actually looked at our CV's before inviting us to tests. i'm not sure what % of people get invited to the video interview as I rarely get accepted after them..
Reply 9
Original post by mushpantsbc
Same as me really! I wondered if they actually looked at our CV's before inviting us to tests. i'm not sure what % of people get invited to the video interview as I rarely get accepted after them..


Our CVS didn't actually get submitted to them. I uploaded mine to auto-fill my contact details but don't think it was actually sent to them. There was also the option to not upload a CV and manually fill in the details.

There must be a stage where they screen out the majority of applicants but I'm not sure if that would be the games stage or the interview stage. They have to go through all of these interviews, so even with a whole team of recruitment agencies watching them, they surely can't have more than around 150-200 video interviews considering they are each 30 mins? So maybe its the games stage that filters out most applicants?
Original post by lou_100
Our CVS didn't actually get submitted to them. I uploaded mine to auto-fill my contact details but don't think it was actually sent to them. There was also the option to not upload a CV and manually fill in the details.

There must be a stage where they screen out the majority of applicants but I'm not sure if that would be the games stage or the interview stage. They have to go through all of these interviews, so even with a whole team of recruitment agencies watching them, they surely can't have more than around 150-200 video interviews considering they are each 30 mins? So maybe its the games stage that filters out most applicants?


I suppose that's right! Well hopefully they do most of their filtering before the games/interview so we have a better chance :biggrin:
Original post by mushpantsbc
I suppose that's right! Well hopefully they do most of their filtering before the games/interview so we have a better chance :biggrin:


I did the interview in the end and it was okay in the end but only because I'd spent the whole week doing prep for it...

You get what looks like a very detailed but very automated feedback form a few hours after submission. It almost looks like they have used a computer programme to scan your voice for certain words and they've analysed your answers in that way. Who knows if a real person even looks at them!? Maybe they look at the ones that get scored highly.
Original post by lou_100
I did the interview in the end and it was okay in the end but only because I'd spent the whole week doing prep for it...

You get what looks like a very detailed but very automated feedback form a few hours after submission. It almost looks like they have used a computer programme to scan your voice for certain words and they've analysed your answers in that way. Who knows if a real person even looks at them!? Maybe they look at the ones that get scored highly.


What kind of things did you prep for if you don't mind me asking? I'm doing it tomorrow, I'm reading up on the strategic report and the USLP etc.

Was it 3 competency questions and a business case?

Good luck :biggrin:
Original post by mushpantsbc
What kind of things did you prep for if you don't mind me asking? I'm doing it tomorrow, I'm reading up on the strategic report and the USLP etc.

Was it 3 competency questions and a business case?

Good luck :biggrin:


I basically read their whole website haha. News, brands, annual report, videos, campaigns.

For me it was 3 competency questions not necessarily asking about past examples, but more like what you would do in different business situations so you can answer how you will really.

One thing I would say is that the questions are first asked in a video and then you get the text onscreen as you are answering but I couldn't for the life of me understand the guy in the video because he had such a strong accent. Normally I'm good at understanding all kinds of accents but I honestly could only make out half the words. So just be prepared incase its the same guy and you aren't expecting it.
Original post by lou_100
I basically read their whole website haha. News, brands, annual report, videos, campaigns.

For me it was 3 competency questions not necessarily asking about past examples, but more like what you would do in different business situations so you can answer how you will really.

One thing I would say is that the questions are first asked in a video and then you get the text onscreen as you are answering but I couldn't for the life of me understand the guy in the video because he had such a strong accent. Normally I'm good at understanding all kinds of accents but I honestly could only make out half the words. So just be prepared incase its the same guy and you aren't expecting it.


Have you heard back yet?
Original post by mushpantsbc
Have you heard back yet?


No... been almost a week. Not the most confident person right now but hey no news is good news....?
Reply 16
Original post by lou_100
No... been almost a week. Not the most confident person right now but hey no news is good news....?



How was your feedback structured, was it positive?

I took the video interview yesterday and got back my report a few hours later, very detailed I agree that it might not be a person looking over this. Overall I would say that my feedback was positively worded in terms of competency and if this was any other application I would be moderately maybe 75% sure that I passed it. I'll let you know if I get any updates on my progress, and good luck with your own.


Also for those wondering It is 4 questions total as described in this thread, it was difficult compared to most video interviews but wasn't too bad. Interesting but full on I'd say.
Original post by Tuks
How was your feedback structured, was it positive?

I took the video interview yesterday and got back my report a few hours later, very detailed I agree that it might not be a person looking over this. Overall I would say that my feedback was positively worded in terms of competency and if this was any other application I would be moderately maybe 75% sure that I passed it. I'll let you know if I get any updates on my progress, and good luck with your own.


Also for those wondering It is 4 questions total as described in this thread, it was difficult compared to most video interviews but wasn't too bad. Interesting but full on I'd say.


Yeah same for me really it all looks promising but it's likely computer generated standard feedback so who knows when one of the recruitment team looks at it.

I got all positive/excellent feedback. There was only one sentence in the judgement bit where it said I could improve on thinking about how I can help other improve on their big picture thinking, but then it goes on to say I did start to show evidence of this anyway.
Reply 18
Original post by lou_100
Yeah same for me really it all looks promising but it's likely computer generated standard feedback so who knows when one of the recruitment team looks at it.

I got all positive/excellent feedback. There was only one sentence in the judgement bit where it said I could improve on thinking about how I can help other improve on their big picture thinking, but then it goes on to say I did start to show evidence of this anyway.



Well your feedback is overall better than mine If i get the gist of what you are saying so not feeling too confident myself. Most of mine are positive at the start but offer a bit of advice, apart from one which seemed average throughout.

Saying that from interviews I've passed the criteria that seems to matter is the first sentence, the bit where it tells you have you matched that competency. From my experience as long as you are effective or "providing evidence" of that competency it should be enough to pass. Judging that I see no reason why you wouldn't have.
Reply 19
Hi Guys,

I have got my interview on thursday. Could anyone shed any light what questions they got for the video interview?

Any help is good help!

ThanksQ

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