One-way video interviews let you send candidates a set of pre-written questions that they answer in their own time. You configure the questions once, add the one-way video interview to your hiring workflow, and review the responses when candidates submit them — no scheduling required.
Responses are recorded through Willo, our one-way video interview partner, and played back directly inside Pinpoint, alongside your scorecards and candidate profile.
Please note - this feature is in Early Access, and is not available to all users currently - please reach out to your CSM if you are interested in enabling this feature.
How do I get started?
To start using one-way video interviews, you’ll need to first configure your job with a one-way video interview hiring workflow stage. You can do this by either:
Configuring the hiring workflow of an existing job directly
Configuring a hiring workflow template so all new jobs that use that workflow will include the one-way video interview stage automatically.
To edit a job’s hiring workflow:
Within the job, go to Edit → Edit Stages.
Drag and drop a new One-Way Video Interview stage at the point in the workflow where the one-way video interview should sit. Note: If you have an integration enabled with Hireflix or myInterview, you'll be asked to pick which provider you want to use for this stage. Otherwise, Pinpoint's built-in one-way video interviewing is used automatically.
Click Configure Interview, and fill in the details for the interview either using a template or from scratch.
Give the interview a name and an optional description that candidates will see.
Add an intro video. We highly recommend including an intro – it welcomes the candidate, sets expectations, and gives a noticeably better experience than dropping them straight into the first question.
Hints and tips (optional) – provide candidates with some standard hints and tips to set themselves up for success, before starting the interview.
Add your questions one at a time. For each question you can set:
The question title candidates will see
The answer duration – the hard maximum length for the candidate's recording
The number of retakes the candidate is allowed
A recommended time to answer (optional) – this is a guide shown to candidates for how long they should spend on the question. Candidates can still take as long as they want; the recommendation is only a signpost.
Reorder questions by dragging them into the sequence candidates should answer.
Choose your Communication Preferences for the interview
Save the interview configuration - you’ll see a summary of the configured interview at the top of the Edit Stage drawer.
Give the stage a name (this is what your recruiters will see in the pipeline, e.g. Video screen), and configure the rest of the stage’s settings, including stage actions.
To edit a hiring workflow template:
Go to Settings → Hiring workflows.
Open the workflow template you want to edit.
Click Configure Interview, and fill in the details for the interview either using a template or from scratch.
Save the interview configuration.
Give the stage a name (this is what your recruiters will see in the pipeline, e.g. Video screen), and configure the rest of the stage’s settings, including stage actions.
How do I invite candidates to a one-way video interview?
To invite candidates manually:
Go to the one-way video interview stage within the job.
Select the candidates you want to invite.
In the bulk action bar, select One-Way Video Interview.
Edit the invitation email as needed.
Send the invitation.
If you've set a stage action to trigger when a candidate enters the stage, you don't need to do anything – candidates receive the invitation as soon as they enter the one-way video interview stage.
Candidates receive a unique link. They click through, complete the one-way video interview in their browser (no account or install required), and submit their responses. You'll be notified of new responses if you have the corresponding notification turned on in your profile notification settings.
What does the candidate see?
Candidates receive the invitation email or SMS with a link to start the one-way video interview.
Clicking the link opens the interview in their browser where they see the interview title, description and intro video if you added one
If toggled on, they’ll also see the hints and tips page before starting the interview
For each question, they see the question text, the recommended time to answer (if configured), the answer duration, and a record button. The website is fully optimised for mobile, so candidates can complete the interview with whatever device works best for them.
After recording an answer, they can retake it (up to the number of retakes you allowed) or move on to the next question.
Once all questions are answered, they submit the one-way video interview.
Candidates can complete the one-way video interview on desktop or mobile. They don't need a Pinpoint account.
How do I create a one-way video interview template?
One-way video interview templates are reusable sets of configurations and questions you can use to pre-fill any hiring workflow or job stage. Creating a template once saves you rebuilding the same questions for every interview.
Go to Settings → Templates → One-way video interviews.
Select New one-way video interview template.
Give the template a clear name (e.g. Customer Success – screening questions) – this is an internally facing name which candidates won’t see.
Give the interview a name and an optional description that candidates will see.
Tip: Use variables such as your company name or job title to create dynamic templates
Add an intro video. We highly recommend including an intro – it welcomes the candidate, sets expectations, and gives a noticeably better experience than dropping them straight into the first question.
Hints and tips (optional) – provide candidates with some standard hints and tips to set themselves up for success, before starting the interview.
Add your questions one at a time. For each question you can set:
The question title candidates will see
The answer duration – the hard maximum length for the candidate's recording
The number of retakes the candidate is allowed
A recommended time to answer (optional) – this is a guide shown to candidates for how long they should spend on the question. Candidates can still take as long as they want; the recommendation is only a signpost.
Reorder questions by dragging them into the sequence candidates should answer.
Select Save to publish the template.
Once saved, the template is available to use in any hiring workflow or job stage’s interview configuration that its scoped to.
Recommended Time to Answer
When you're reviewing a candidate's response later, you'll see the total time the candidate took (including any retakes) alongside the Recommended Time to Answer if you configured one. This gives you a quick signal of whether the candidate spent longer than expected and lets you weigh that against the quality of their response.
How do I set up stage actions for one-way video interviews?
Stage actions decide what happens automatically when a candidate moves into the one-way video interview stage — for most teams, you'll want the invitation to go out without anyone having to click anything.
Tip: Make sure the one-way video interview is configured before adding your stage action.
Inside the stage configuration, select Add stage action.
Choose Send one-way video interview invitation.
Select the invitation email template to use (see the Communication templates section below).
Save the stage action.
Reminders are controlled inside the one-way video interview configuration itself, not as a separate stage action. If reminders are toggled on in the interview configuration, candidates who haven't submitted will automatically be reminded.
How do I edit the communication templates for one-way video interviews?
There are several templates that candidates can receive across the one-way video interview flow. You can edit any of them, or create new ones for different roles or tones of voice.
Email templates:
One-way video interview invitation — the first email sent to a candidate when they're invited
One-way video interview reminder — sent automatically if reminders are toggled on in the interview configuration and the candidate hasn't submitted
One-way video interview completion — confirms to the candidate that their responses have been received
SMS templates:
One-way video interview invitation (SMS)
One-way video interview reminder (SMS)
To edit a template:
Go to Settings → Templates → Email Templates / SMS Templates
Find the template you want to edit, or select New template and choose a one-way video interview template type.
Edit the subject line (email only) and body. You can use merge tags like {{ candidate_first_name }}, {{ job_title }}, and {{ company_name }} to personalise the message.
For emails, the invitation link is inserted automatically — you don't need to add it yourself.
Save the template.
How is our branding applied to one-way video interviews?
The candidate-facing one-way video interview pages are branded using the theme associated with the job.
Each job has a theme assigned to it (set up under Company → Profile → Themes).
The theme controls the logo and colours candidates see when they open a one-way video interview. The Primary color of the theme is used for the header:
The Highlight color of the theme is used for buttons:
Depending on the brightness of your primary colour, the system will automatically pick either the Dark or Light logo to use (if the primary colour is light, the Dark logo will be used, and vice versa)
Assign the correct theme to each job and the one-way video interview will pick it up automatically – no extra configuration needed.
How do I set permissions and notifications?
Permissions
One-way video interview permissions follow the same structure as the rest of Pinpoint's role-based permissions.
To update permissions:
Go to Company → User Management.
Select the user or access group you want to update.
Open the Permissions tab.
Toggle Configure and invite candidates to one-way video interviews on or off.
Save.
Users need the Configure and invite candidates to one-way video interviews permission in order to add one-way video interview stages to jobs, configure interviews, and send invitations.
Users need the Templates permission in order to add one-way video interview stages to hiring workflows, and to create and manage one-way video interview templates.
Viewing one-way video interview responses is controlled by users’ visibilities - users will visibility of an application also gives them visibility of responses.
Notifications
Users are notified when a candidate they're following submits a response, provided the New one-way video interview response notification is turned on in their profile notification settings.
How do I review responses and submit a scorecard?
Once a candidate submits, their responses appear on their candidate profile in the One-way video interview tab.
Open the candidate's profile.
Select the One-way video interview tab.
Play back each response using the video player. You'll see the total time the candidate took on each question (including any retakes) next to the Recommended Time to Answer, if one was set.
Review the AI scripted-ness assessment beside each response – this feature uses AI to flag whether the response reads as naturally spoken, scripted, or AI-generated. Use it as a signal, not a decision-maker, and watch the response yourself before drawing conclusions.
Fill in a scorecard alongside the response. Scorecards are optional – they aren't required to move a candidate through the workflow, but they're strongly recommended for structured, comparable reviews. The best way to do this is to open the candidate in split view, with the one-way video interview on one side and the scorecard on the other, so you can rate each question as you watch.
Submit the scorecard when you're done.
Scorecards are completely configurable and aren't inherently tied to the one-way video interview configuration or questions. It's up to you how closely you align your scorecard criteria to the interview questions – we'd recommend aligning them (see the next section) so reviewers can score each response in turn.
How should I set up scorecards for one-way video interviews?
A few recommendations that make scorecards more useful once one-way video interviews are running at volume:
Set scorecards up at the job level. Scorecards are configured per job, not per candidate, so every candidate for that role is reviewed against the same criteria — which is what lets you compare them fairly.
Align scorecard questions and criteria to the one-way video interview questions. If you have five interview questions, set up your sections or questions to match. Reviewers can then rate each answer as they watch, which produces tighter, more consistent feedback than a single rating at the end.
Keep the criteria tight. Long scorecards lose reviewer attention, especially when reviewers are watching back-to-back responses.
Anchor each rating with a short description of what "good" looks like. One sentence per rating option is enough to keep reviewers calibrated.
Leave a free-text field for specific quotes or moments. A short written summary is often the most useful part of a scorecard to look back on later.
Get two reviewers per candidate where possible. One-way video responses are easier to rate in isolation than live interviews, so a second opinion catches bias quickly.
FAQs
Candidate are having issues completing their interview. What support is available to them? Candidates can access Willo’s support directly from the interview page. You can also direct them to finding answers to their issues in Willo’s support pages. Here are some key links that might be worth sharing with candidates:
Can candidates answer with text or audio instead of video? All questions are video-only.
Can I send the same link to multiple candidates? No. Each invitation generates a unique link tied to a single candidate. This is how we match responses back to the right candidate.
Can candidates edit their answers after submitting? No. Once a candidate submits, their responses are final. They can however record retakes if they have been configured on each question before submitting.
How do I edit a one-way video interview that's already live? You can add new questions and delete existing questions at any time. You cannot edit the text or configuration of a question that's already live. Any responses candidates have already submitted stay exactly as they were – editing the interview doesn't affect existing responses.
How many reminders do candidates get? Reminders are controlled inside the one-way video interview configuration. If reminders are toggled on, candidates who haven't submitted receive 1 automatic reminder 2 days after the initial invitation; if they're off, no reminders go out.
Can I manually remind candidates? Not at the moment. If a candidate cannot find their original email or SMS invitation link, you can delete the video interview and re-invite them. They’ll then receive a brand new invite via email (and SMS if configured).
Can I share a candidate's responses with someone outside Pinpoint? Not via a public link. Anyone who needs to review a response needs a Pinpoint account with access to the job. This is to keep candidate video data protected.
Are there question-level scorecards? Scorecards aren't inherently tied to one-way video interview questions, but you can align them yourself – set up a scorecard section per question and reviewers can score each response as they watch. See the scorecard recommendations above.
What does the AI assessment actually check? It's strictly an AI analysis designed to detect scripted-ness in a candidate's response. It looks at patterns in the audio and wording to flag whether a response reads as naturally spoken, scripted, or AI-generated. It's a signal for reviewers – it won't reject or filter candidates automatically, and you should always watch the response before acting on the flag.
How long are one-way video interview responses kept? Video recordings are kept for 365 days and then permanently deleted. All other information related to the one-way video interviews – including transcripts and metadata – is retained in line with your company's data retention policy.