Can bad instructions reading ruin HireVue games?

Yes. Misreading or rushing the instructions can derail your HireVue score, especially in a one-way interview where timing is tight and cues matter. For context, I did a software-intern HireVue round last year: 12 questions, about 3 minutes to prep total, 90 seconds per answer, with explicit prompts like “state your approach first.” I bombed a couple because I missed the constraint to mention trade-offs and to keep answers under 2 minutes. What helps: pause at the start to skim every instruction, jot a quick checklist (time cap, required elements, examples to avoid), practice with a timer, and record mock sessions to verify you hit all prompts. Next step: run a few full-length mock HireVue sessions with real instructions to build speed and accuracy.

Yes—misreading HireVue instructions can derail answers. In my finance internship interview, I paused, re-read, and asked clarification, improving clarity.