How to conduct a video interview: a guide for the interviewer

To conduct a video interview well, fix your audio before your video, send the candidate a phone number to fall back on, open with a short script that covers what happens if the call drops, and keep your notes window next to your camera so you can write without looking away. Then run the same questions in the same order as you would in person. Video changes the logistics of an interview, not what you are assessing.

This page is written for the interviewer on a one-to-one video call: the setup check, a running order for a 45-minute interview, note-taking, screen sharing in both directions, connection problems, and accessibility. If several interviewers are on the call, read panel interview tips for interviewers as well.

Before the day: what the invitation must settle

Many problems in a video interview start in the invite. A candidate who is unsure which app to use, which time zone the slot is in, or whether they will need to share their screen spends the first five minutes anxious instead of answering. Put these in every invitation:

• The platform and the link, and whether they need to install anything. Browser joining is easier for candidates on a work laptop they cannot install software on.
• The time in the candidate's time zone, written out, plus the length.
• Who they will meet, with roles.
• What to have ready: nothing, a portfolio to share, or a whiteboard exercise. If you will ask them to share their screen, say so now.
• A phone number you will call if video fails, and a request for theirs.
• Recording or transcription, if you use either, and why. Our interview recording consent script has invite wording.
• An accommodations line, offered to everyone in the same words, such as captions, an interpreter, extra time or audio only.

Logistics
- [Date], [time] [candidate's time zone], [length] minutes
- Video on [Zoom / Microsoft Teams / Google Meet]: [link]
  You can join from a browser; no install needed.
- You'll meet: [name, role]
- Please have ready: [nothing / portfolio to share / ...]
- If video fails, I'll call you on [their number]. Mine is [number].
- I use [a transcription tool / the meeting's recording] to take notes.
  I'll ask you at the start and you can say no.
- If you need an adjustment, such as captions, an interpreter or extra
  time, reply to this email and we'll arrange it.

Your setup: a 15-minute check

Do this once properly, then five minutes before each interview.

Each platform has a way to test before you join. Zoom offers a test meeting at zoom.us/test to check your connection, audio and video (Zoom support). Google Meet's pre-join screen lets you test your microphone, speaker and camera before you click Join now (Google Meet Help). For Teams, join your own meeting a few minutes early and check the device settings in the pre-join screen.

On bandwidth, Zoom's published recommendation for a one-to-one call is 600 kbps up and down for high-quality video and 1.2 Mbps up and down for 720p HD video, with 60–80 kbps for audio alone (Zoom system requirements, as of September 2026). That audio figure is why switching video off is usually the first fix when a call struggles.

Audio before video

You score what the candidate says. If you miss a number or a name because of echo or a dropout, the evidence on your scorecard is weaker, and a transcript of a bad line is worse than handwritten notes. Three habits:

• Use headphones. Laptop speakers feed the candidate's voice back into your microphone. Echo cancellation handles some of it, but it can cut words off when you both speak at once.
• Mute while they give long answers if you type. A keyboard close to the microphone sounds louder to them than to you, and fast typing during an answer sounds like a verdict.
• Leave a beat before you speak. Lag means that what feels like a finished answer is often a pause. Count to two before the follow-up, or the candidate stops mid-thought and yields to you.

The running order for a 45-minute video interview

The first two minutes, as a script you can adapt:

"Hi [name], I'm [your name], [role]. Can you hear me clearly?
[wait] Great.

Quick bit of housekeeping. We have 45 minutes. I'll ask about
[two or three areas], then leave time for your questions.

If the video drops, don't worry. Give it a minute to reconnect,
and if it doesn't, I'll call you on the number ending [xx].
You won't lose any time for it.

There's a little lag on video, so if I pause after you finish,
I'm just making sure you're done. I'll be taking notes, so if
I look down, I'm writing, not distracted.

[If you record or transcribe:] I'd like to transcribe this call
so I can focus on you rather than typing. It's only used for
this hiring process. Is that OK? If not, no problem at all.

Any questions before we start?"

Taking notes without looking away

On video, the candidate sees exactly where your eyes go. Looking down and to the left for ten seconds reads as distraction, and reading another window reads as not listening. The general method for interview notes is in how to take interview notes as a hiring manager; these are the video-specific parts.

• Put the notes window directly below the camera, narrow and short, so writing keeps your gaze near the lens.
• Pre-fill the page with your questions so you are writing only the candidate's words, not your own prompts.
• Write fragments and numbers, not sentences: "cut archive import" / wk 6 of 10 / told PL Tues. Tidy them in the five-minute buffer.
• Look up at the end of each answer, not during the first sentence of it. That is when a nod or a follow-up question matters.
• Close the resume once the questions start. Reading it on screen while the candidate talks is visible, and it pulls your rating toward the paper rather than the answer.

If you use a transcription tool, you can mark moments instead of writing. Interview Signal, for example, runs on your computer, so nothing joins the call, and it shows a live question guide that ticks off each must-ask question as it is covered. Tell the candidate first, whatever you use.

Screen sharing, in both directions

When you share

• Share a single window, not your whole screen. All three major platforms let you pick a window or a browser tab.
• Check what is in that window before you share: another candidate's name in a browser tab, a salary spreadsheet, or chat previews can all be exposed in one click.
• Zoom in. Text that is readable on your monitor is often unreadable on a candidate's laptop. Increase the font size of anything you share.
• Stop sharing when you are done so the candidate sees you again for the conversation.

When you ask the candidate to share

• Warn them in the invite. On macOS, a first-time screen share often needs a permission change and an app restart, which can take minutes.
• Ask for a window, not the desktop. Their desktop may show personal files, messages or their current employer's information.
• Say plainly that you do not want to see anything confidential from their current or past employer. A candidate who shows you a former client's data is showing you something about judgment, and it is an awkward moment you can prevent.
• Offer an alternative: email the file beforehand and you share it, or talk through it without sharing. Score the content, not their fluency with the platform's share button.

When the connection fails

Decide the rules before the interview, so you are not improvising while a candidate panics.

Say out loud what you last heard ("I got as far as the vendor delay in week six"), so they do not have to restart the whole answer. On your scorecard, note the disruption and the minutes lost as context, never as evidence. A candidate on a weak home connection is not showing you anything about the competencies.

Google Meet can also dial out to a phone or give dial-in numbers, but only for meetings organized through a Google Workspace account, and some of that needs your administrator to turn it on (Google Meet Help, as of September 2026). A phone number collected in the invite works whatever the platform.

Accessibility and fairness on video

The EEOC says employers must provide reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities who need them (EEOC). On video, several common ones are already built in, as of September 2026:

• Captions. Zoom's automated captions setting is enabled by default for paid accounts, admins can restrict it, and participants can ask the host to enable them (Zoom support). In Google Meet, all users can turn on captions and they are shown only to the person who turns them on (Google Meet Help). In Teams, live captions are turned on under More actions, Language and speech, and Teams does not save them (Microsoft Support).
• Interpreters. Add a sign language interpreter to the invite as a named participant, and pin their video if the candidate asks.
• Audio only or phone. Some candidates need it for a disability, and others for a connection. Offer it the same way to everyone and do not score it.
• Extra time and breaks, agreed in advance, applied without comment.
• Documents that work with screen readers, sent before the call if you plan to share them.

Some things video shows you that you should not use:

• Eye contact. On video it depends on where the camera is, and eye contact norms vary. Do not rate it.
• The room. A shared flat, a child at the door or a bedroom background says nothing job-related, and it is the kind of detail that should never appear in notes (see what not to write in interview notes).
• Polish with the technology, unless the role genuinely requires running video meetings and you assess it the same way for everyone.

If any tool analyzes candidates' video with AI, other rules apply. In Illinois, for example, the Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act sets notice, explanation and consent requirements.

The five minutes before each interview

[ ] Headphones connected and selected as the audio device
[ ] Camera at eye level, light in front, background checked
[ ] Email, chat and notifications off; other candidates' tabs closed
[ ] Notes page open below the camera, questions pre-filled
[ ] Resume read, questions from it written down, resume closed
[ ] Candidate's phone number on screen for the fallback
[ ] Meeting joined 3 minutes early; audio and video tested
[ ] Consent line ready if recording or transcribing; pause control known
[ ] Accommodations agreed in advance are set up (captions, interpreter)
[ ] Scorecard open for the 5 minutes after the call