Video interview tips
A live video interview is a conversation through a screen. Check your setup in advance, allow for small delays and make your answers easy to follow without the cues you would get in a room.
Try a practice answerLive or recorded?
A live video interview happens in real time on a platform such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom, with an interviewer who can ask follow-up questions. A recorded, one-way interview asks you to respond to prompts on your own for later review. Your invitation should tell you which you have.
This guide covers live interviews. For one-way interviews, use the recorded interview guide.
What the call does to your voice
Calling apps compress your voice to save bandwidth and filter out anything they treat as noise. The quiet ends of words are the first to soften, so speech that is perfectly clear in the room can arrive smudged, especially when it is fast.
There is also a short delay in each direction. When two people start talking at once, many apps briefly favour one voice and turn down the other, so the start of your answer can simply go missing. Neither you nor the interviewer may notice which words were lost.
Test how you sound, not just how you look
- Record through the microphone you will use.
Laptop microphones pick up room echo and keyboard noise. Record a one-minute answer with the same set-up and listen back on headphones. If you sound distant or boomy, try a headset or move closer to the microphone and away from bare walls.
- Open the interview link a day early.
Check that the right microphone and camera are selected and that your display name is how you want it to appear.
- Frame the camera last.
Once the sound works, set the camera near eye level, with your head and shoulders in frame and the main light in front of you.
- Keep a fallback.
Have the interviewer’s phone number or email to hand, so a dropped call costs you a minute rather than the interview.
Speaking for a delayed line
- Leave a beat before you start. Waiting half a second after the interviewer stops means your first words are not the ones that get clipped.
- Put your point in the second sentence too. If the opening is lost to overlap, a quick restatement (“So the short answer is…”) recovers it.
- Check your pace. If your practice recordings sit above about 160 words per minute, slow down for calls specifically: compression costs fast speech the most.
- Finish with a clear stop. A closing sentence followed by silence tells the interviewer you are done; trailing off with “so, yeah” invites both of you to speak at once.
- Look at the camera for key points, and at the interviewer while you listen.
If something goes wrong
If the sound cuts out, say so calmly: “Sorry, I missed the end of that question. Could you repeat it?” Interviewers are used to technical problems, and a calm request is better than guessing at a question you did not hear.
If the call drops, rejoin straight away. If you cannot, use the contact details in your invitation.
Practise out loud
Rehearse common questions aloud through the microphone you will use on the day. In DontBlank, check your words per minute and listen to any marked hesitant pauses: on a call, a mid-sentence pause can sound like the line has dropped. DontBlank records audio only, so for eye contact and framing do a separate test call or record yourself on camera.
Frequently asked questions
Should I wear headphones?
If you have a pair with a built-in microphone, they usually reduce echo and background noise. Small, unobtrusive ones look most natural.
Can I use notes in a video interview?
A few prompts nearby are usually fine, but avoid reading answers. Interviewers can often tell when your eyes are following text.
Does DontBlank record video?
No. It records audio and gives feedback on what you say and how you say it: pace, pauses, filler words and answer structure. It does not assess camera presence or body language.
Now say it out loud.
Use your own example. Record a first take, listen back and choose one thing to make clearer.