Guide

Video Interview Tips: Setup, Presence and One-Way Interviews

By the Know the Room team · Updated Oct 24, 2026

Put the camera at eye level, the light in front of you and the microphone close, then test it all on the company's platform the day before. On the call, look at the lens when you make a point, keep answers a little shorter than in person and have a plan for when the connection drops.

Key takeaways

For a video interview, put the camera at eye level, the light in front of you and the microphone close, and test it all on the company's platform the day before.
A virtual interview is any interview held over video instead of in person, either live with an interviewer or recorded on your own.
In a one-way video interview, such as one on HireVue, you read each question on screen, get a short time to think and record your answer for someone to watch later.
On video, look at the lens when you make a point and keep answers a little shorter than you would in person.
If the connection drops, say what happened, rejoin quickly and carry on, because calm handling counts for more than a perfect call.

How do you set up for a video interview?

Get four things right: camera height, light, sound and background. Sound matters most. People forgive a slightly dark picture, but they stop listening when they have to strain to hear you.

Part	What to do	Common mistake
Camera	At eye level, an arm’s length away, head and shoulders in frame	Laptop on the desk, so they look up your nose
Light	A window or lamp in front of you, behind the camera	A bright window behind you, so you’re a silhouette
Sound	Wired earbuds or a headset with a mic, in a small room with soft surfaces	Laptop mic in an echoing kitchen
Background	A tidy wall or a plain corner of a room	A busy shelf, an unmade bed, or a blur that flickers around your head
Connection	Close to the router, or plugged in with a cable	Other people streaming video on the same network

Stack books under a laptop to raise the camera. If you use an external webcam, put it on top of the screen you’ll actually be looking at.

For clothes, solid colors that contrast with your background work best on camera; our guide to what to wear to an interview covers the rest.

What should you test the day before?

Test the exact platform and link they sent you, on the device you’ll use. Zoom, Teams, Google Meet and the others each handle cameras, microphones and screen sharing a little differently.

Join the link early if the platform allows it, or open a test call on the same app.
Check camera and mic permissions in your browser and system settings. A blocked permission is easy to miss until the call starts.
Set your display name to your full name, not your partner’s laptop name.
Practice screen sharing if you might present. Know how to share one window rather than your whole screen.
Update the app the day before, not five minutes before.
Charge everything and plug in the laptop during the call.

Then do one short recorded test. Watch it back with the sound on. You’ll notice the lighting, the background and whether you look at the screen or the lens. Almost nobody likes watching themselves, and that’s fine: two minutes of awkwardness now saves you from guessing on the day.

What to do in the last 15 minutes

Close everything you don’t need and silence notifications. A calendar pop-up or a chat sound in the middle of an answer is distracting for you and visible to them if you’re sharing.

Close email, chat and browser tabs you won’t use.
Turn on do-not-disturb on your computer and phone.
Put your notes, the job posting and your questions where you can see them without turning your head far.
Have water within reach.
Join one or two minutes early, with your camera on and your mic muted until they arrive.

Keep the recruiter’s phone number or email open in case the link fails.

How do you come across well on video?

Look at the lens when you’re making your main point, look at their face when you’re listening, and keep your answers a bit tighter than you would in person. Video flattens energy, so you need a little more of it than feels natural. Let your normal personality come through, the way you’d talk to a colleague you like; a smile and your own turn of phrase carry better on screen than a perfectly composed answer.

Eye contact means the lens. Move the video window to the top of your screen, right under the camera, so the gap between their eyes and the lens is small.
Answer in shorter chunks. It’s harder for interviewers to break in politely on video. Aim to finish a point and pause, so they can ask a follow-up.
Nod and react while you listen. Small signals show you’re following, since they can’t read your body language as easily.
Leave a beat before you start. Audio lag means you can talk over each other. A half-second pause after they finish avoids that.
Keep your hands in frame now and then. Gestures help you sound natural, as long as they don’t hit the mic.
Hide your self-view. Once you’ve checked the frame, turn it off if your platform allows it, so your attention stays on them.

Can you use notes in a video interview?

Yes, as long as you glance at them rather than read from them. Short bullet notes near the camera are fine; a full script you read word for word is obvious on screen.

Good notes for a marketing interview fit on one page: two or three results with their numbers, the stories you plan to tell, your questions, and a line or two on the company’s recent marketing. If you’re reading a prepared answer, the interviewer will see your eyes moving across the page, so keep the notes to prompts and let the words be yours in the moment.

Share a single window, not your whole desktop, and rehearse the handoff once. Final rounds for marketing roles often include a case study or presentation, and on video a sharing problem can eat your first five minutes.

Open the deck before the call in presenter mode or full screen, and check which window the platform will share.
Turn off notifications before you share. Anything that pops up, they’ll see.
Check in after a few slides. “Can you see the slides OK?” saves you from presenting to a frozen screen.
Send the file afterward, or before if they ask, so a bad connection doesn’t ruin the content.
Stop sharing for the questions. It lets them see your face again and makes the discussion feel like a conversation.

If several people are on the call, the panel interview tips guide covers how to handle several interviewers at once.

What is a virtual interview?

A virtual interview is any job interview held over video instead of in person. It comes in two kinds: a live video call with one or more interviewers, usually on Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet, and a one-way recorded interview where you answer questions on your own. Most of the setup advice on this page applies to both; the next section covers what’s different about the recorded kind.

What are one-way video interviews, and how do you do well in them?

A one-way interview is a recorded interview with no one on the other end: the platform shows you a question, gives you time to think and then records your answer. Companies use them to screen candidates before a live conversation, and someone watches the recordings later.

Read the instructions before you start. They usually tell you how much thinking time you get, how long you can talk and whether you can re-record. Those rules change everything about how you answer.

Do the practice question if there is one. Use it to check your frame, light and sound.
Use the thinking time. Jot down two or three points, not a script.
Answer the question in the first sentence. There’s no interviewer to steer you back if you wander.
Watch the timer, but don’t race it. A complete short answer is better than one cut off mid-sentence.
Talk to the lens as if it were a person. It feels strange; it looks normal on playback. Picture a friendly colleague and talk to them the way you normally would, rather than performing for a camera.
Retake only when you’ve really missed. If re-recording is allowed, one retake for a stumble that hurts the answer is fine. Chasing perfection eats the time you have left.

What is a HireVue interview?

HireVue is one of the platforms employers use for one-way video interviews, and it’s common enough that many people use its name for the format. The employer sets the questions, the thinking time, the answer length and whether you can retake, and the platform shows those rules before you start. The one-way tips in this section all apply; the main extra step is to open the invitation link early, so you can run the practice question and check your camera and microphone in the browser it recommends.

Prepare the same way you would for a live screen: “tell me about yourself”, why this role, a result you’re proud of and a question about the skill the posting stresses most. The phone screen interview questions cover what the early rounds usually ask.

What if something goes wrong during the call?

Say what happened, fix it or switch, and carry on. How you handle a glitch is a small test of how you handle problems, and calm beats perfect. Tech trouble happens on interviewers’ calls all the time, so one hiccup won’t sink you.

Frozen video or bad audio: turn your camera off to save bandwidth, or offer to rejoin. “You’re breaking up a little, I’ll drop and rejoin” is a fine sentence.
Dropped call: rejoin straight away. If you can’t, email or call the recruiter within a minute or two.
Noise at home: mute, apologize once briefly and continue.
They can’t join: wait ten minutes, then email the recruiter and the interviewer to say you’re on the line and happy to reschedule.

Agreeing on a backup at the start helps: “If we lose each other, should I call you on the number in the invite?”

After the video interview

Send a thank-you email the same day, as you would after an in-person interview. The thank-you email templates work for video rounds without changes.

Write down the questions you were asked while you still remember them, including the ones from a recorded interview. They tell you what the next round will dig into.

Recon builds prep for each interview round from a research brief on the company, with likely questions and a call card you can keep beside the screen, so your notes are short enough to glance at.

FAQ

How should I look at the camera in a video interview?

Look at the lens when you’re making a point and at their face when you’re listening. Putting their video window right under your camera makes the difference small enough that it reads as eye contact.

Is it OK to use a virtual background?

A plain real background is better. Virtual backgrounds can flicker around your head and hands, which is distracting. If your space is messy, a blur is safer than a picture.

Should I stand or sit for a video interview?

Sit, unless you’re giving a presentation and you normally stand to present. Sitting keeps you in frame and steady. Whichever you choose, set the camera height for it.

How long are answers in a one-way video interview?

The platform sets the limit, and it’s shown before each question. Plan answers that land comfortably inside it, with a clear opening sentence and one example.

Any tips for a Zoom interview specifically?

Update the app and sign in the day before, set your display name to your full name, and turn on “touch up my appearance” only if it looks natural. Use speaker view so the interviewer’s face sits near your camera, and keep the chat open in case they share a link.

Do I need to dress up for a video interview?

Dress as you would for the same interview in person, at least from the waist up, and preferably all the way. You may need to stand, and it helps you feel ready.