How to Attend an Online Interview: Zoom, Teams & Meet Guide

Most first rounds, and many final ones, now happen on a video call. An online interview tests the same things as one in person, but it adds a layer of things that can go wrong: a link that won't open, a microphone that isn't selected, a connection that drops in the middle of your best answer.

None of that is hard to prevent. Here is a checklist that covers the day before, your setup, joining the call, the interview itself, and what to do when something fails.

The day before

• Open the invite and check the platform. Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet or Webex. Install the app if you need it, and sign in if the invite requires it.
• Do a test call. Each platform has a way to test your camera and microphone: Zoom's test meeting at zoom.us/test, the pre-join screen in Google Meet, "Make a test call" in Teams' device settings, and Webex's test meeting. Better still, do a five-minute call with a friend.
• Check your internet. Run a speed test where you'll sit, and keep a phone hotspot ready as a backup.
• Charge your laptop, and plan to keep it on the charger during the call.
• Keep your documents open: your resume, the job description, and two or three questions you want to ask at the end.
• Note the recruiter's phone number or email, so you can reach them if the link fails.

Laptop or phone?

Use a laptop if you can. It gives you a steadier video, a larger view of the interviewer, and the ability to share your screen, which coding and technical rounds usually need.

A phone can work for a short HR or screening call. If you must use one, put it on a stand in landscape mode at eye level, use earphones, switch on Do Not Disturb, and close every other app so a call or notification doesn't interrupt you.

Camera, light and sound

• Camera at eye level. Put the laptop on a few books so you aren't looking down into the camera.
• Light in front of you. Face a window or a lamp. A window behind you turns you into a silhouette.
• Use earphones or headphones. They stop echo and help you hear accents and soft voices. With Bluetooth headphones, check the call audio before the interview: on many laptops, using a Bluetooth headset's microphone lowers the call's sound quality, and choosing the laptop's own microphone fixes it.
• A plain background. A tidy wall is best. A light background blur is fine; a beach photo is not.
• Silence everything. Notifications off, other apps closed, phone on silent and face down.

Joining the call

• Join five minutes early. It gives you time to fix a problem before it becomes a late start.
• Use your full name as the display name, the same as on your resume. Zoom, Teams and Meet all let you change it.
• Waiting in a lobby is normal. Many interviews start with a waiting room. Stay in it; leaving and rejoining can put you at the back of the queue.
• Greet, then check sound. "Good morning, can you hear me clearly?" is a perfectly professional first line.

During the interview

• Look at the camera when you speak and at the screen when you listen. It feels odd, but to the interviewer it looks like eye contact.
• Pause for a second before answering. Call audio lags, and starting too soon talks over the end of the question.
• If you didn't hear, ask. "Sorry, the audio broke up. Could you repeat the last part?" is far better than answering the wrong question.
• Share one window, not your whole screen, when asked to share. Close private tabs, chats and email first.
• Keep any notes short: a few key points, not scripts. Reading answers word for word is easy to spot on camera, and some interviews don't allow notes at all, so check the rules.
• Speak a little slower than you normally would. Compressed audio makes fast speech hard to follow, especially across accents.

If something goes wrong

Technical problems happen to interviewers too. What they remember is how you handled it.

• The connection drops: rejoin straight away from the same link. If it fails twice, switch to your hotspot.
• You can't rejoin at all: email or call the recruiter immediately, say what happened, and offer to continue by phone or reschedule.
• They can't hear you: check that you aren't muted, then check which microphone the app is using in its audio settings.
• You can't hear them: check the speaker or headphone setting in the app, then ask them to type in the chat while you fix it.

Stay calm and say what you're doing: "My audio cut out, give me ten seconds to switch to my phone's hotspot."

Platform notes

• Zoom: joining from the app is more reliable than the browser. Rename yourself under Participants if your display name is wrong.
• Google Meet: it runs in the browser. On the pre-join screen, check your camera and microphone, then click "Join now" or "Ask to join".
• Microsoft Teams: you can usually join without an account, using the app or "Continue on this browser". Expect a lobby, and check your devices before you join.
• Webex: use the app if you can, and run its test meeting the day before, since Webex interviews are often formal panel rounds.

Each of these has a fuller setup checklist: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex.

After the interview

• Send a short thank-you email within a day: thank them for their time, mention one thing you enjoyed discussing, and keep it to four or five lines.
• Write down every question you were asked, while you still remember them. They are the best practice material you'll ever get for the next round.

If you use Interview Fury on your calls, it keeps a transcript of each session, so after the interview you can download it from your dashboard and see exactly which questions came up and how you answered. To practise before the real thing, try a mock interview on the same setup you'll use on the day.

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Next: self introduction for freshers, interview rounds explained, and the 20 most common interview questions.