Video interview tips for Zoom and Teams calls

What should you check the day before a video interview?

Check that the app opens, your camera and microphone work, and the meeting link is the one the recruiter sent. Both Zoom and Microsoft Teams have a built-in way to test this before a real meeting. Do the test on the same device, in the same room and at the same time of day as the interview.

Zoom runs a test meeting at zoom.us/test. Its support page on joining a Zoom test meeting says to select Join, open the app or join from your browser, then follow the prompts to check your camera, speakers and microphone. It takes a couple of minutes.

Teams has a test call. Microsoft's page on managing your call settings in Teams says to go to Settings and more, then Settings, then Devices, and choose Make a test call. A bot asks you to record a short message and plays it back. Microsoft says the feature is only in the Teams desktop app for Windows and Mac.

Ask the recruiter which app the interview uses if the invite doesn't say. Install it on the computer you will use, sign in once, and close every other program that might grab the camera.

Where should you put the camera?

Put the camera at eye level, about an arm's length away, so the interviewer sees your head and shoulders. A laptop flat on a desk points up at your chin, so raise it on a stand or a stack of books. Keep a little space above your head and frame yourself in the centre of the picture.

Career advisors at Carleton University's Sprott School of Business give the same advice in their guide to virtual interviews, dated April 2, 2020. They say to position your camera at eye level and to look at the camera rather than the screen. They also suggest trying your audio and video settings with someone else first.

A phone can work if it is all you have. Prop it horizontally on something stable, plug it in, and turn on Do Not Disturb so a call doesn't take over the screen halfway through an answer.

How do you make eye contact on a video call?

Look at the camera lens when you speak, and look at the screen when you listen. The interviewer sees you looking at them only when your eyes are on the lens. Move the video window to the top of your screen, right under the camera, so the gap between their face and the lens is small.

The Carleton advisors suggest a sticky note next to the camera as a reminder. A small arrow or the word "here" is enough. You don't need to stare at the lens for a whole answer, which can feel stiff to you and to them.

A simple routine works well. Look at the lens for your opening line and for the result at the end of a story, and let your eyes move naturally in between. Practise this on a recording a few times so it feels normal on the day.

How should you light your face for a video interview?

Light your face from the front. Sit facing a window or put a lamp behind your screen, and avoid a bright window or lamp behind you. Light from behind turns your face into a dark shape, and a single bulb overhead puts shadows under your eyes. Test the setup at the hour of the interview.

The Carleton guide says a light or window should ideally be in front of you, with no bright lighting overhead. It also warns that sitting with a window behind you will leave your face in shadow.

Zoom has settings that help in a dim room. Its page on enhancing your video in Zoom lists Adjust for low light, which defaults to Auto and can be set to Manual, and Portrait lighting, which "allows the system to dim your background while brightening you in the foreground." Both sit on the Camera tab under Video and effects in the desktop app's settings.

The same page describes Touch up my appearance, which "gives your picture display a softer focus." Use it lightly if at all. Real light from the front does more than any filter, and a strong effect can look odd when you move.

Should you blur your background or use a virtual one?

A plain, tidy wall is the safest choice, and blur is a good second. A virtual image can flicker around your hair and hands, which draws the eye away from what you are saying. Whatever you pick, set it before you join, so the interviewer never sees the change happen.

In Teams, Microsoft's page on changing your background in Teams meetings says to open Effects and avatars on the pre-join screen, then choose Standard blur or Portrait blur from the dropdown next to Blur. During a meeting, it is under More actions, then Video effects and settings. The page warns that blurring or replacing your background "may not prevent sensitive information from being visible."

In Zoom, the page on changing your virtual background says to open Settings from your profile picture, then the Virtual backgrounds tab, where you can pick None, Blur or an image. Without a green screen, it advises lighting some of your background as well as your face and using "uniform lighting and color." It also says not to wear clothing the same colour as the virtual background.

What does a full video interview setup checklist look like?

The checklist below covers the parts that most often go wrong, with the setting to use in each app. Run through it once the day before and again 15 minutes before the call. The app settings come from the Zoom and Microsoft support pages cited above; the rest is general advice.

Keep a printed copy of your resume and the job posting beside the keyboard if it helps. Glancing down at paper reads more naturally than reading off a second window, which pulls your eyes sideways.

What should you do if the video or audio fails during the interview?

Say what happened, offer a fix, and keep going. Interviewers deal with frozen video and dropped audio all the time, and a calm sentence matters more than the glitch. Before the call, save the recruiter's phone number and the dial-in number from the invite, so you have a backup ready.

Here is an example of what to say when the call drops and you rejoin.

"Sorry about that, my connection dropped. The last thing I heard was your question about the vendor delay. Would you like me to start that answer again?"

If the video won't recover, offer to switch to audio only. Here is an example.

"My video keeps freezing. Would it be all right if I turn it off so the audio stays clear? I'm happy to call in by phone if that's easier."

If you can't rejoin at all, email the recruiter within a few minutes. Give your phone number and say you are available to continue now or at another time that suits them.

How do you practise for a video interview?

Record yourself answering three or four likely questions on the same app, camera and light you will use on the day. Watch it once with the sound off to check framing, light and eye contact. Then watch again with sound to check that each answer has a clear point and ends cleanly.

For the questions themselves, start with tell me about yourself and two stories built with the STAR method. The free interview questions tool takes a job posting and the round you are in, then lists likely questions, why they are asked and what the interviewer listens for.

If your interview is recorded with no one on the other end, the rules change a little. The guides to the one-way video interview and HireVue interview tips cover timers, retakes and how to talk to a camera with no face on screen. For a call with several people, see the panel interview tips.

The Prept Mock room is one way to practise the content: you answer out loud on a clock and get a score out of 10, checked against your resume, and it is included in the free plan. After the real interview, the page on how long interview answers should be helps you judge whether any answer ran long.