HireVue Setup: Camera, Lighting and Technical Checklist

A HireVue setup checklist covering camera height, lighting direction, audio, browser and connection, plus what to do when a technical issue hits mid-interview.

HireVue setup takes about 20 minutes and it protects everything else you have prepared. A recorded interview has no interviewer to say “sorry, you cut out, say that again”. If your microphone clips, your face is a silhouette, or your connection drops in the middle of your best story, that is what the reviewer receives. The fixes are cheap and mostly free: put the light in front of you rather than behind you, raise the laptop so the camera is at eye level, use a wired or stable connection on a computer rather than a phone in a car, and run HireVue’s own practice interview first so the buttons and the countdown are familiar. This page is the full checklist, in the order you should work through it, plus what to do when something breaks anyway.

TL;DR

Light your face from the direction of the computer. A window or lamp behind you turns you into a shadow.
Raise the camera to eye level and look at the lens, not at your own image on the screen.
Use a computer, not a phone, and avoid cars, coffee shops and any unwired setting.
Run the practice interview from your invitation link before the scored questions start.
Plug the laptop in. A battery warning mid-answer is avoidable.
If something breaks, contact the employer’s recruiting team. HireVue provides the technology but the employer owns the hiring process and the deadline.

What do I need before I start a HireVue interview?

Work through this in order. Each row takes minutes and each one removes a way the recording can go wrong.

Item	What good looks like	Common mistake
Device	Laptop or desktop with a working webcam	Recording on a phone held in one hand
Power	Plugged into mains	Unplugged laptop that warns mid-answer
Connection	Wired, or the strongest Wi-Fi point in the home	Public Wi-Fi, tethering in a moving car
Browser	A current version of a supported browser, camera and microphone permission granted	An old browser that blocks the camera
Camera height	Lens at eye level, roughly an arm’s length away	Laptop flat on a desk, filming up your chin
Lighting	Main light in front of you, facing your face	Bright window behind you
Background	Plain wall, or a tidy shelf. No clutter	A busy wall with distracting objects
Audio	Quiet room, phone silenced, notifications off	Pets, housemates, email pings
Notes	A few bullet points beside the screen, not on it	Sticky notes stuck to the monitor
Dress	Solid colours, professional from head to toe	Prints that flicker on camera

Once the room is set, rehearse in it. Recording three free timed HireVue prompts from the exact chair, in the exact light, tells you more than any checklist can, because you will see the shadow on your face before an employer does.

How should I light and frame myself?

Lighting first, because it is the single biggest difference between a professional-looking recording and a bad one. The University of Colorado Boulder careers guidance is specific: the light needs to come from the direction of the computer toward you, not from behind you, which would make your face look shadowed. So put a lamp or a window in front of you. If the only window is behind you, close the blind and use a lamp instead.

Framing next. Sit eye level with the camera, put some distance between yourself and the lens to create depth, and make sure the camera is directly in front of you rather than above or to one side. The two errors this prevents are the up-the-nose angle from a laptop lying flat on a desk, and the giant-face effect from sitting too close. A stack of books under the laptop solves both.

Then eye line. Look at the camera lens, not at your own image on the screen. Watching yourself while you talk reads as distraction, and it is the most common tell in a recorded interview. If you find it hard, tape a small photo of a friend just above the lens so you have a person to talk to, taking care that the photo does not cover the lens or the screen.

What are the technical requirements for HireVue?

Requirements change and employers configure different assessments, so your invitation email and the candidate help centre linked from it are the authority for your specific interview. Read them. What does not change is the practical shortlist.

Use a computer rather than a mobile device where you can. The Colorado guidance advises against conducting a video interview on a cell phone or in a public or unwired setting such as a coffee shop or a car, because the audio is hard to hear and the connection is inconsistent. Use a browser your computer supports and grant it camera and microphone permission before you start, not during the countdown. Test your audio and video quality in advance, ideally by joining a short call with a friend, and consider a headset with a microphone if your built-in microphone is poor.

Two more that people forget. Check the time zone stated in the invitation so you are ready at the right hour. And check you have plenty of battery power if you are on an unplugged laptop, or better, plug it in.

Should I use the HireVue practice interview?

Yes, and it is a distinct step from rehearsing answers. HireVue offers a practice interview before an On Demand recording, reached from the link in your invitation. Its job is to make the mechanics boring: you see the countdown, you see how the record button behaves, you see the submit step, and you see yourself on camera in your own room.

The prompts in the practice section are generic warm-ups. They are not a preview of the employer’s questions. So do your content preparation separately using our HireVue practice questions list and structure your stories with the STAR method guide. Then use the platform practice purely to remove surprises.

What do I do if something goes wrong during the interview?

Stay calm and keep going if the problem is small. A brief stumble is not a failure, and restarting a sentence cleanly is better than apologising for ten seconds.

If the problem is real, meaning the camera failed, the audio did not record, or your connection dropped and the recording is unusable, escalate immediately rather than at the end of the week. HireVue provides the technology but does not manage the hiring process, so the employer’s recruiting team is who can extend a deadline or issue a new invitation. Write to them the same day with three facts: what happened, roughly when it happened, and which question you were on. Vague reports made a week later are the ones that go nowhere.

Before you escalate, rule out the boring causes. A denied camera permission, a second application holding the webcam, an old browser tab, and a VPN are the four most common. Close everything else, restart the browser, and try again from the invitation link.

What are the on-camera habits that hurt candidates?

The Colorado Boulder guidance lists these as things not to do, and they map exactly onto what a recorded interview exposes.

Do not chew gum or eat during the interview.
Do not have pets or anything that could make unexpected noise in the room.
Do not sit too close to the camera.
Do not record in a public or unwired setting.
Do not put sticky notes on the screen. It is obvious that you are reading.
Do not watch yourself instead of the camera.
Do not bounce your leg or move around a lot. It shakes the picture and it distracts.
Do not cross your arms. Feet flat on the floor is the safe default.

Two positives to add. Have your CV and bullet-point notes nearby, but do not shuffle them while recording. And dress professionally from head to toe regardless of the time of day, because solid colours read better on camera than prints, and overdressing is safer than underdressing.

For what happens after you submit, see our retakes, results and scoring guide. For how the platform fits into the wider hiring process, see how does HireVue work.

How long does the setup actually take?

Twenty minutes for the room, then one practice run. Here is a realistic sequence for the hour before your interview.

Plug in the laptop and close every other application (5 minutes).
Raise the camera to eye level and check the frame (3 minutes).
Move the light so it faces you and check for shadows (5 minutes).
Silence your phone, close the door, and warn anyone in the house (2 minutes).
Record one test answer and play it back with the sound on (5 minutes).
Open the invitation link and complete the platform practice questions (10 to 15 minutes).
Drink water, sit down two minutes early, and start.

If step 5 shows a shadow, a hum, or a bad angle, fix it before step 6. That is the whole point of doing it in that order.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I do a HireVue interview on my phone?

It is technically possible on a mobile device, but a computer is safer. The Colorado Boulder guidance advises against phone interviews because of audio quality and connection stability. If a phone is your only option, mount it at eye level and use headphones with a microphone.

Which browser should I use?

Use a current version of a browser your device supports and give it camera and microphone permission in advance. The Colorado Boulder guidance notes that Chrome tends to work well for HireVue. Confirm the supported list in your invitation.

Do I need a professional background?

No. A plain wall is ideal. A tidy shelf with books or a plant is fine. Clutter and busy patterns are the problem, not the absence of a studio.

Can I use virtual backgrounds or filters?

Avoid them. They can glitch around your head and hands, and any distortion of the video is a risk you do not need to take.

What if my house is noisy at my scheduled time?

Most HireVue On Demand interviews are completed at a time you choose within the employer’s deadline. HireVue reports that 42 percent of its interviews are completed outside normal business hours. Pick the quietest slot you can.

Should I wear headphones?

If your built-in microphone is poor, yes. A simple wired headset with a microphone usually improves audio more than any other single change.