AI Interview Assistant for Microsoft Teams: Setup Guide

To use an AI interview assistant with Microsoft Teams, run it as a desktop app on the computer you join from, or as a phone app that hears the interviewer through your speakers. Teams needs no special capture setting for this, but how you join (signed in to the app or as a guest in a browser) and what the organizer has switched on decide what works. Check the employer's rules, then run a test meeting from a second device.

How you will join a Teams interview

A Teams interview invitation arrives as a meeting link. You can open it in the Teams desktop app, or join without an account in a browser.

Microsoft's guide to joining without an account says you don't need to install Teams, that the web version runs in Edge or Chrome, and that people who are signed in get more meeting features than guests. It also warns that if nobody admits you from the lobby within 30 minutes, you are removed and must rejoin.

	Teams desktop app	Teams in a browser
Install needed	Yes	No
Screen sharing	Full options	Chrome or the latest Edge
Giving or taking control of a shared screen	Supported when both sides use the app	Not supported
Test call before the interview	Yes	No
Video while someone shares	Speaker video and shared screen	One stream at a time

Two rows matter more than they look. Microsoft's list of desktop-only features includes giving and taking screen-sharing control, which matters if an interviewer wants to work directly on your screen during an exercise. And Teams limits and specifications notes that browser meetings carry a single stream, either the current speaker's video or the shared screen.

For an interview with a coding exercise or a shared document, install the desktop app if you can.

What the interviewer sees when you share in Teams

In Teams, Share offers your entire screen or a single window, plus live sharing of a PowerPoint, Excel or Whiteboard file. Microsoft's presenting guide adds details that matter in an interview:

• Participants briefly see a loading screen while your share starts.
• Your Teams chat window doesn't appear in your shared screen.
• Include sound sends all your computer's sound into the meeting, notification chimes included, so leave it off unless you need to play audio.
• A full-screen share shows everything on that display, so a single window is the tighter choice when the interviewer allows it.

Teams itself can pop up banners mid-share. Microsoft's notification guide shows the switch: Settings › Notifications and activity, then clear Show notifications during calls and meetings. Alerts about the meeting you're in, calls and urgent messages still come through.

For Windows notifications from other apps, turn on Do not disturb in Windows from the notification center. The Teams desktop app also has a setting called Show notifications during Windows do-not-disturb, so check it's off.

Route Teams audio to the assistant

Teams picks its own speaker and microphone, and an assistant only works if it hears the same audio. Set the devices in Teams first, under Settings › Devices › Audio settings. Microsoft's call settings guide also covers Make a test call, and says the test recording is deleted immediately afterward. The test call exists only in the desktop app for Windows and Mac.

• Windows. Interview Pilot hears the default playback device and your default communications microphone, and it can't choose other devices. If Teams plays through a USB headset while Windows defaults to the laptop speakers, the interviewer never reaches the transcript. The Windows audio checks show how to set both defaults.
• Mac. On macOS 14.4 or later, Interview Pilot hears computer audio directly, so speakers and headphones both work. Earlier versions can only listen through the microphone.
• Phone. Teams has to play the interviewer out loud near the phone. A phone can't hear audio in headphones only, or a Teams call running on the same phone.

Set up a desktop assistant with Teams

Interview Pilot is designed to stay hidden in Teams without any extra setting. Its meeting apps guide still recommends testing with the exact app or browser you'll use, because each captures the screen its own way.

On Windows

1. Confirm the PC runs Windows 11 or Windows 10 version 2004 or newer, which Interview Pilot requires.
2. Sign in to Interview Pilot before the interview day. Before sign-in, its window has a normal taskbar button.
3. In Teams, choose the speaker and microphone that Windows uses as its defaults.
4. If Interview Pilot shows Screen-share protection needs attention, press Ctrl+B to hide it before you share. The screen share troubleshooting guide explains the banner.

On a Mac

1. Give Microsoft Teams screen and system audio recording access in System Settings › Privacy & Security. Microsoft's presenting guide notes that Teams can't share your screen without it, and that a browser needs the same permission if you use Teams on the web.
2. Give Interview Pilot the same permission, which is how it hears the meeting.
3. Allow every permission during setup. A macOS prompt that appears mid-call is a separate system window and shows up in a share.

Organizer settings that change your setup

Teams gives the meeting organizer controls that you can't see in advance. Several of them announce themselves to everyone; a few change what a guest can do.

Organizer setting	What you'll notice
Recording	Everyone is notified when it starts; guests can't record; files go to OneDrive or SharePoint
Live transcription	All participants see a notice; the transcript is saved to the organizer's OneDrive
Live captions	Turned on from More actions › Captions; Teams doesn't save caption data after the meeting
Microsoft Copilot	Licensed participants can ask Copilot questions only they see; under Microsoft's default policy Copilot needs a saved transcript, which brings the transcription notice
Prevent screen capture (Teams Premium)	On Windows, captures show a black rectangle over the meeting window; Mac app and browser attendees get audio only
Watermarks (Teams Premium)	Your email address overlaid on shared content and video; anonymous guests get audio only

The last two are the ones that catch candidates out. If an employer protects its meetings this way and you join from a Mac or as a browser guest, you may hear the interview but not see a shared exercise. On Windows, Microsoft says the capture block stops most third-party capture apps, so a screenshot of the meeting window, including one an assistant takes for screen context, may come out black.

If you join and get audio only, tell the interviewer straight away rather than working around it. They can tell you whether to rejoin from a different device.

Test checklist before a Teams interview

Test with the same join method as the real call: the app if you'll use the app, the same browser if you'll join as a guest.

1. Run Make a test call in the desktop app and confirm Teams uses the speaker and microphone you expect.
2. Start a meeting from your own Teams account and join it from your phone with the volume turned down.
3. Start the assistant and share the way the interviewer is likely to ask: one window, then the entire screen.
4. Check the phone's view. The assistant shouldn't appear, and no Teams or Windows banners should pop into the share.
5. Test the interviewer's voice. Speak into the phone from another room and confirm the words reach the transcript; then speak at the computer.
6. Turn off Teams meeting notifications and switch on Do not disturb or a Mac Focus mode.
7. Practice hiding and showing the assistant with ⌘B or Ctrl+B.

The two-minute test guide walks through each check and what to do if one fails. Leaving without generating an answer means the test doesn't use a free weekly session.

Responsible use in a Teams interview

Microsoft publishes its own rule on this. Its candidate code of conduct encourages candidates to use AI tools responsibly during preparation, then asks them to show their own skills in assessments and interviews without outside assistance unless that is explicitly permitted. Other employers allow notes or tools, so ask the recruiter which rule applies to your interview.

A Teams interview can also leave a record. When the organizer transcribes or records, and especially when Copilot summarizes, what you say can be reread by people who weren't on the call. Treat every suggested answer as a draft you'd be comfortable seeing in that transcript.

• Say only what is true for you, and switch off any option that invents experience.
• Put suggestions in your own words rather than reading them out.
• Rehearse your main examples with nothing on screen; the virtual interview tips cover camera and delivery.
• If an interviewer asks whether you're using any tools, answer honestly.

Frequently asked questions

Can the interviewer see my AI assistant in Microsoft Teams?

The interviewer sees your video, hears your audio and sees whatever you share. A desktop assistant designed to stay out of screen shares needs no Teams setting, but a test share from a second device is the only way to confirm what your exact setup shows. Nothing hides a window from a camera or a person who can see your screen.

Does Teams tell everyone when an interview is recorded or transcribed?

Yes. Microsoft states that everyone is notified when recording starts, and that all participants see a notice when transcription starts. Captions are different: Teams doesn't save them after the meeting.

Can I use an AI interview assistant if I join Teams as a guest in a browser?

Yes, provided the assistant runs outside the browser and hears your computer audio. Browser guests have fewer features, can't give or take screen control, and may get audio only if the organizer uses Teams Premium watermarks. Test in the same browser you'll use.

Why is my Teams interview audio only?

The organizer may have turned on a Teams Premium protection such as prevent screen capture or watermarks. Microsoft says Mac app and browser attendees get audio only when screen capture is blocked, and anonymous attendees get audio only with watermarks. Tell the interviewer and rejoin from a supported device.

Why can't my assistant hear the interviewer in Teams?

On Windows, the usual cause is Teams playing through a headset or speaker that isn't the Windows default, so make the two match and restart the assistant's recording. On a Mac, look for a macOS release before 14.4 or a missing screen and system audio permission. A phone only hears the interviewer through speakers, never through headphones.