One-way interview prep checklist (printable)

You got a link to record a one-way video interview. No live interviewer, just you, a camera, and a set of questions. The format is easy to underrate, and the avoidable mistakes are almost always physical: bad light, a camera pointed up your nose, a phone that buzzes mid-answer.

This is a checklist you can print or keep open on a second screen. Run through it once before you record. It is built from two recruiter accounts of what actually goes wrong: a canonical candidate setup list, and a hiring manager who reviewed hundreds of these recordings and catalogued the backdrops, angles, and outfits that sank otherwise good candidates.

Nothing here costs money. It is roughly ten minutes of setup that separates a recording that looks careless from one that looks deliberate.

The checklist

Copy this block, or print the page and tick the boxes by hand.

ONE-WAY VIDEO INTERVIEW PREP CHECKLIST

EQUIPMENT (test first, don't assume)
[ ] Camera works and the lens is clean (a quick wipe; phone lenses get smudged)
[ ] Microphone works. Record 10 seconds and play it back
[ ] Device charged or plugged in
[ ] Internet connection stable (sit near the router or use a cable)
[ ] Close every other app so nothing eats bandwidth mid-recording

LIGHTING
[ ] Light source is in FRONT of you, not behind
[ ] No bright window at your back (it turns you into a silhouette)
[ ] Face is evenly lit. A window or a lamp facing you both work
[ ] No harsh overhead light casting shadows down your face

CAMERA
[ ] Lens is at EYE LEVEL, not pointing up or down
[ ] Laptop raised on books or a box until the camera meets your eyes
[ ] Phone propped landscape and stable, not held like a selfie
[ ] You are centered, framed from roughly mid-chest up

BACKGROUND
[ ] Plain wall or a tidy, neutral space behind you
[ ] Nothing distracting in frame (no unmade bed, no clutter, no garage)
[ ] Door closed so no one walks through

NOTIFICATIONS (this is the one people skip)
[ ] Phone on Do Not Disturb or in another room
[ ] Computer notifications silenced (focus mode / DND)
[ ] Slack, email, messages, all closed or muted
[ ] Anyone else in the home knows not to interrupt

ATTIRE
[ ] Dressed as you would be for a live interview for THIS role
[ ] Top half is interview-ready (it's the half that shows, so make it count)
[ ] Solid colors over busy patterns; nothing that distracts from your face

BEFORE YOU RECORD
[ ] Glass of water within reach
[ ] A few bullet points off to the side (NOT a full script to read)
[ ] Read the instructions: time limit per answer, number of retakes allowed
[ ] Recorded ONE practice take and watched it back

ON THE PRACTICE TAKE, CONFIRM
[ ] Your face is well lit and clearly visible
[ ] Audio is clean, no echo, no background hum
[ ] You're looking at the LENS, not at your own face on screen
[ ] You got to your actual point inside the time limit

Why each section is on the list

Equipment, tested. “It worked last time” is how people discover a dead mic halfway through answer two. A ten-second test recording catches it while you can still fix it. A clean lens matters more than you would think on a phone camera.

Lighting, from the front. This is the most common fixable mistake. Sit with a window behind you and the camera exposes for the bright background, leaving your face dark. Turn around so the light faces you. A single lamp pointed at your face beats an expensive setup pointed the wrong way.

Camera at eye level. A lens below your chin gives the up-the-nose angle and a looming ceiling. Raise the laptop on a stack of books until the lens meets your eyes. For a phone, prop it stable and landscape. As one recruiter put it after reviewing hundreds of these: now is not the time to hold it like a selfie.

Background, boring on purpose. The same recruiter logged backdrops that included two garages and a bathroom. You do not need a studio. A plain wall or a tidy corner reads as someone who prepared. Close the door so no one wanders into frame.

Notifications, all of them. This is the section people skip and regret. A buzzing phone or a Slack ping mid-sentence forces a retake you might not have, and breaks your focus on the take that counts. Do Not Disturb on every device. Phone in another room is even safer.

Attire, like it’s live. Dress for the role as if you were meeting the interviewer in person. The camera mostly shows your top half, so that is the half to get right. Recruiters have reported pajamas, stained shirts, and at least one shirtless candidate, so the bar to clear is genuinely low and worth clearing.

One practice take. If you do one thing on this list, do this. A throwaway recording confirms your camera and mic work, shows you exactly what your lighting and framing look like on screen, and burns off the first-take nerves before the answer that gets scored. Most tools hand you a practice question for this. Use it.

How to use it

Print the checklist and tick it by hand, or keep it open on a phone or second screen while you set up. Work top to bottom. The order is deliberate: get the room right before you get yourself camera-ready, and leave the practice take for last so you are testing the real setup, not a half-finished one.

You do not need every box to be perfect. You need to have looked at each one on purpose. The difference between a recording that looks careless and one that looks deliberate is almost entirely on this page, and almost all of it is free.

When you are set up, the next thing to nail is what you actually say. Read how to pass a one-way video interview for structuring answers, and how to prepare for an asynchronous interview for the full walkthrough. If you have time before the real thing, run a few reps in the practice tool.