What is a virtual interview? Types and how they work

A virtual interview is a job interview held remotely instead of in person, usually over video, phone, or a web-conferencing tool. It can be live, with an interviewer on the call, or pre-recorded, where you answer set questions on your own time and a hiring team watches later. Most are an early screening step before a deeper round.

The word “virtual” just means not in the same room. Beyond that, the format varies a lot, and which one you get changes how you should prepare. This page defines the term, walks through the four steps almost every virtual interview follows, and lays out the three formats so you can tell which one is in front of you.

What counts as a virtual interview

A virtual interview is any interview where you and the employer are not physically together. That covers a quick phone screen, a live Zoom call with a hiring manager, a panel on Microsoft Teams, and a one-way recording where no one is on the other end. The common thread is distance, not a particular tool.

Employers moved to virtual interviews for practical reasons, and most have stayed. Remote screening cuts travel cost, by reported figures as high as two thirds, and tends to shave several days off time to hire. It also lets a team interview people anywhere, which widens the pool well beyond commuting distance. For candidates, the upside is real too. No travel, no half day off work, and often more say over when the interview happens.

It is worth being honest that not everyone loves the format. In one SHRM finding, about 70 percent of job seekers said they prefer interviewing in person, and only around 17 percent preferred video. That preference is real. It does not make the format bad. It mostly means the experience depends on how well it is run, which is something both sides can control.

How a virtual interview works, step by step

Strip away the tool and almost every virtual interview follows the same four steps.

1. Invite. You get an email or message with the details. For a live interview that means a date, a time, and a link to the meeting. For a recorded interview it means a link and a window, often a few days, in which to complete it. Read this message closely. It usually tells you the format, the rough length, and what you will need.
2. Complete. You join the call or you record your answers. In a live interview this is a normal back-and-forth conversation, just over a screen. In a recorded interview you see questions one at a time, get a short window to think, then record a timed answer to each. There is no one to react to you in that version, which is the part that feels strange the first time.
3. Review. A hiring team looks at what came back. For a live interview that is the interviewer’s notes and impression. For a recorded one, reviewers watch your videos later, often several candidates in a row, and compare them against the same questions. This is the step that makes recorded formats attractive to employers, because everyone gets asked exactly the same thing.
4. Decision. Based on the review, you either move forward, get held, or get passed on. A virtual interview is rarely the final word. More often it is the gate to a longer conversation, a live round, or an in-person meeting.

The order is the same whether the interview takes ten minutes or an hour. What changes is how much of it is live versus recorded, which is really a question of format.

The three types of virtual interview

Most virtual interviews fall into one of three formats. A short phone screen is sometimes counted as a fourth, lighter type. Knowing which one you are facing tells you almost everything about how to prepare.

Live video interview

A real-time call with one or more interviewers on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or similar. It works like an in-person interview moved to a screen. You can read the interviewer, ask follow-up questions, and react in the moment. These run anywhere from a short recruiter screen of fifteen to thirty minutes up to a panel of forty-five to sixty minutes or more. Prep here is about your setup and your presence: good light on your face, the camera at eye level, a quiet room, and looking at the lens rather than at yourself on screen.

One-way or pre-recorded interview

Here you record answers to set questions and no interviewer is present. You typically see each question once, get a short window to think, often somewhere around 30 to 90 seconds, then record a timed answer, commonly 60 to 180 seconds, across a set of 3 to 5 or 5 to 8 questions. A hiring team reviews the recordings later. This format trips people up because there is no one to nudge you along, so structure carries the whole answer. If you have been sent one of these, our guide to what a one-way interview is explains the mechanics, and how to pass a one-way video interview covers recording well under a timer.

Asynchronous interview

An asynchronous interview is the same recorded format, done entirely on your own schedule and device, with no live appointment at all. “One-way,” “pre-recorded,” “on-demand,” and “asynchronous” are often used for the same thing, and in practice the difference between the second and third type is mostly emphasis. The async label stresses that you can complete it whenever you like within the window. If that is what you are looking at, start with what an asynchronous interview means and the difference between a virtual interview and an asynchronous one.

A phone screen is the lightest virtual format of all. It is usually a short call to confirm the basics, availability, salary range, and location, before anyone spends time on video. It shows the least, which is exactly why it comes first.

A note on AI scoring

If your virtual interview is recorded, the platform may use AI to transcribe and analyze your answers. This is worth understanding calmly rather than fearing. In most setups the software produces a transcript, pulls out themes, and gives reviewers a summary or a match against the role’s criteria. People still make the call. It is also worth knowing the guardrails are tightening: HireVue, one of the largest vendors, discontinued facial analysis back in 2021, and laws like Illinois’s AI Video Interview Act require employers to disclose AI use and, in some cases, delete recordings within 30 days of a request. Answer like a person, be specific, and do not perform for an algorithm.

How to prepare based on which type you got

The format decides the prep. For a live video interview, your job is setup and presence: test the link and your camera ahead of time, light your face from the front, and treat it like the in-person meeting it stands in for. For a recorded or asynchronous interview, the same setup matters, plus you have to carry the answer alone. Open with your point in the first ten seconds, keep stories specific, and stop when you have made it. A tight 90-second answer beats a rambling three-minute one every time.

If you are not sure which type you have, the invitation almost always says. A meeting link and a fixed time means live. A link with a window of days and instructions about recording means one-way or asynchronous.

For a full walk-through of getting ready, read how to prepare for a virtual interview and the three types of virtual interview side by side. If you want the bigger picture, the complete guide to virtual interviews ties every piece together, and how long a virtual interview lasts sets your expectations by stage.