How to Prepare for a Phone or Video Interview

Confirm the practical details

Check the date, local time, contact number or meeting link, expected length and name of the interviewer. Test the device, camera, audio and internet connection beforehand, and have a backup contact method ready.

Choose a quiet, private location with good light. Use headphones if they improve sound, but make sure you can hear yourself clearly and your device is charged.

Prepare notes that support—not replace—you

Keep the vacancy, your CV and five short evidence prompts nearby. Use keywords rather than reading complete answers; a natural explanation is easier to follow than a script.

Prepare a brief introduction and examples that demonstrate the skills in the advert. Speak a little slower than usual and pause before answering a complex question.

Close professionally

Ask one or two genuine questions about the role, process or next steps. Confirm anything you need to provide afterwards.

Send a short, accurate follow-up only if it is appropriate for the process. Do not repeatedly call or message the interviewer for an immediate decision.

Start with your own situation

Set up a practical, professional remote interview process while keeping answers focused on your own evidence and the vacancy. Before acting on this guide, name the real decision you are trying to make. In this area, that normally means checking which real examples best show your readiness for the particular role. A clear starting point prevents useful advice from becoming a long list of things to do without a purpose.

Read the guide once without trying to complete everything immediately. Then return to the sections that relate to your current stage. For example, “Confirm the practical details” is most useful when you identify what information you already have and what is still missing. This makes your next step specific enough to complete.

Turn the guidance into a working plan

A good plan has an owner, a source and a date. Make yourself the owner of the next action, write down where you will verify the information, and choose a realistic deadline. The section “Prepare notes that support—not replace—you” should guide the second action after you have completed the first.

Keep the plan small enough to check. Instead of writing “improve my application” or “research study options”, write an action such as “compare the entry requirement with my result”, “request the correct document”, or “save the official application confirmation”. When an action is concrete, you can see whether it is complete and decide what must happen next.

1. 1. Confirm the practical details: revisit this part with your own situation in mind and write down the one fact, document or action it changes.
2. 2. Prepare notes that support—not replace—you: revisit this part with your own situation in mind and write down the one fact, document or action it changes.
3. 3. Close professionally: revisit this part with your own situation in mind and write down the one fact, document or action it changes.

Use evidence, not assumptions

The quality of your decision depends on the information behind it. In practice, keep short, truthful examples of how you planned, communicated, checked work or solved a problem. Check dates, names, references and requirements against the original source before you rely on them. This is especially important when details were forwarded through social media or copied into a summary.

The final topic, “Close professionally”, is where you should make a final evidence check. If a fact cannot be verified, label it as something to clarify rather than filling the gap with an assumption. That protects you from sending an inaccurate application, choosing an unsuitable programme or making a workplace error that could have been avoided.

Finish with a review and next action

Before you close this guide, ask four questions: What did I verify? What did I complete? What is still missing? Who or which official source can answer the remaining question? Put the answers in your application tracker, study plan or work notes. The record will be more useful later than relying on memory.

Use preparation to organise your own evidence, not to memorise a script or present someone else’s work as your own. Use this guide to prepare and organise your own work, then make the final decision using the rules and information that apply to the specific employer, funder, provider or workplace involved.

1. Save the official source or confirmation.
2. Record the next action and its date.
3. Check that your documents and statements are accurate.
4. Ask through the official route when a material detail is unclear.

Practise the process before it matters

Do not wait until the final hour of an application, registration or workplace deadline to use this process for the first time. Choose a low-risk example connected to “How to Prepare for a Phone or Video Interview” and work through the steps while you still have time to ask questions, correct a record or find an official source. Practice is what turns information into a dependable habit.

A useful practice review asks what made the task easier and where you hesitated. Perhaps a document was hard to find, a requirement was unclear, or you needed a better way to record a decision. Write down the improvement and test it on the next task. This creates evidence of careful judgement rather than only a memory of reading advice.

When you are ready to use the guide for a real opportunity, return to the original source, compare it with the notes you made and adapt the plan to the facts in front of you. The goal is not to follow a checklist mechanically; it is to make a considered, accurate decision that you can explain later.

1. Choose one low-risk example to practise.
2. Identify one point that needs a clearer record or source.
3. Apply the improved process to your next real task.