Start your first interview in 3 steps

Tutorial video

Every key you'll use in a real interview. Click a chapter to jump.

Prepare your materials

An answer can only use facts that are in your materials; anything missing, the AI has to guess. Prepare them in this order.

1. Add your resume and the job description under Resume & materials → Background materials. Files must be PDF, DOCX, TXT or MD:

   • .doc: open it in Word or WPS and save it as DOCX.
   • Slides: export them to PDF.
   • Images: click Upload image under Let AI organize your notes to read the text.
   • Scanned PDF: run text recognition (OCR) on it first.
   • Too large: split it into several files.
   • Import doesn't work while an interview is running.

2. Click Start organizing to turn your resume, project notes and past questions into Q&A. Check each entry and delete anything that didn't happen, then click Add to knowledge base.

3. Put what you want to say your own way, like your intro or why you're leaving, into Prepared answers. Only entries you wrote, or edited after organizing, count. To have them used word for word, see Answer settings.

4. Open Guide and click Test how answers come out. Read one real question aloud and check the answer sounds like you.

Four kinds of facts to include

Don't repeat what's already on your resume. Anything missing goes into background notes or the relevant Q&A. If two places disagree, the AI picks one.

Keep a copy: click Export materials at the top of Resume & materials and choose a folder. Every set is saved as plain text — Q&A, background notes and scripts. Nothing is uploaded, and export pauses while an interview is running.

Answer settings

All under Settings → AI answer settings, and changes save automatically. Most answer problems end here.

Before the interview

Spend 5 minutes before the real thing and go through each item.

Which practice first

Step by step, by scenario

Pick today's scenario, follow the steps, then check Done right.

Video interview (mode: Video interview)

Zoom, Teams, Meet or any call running on this computer.

1. Choose Video interview and click Start interview. Headphones recommended.
2. The overlay opens by itself. Place it just below your webcam; Ctrl+Shift+Space hides it and brings it back.
3. When the interviewer finishes, press F1 and start with the answer's first sentence.
4. Click End interview when you're done. The record saves automatically.

Done right: the transcript moves on the left and an answer appears on the right within seconds of F1. No transcript? See No interviewer audio.

Phone or speaker call (mode: Speaker mode)

The call runs on your phone or another device. If the meeting is open on your phone, use this mode. Your computer only listens and shows answers.

1. Put the phone on speaker next to your computer, at medium volume.
2. Choose Speaker mode, run the mic check in the control area to confirm the computer can hear it, then click Start interview.
3. Press F1 after each question. For answers without a key press, first record about 20 seconds under Settings → My voice.
4. Want answers on the phone? In the setup card, at Meeting on your phone?, click Scan to connect phone. Then click Turn on auto answers so answers appear when the interviewer finishes, without touching the phone.
5. If CalmRound says the computer hasn't heard the interview clearly, turn the phone volume up and move it closer.

Done right: the transcript moves as soon as the interviewer speaks, and F1 answers the question they just asked. Answers stay on the main window; press Ctrl+Shift+Space if you want the overlay.

Online test (mode: Online test)

Multiple-choice, true/false, fill-in, short-answer and coding questions in a browser or test app.

1. Choose Online test and click Start test. The main window tucks away and the overlay opens. To listen with headphones, first turn on Read test answers aloud automatically and click Preview.
2. When a question appears, press F5 for regular questions or F4 for coding.
3. Screenshot answers take longer than F1, and hard questions take a while; don't press it again while you wait. One question per screenshot is fastest; the more screenshots you send together, the longer it takes.
4. Question spans several screens? Press Alt+S (Mac: Option+S) on each, then F5 or F4 to send them together.
5. Chat windows or sidebars in the way? Use Set capture area in the answer panel to frame the question.
6. Recent news or new rules: before you start, turn on Web search (online tests only) in Settings → AI answer settings.

Before the real test, try CalmRound on the platform's practice test: check whether a full-screen F5 capture gets correct answers or you need to frame the question with Set capture area first; some platforms block shortcuts or screenshots, so find out early, not mid-test.

Done right: after F5, the overlay shows the question number, answer and explanation.

Live coding

You're asked to write code during the interview, with the problem on screen or only read aloud.

1. First choose Video interview or Speaker mode, then click Start interview.
2. Problem on screen: press F4. Problem only read aloud: press Ctrl+F4 (Mac: Option+C). Hard problems take a while; don't press again while you wait.
3. One rule: to talk, press F1; for code, press F4.
4. Asked "why did you write it this way" or "what's the complexity": press F1. Text starts in about a second.
5. Asked to add a condition, change the code, or write a call example: press F4. It revises the last version. The example comes in its own block; don't submit it.
6. You changed the code on screen yourself, or the interviewer points at a line: press F4. F1 can't see your screen.

Done right: F1 talks about the last version the app gave you. Don't press F8 until the problem is done; it clears this problem.

Mock interview

Practice before the real thing: an AI interviewer asks questions and you answer out loud.

1. Choose Mock interview and click Start mock interview. The overlay opens, the same as in a real interview.
2. Answer as you would for real. Stuck? Press F1.
3. To check the main window, click Main window in the overlay; the practice keeps going.
4. When you're done, click End & report in the overlay. Read the report and History, and add the questions you struggled with to your materials.

Done right: after one round you get a report and know which questions need better materials.

When an answer misses or isn't good enough

Fix the moment with a key; if the same problem keeps coming back, change your materials or settings.

Recurring problem: change materials or settings

The fix keys only get you through this question. If the same thing keeps happening, change one place below and check it with Test how answers come out.

Keep answers off a second camera

Pick one of two setups, then film a test run to check.

Placement comes first. Point the lens at you so your face, hands and desk are in frame. Keep the answer screen out of the replay — outside the frame, behind the monitor or your body, or too far to read. The camera stays where the interviewer asked; move the screen, not the camera. Full second-camera guide →

Option A · one computer

Fusion mode overlay

1. Under Settings → General → Overlay, set Visual mode to Fusion mode.
2. Use the eye button or Ctrl+Shift+, to make the text as faint as you can still read.
3. Keep the window narrow and just below your webcam.

Option B · phone or tablet

Answers on your phone

1. On the main screen, expand View answers on phone and scan the code. No shared Wi-Fi needed.
2. When the computer shows Phone connected, ask a test question to confirm it syncs.
3. Mute the phone and fix it in place. On the computer, press Ctrl+~ (Mac: Control+~) to hide the overlay.

Only have a phone? The phone cannot hear the call while the meeting app is open, so the listening and answering still happen on a computer. If the meeting runs on your phone, install the CalmRound Android app: put the phone on speaker next to the computer, choose Speaker mode there, and the app keeps the answers floating over the meeting. Download for your computer →

Always film a test run. Film 10 seconds with another phone from the interviewer's angle: your face and hands clear, the answer text not.

Every step with screenshots: Second camera setup guide.

Using proctoring or monitoring software? CalmRound isn't intended for that setting — our Terms prohibit use in proctored exams and wherever outside help is disallowed.

Overlay and privacy

The overlay opens by itself when an interview starts, and Ctrl+Shift+Space hides it or brings it back. For a normal video call, change nothing.

Only when you need them

Overlay gone or can't be clicked? See Overlay can't be clicked or has disappeared.

After the interview

Spend 5 minutes reviewing so the next one goes better.

1. Open History at the top. The review comes first: an overall score, the most likely point losses and what to do before the next interview.
2. Then go through each question: what the interviewer said, what you said and the reference answer. Each question gets a short review and Say it like this next time.
3. Click Load recording to play by line, then ▶ next to a line to hear it from there. The left channel is the interviewer, the right channel is you.
4. For a question that went badly, click Add this question to the knowledge base and edit it into the answer you want.
5. Fill in Interview details (company, role, round, result and notes) so search can find it later.
6. Click Weak questions to see the questions you keep missing across interviews, then Practice these to start a mock interview with them.
7. In test records, click Save to question bank to be reminded when the same question comes up again.
8. Deleted an interview by mistake? Restore it within 7 days from Recently deleted at the bottom of the list.

Records save on this computer automatically. To export them to another folder, use Settings → General → Interview records.

Shortcuts

Learn these 4 first. When to press them: see Step by step.

On a Mac: the F keys are the same, but on a Mac laptop F1–F8 need Fn unless you turned off Fn mode (the Mac video starts with it). In combinations, Ctrl is Control (⌃), Alt is Option (⌥), and the script keys use Command (⌘).

These are the defaults; change any key under Settings → Shortcuts.

Laptop F keys only work while you hold Fn? The first time you click Start interview on a laptop or a Mac, the app asks you to press F1 once. When it comes through, the interview starts on its own. You can also click Start anyway. If it finds you need Fn, click Switch to keys without Fn. It changes F1→Alt+A, F2→Alt+D, F3→Alt+Q (Mac: Option+F), F4→Alt+Z, F5→Alt+X, F6→Alt+G (Mac: Option+M), F7→Alt+J, F8→Alt+R, Ctrl+F1→Alt+W and Ctrl+F4→Alt+C. Keys you changed yourself stay as they are. After the switch, the app asks you to press the new key once (for example Alt+A) so you remember it. From then on, press the new key for answers; the hints in the app change to it too. On a Mac, the same check offers Turn off Fn mode instead.

Settings at a glance

Everything is set up by default. This is where each setting lives, for when you need it.

Troubleshooting

The most common problems come first. Search a symptom or key, such as "audio", "F1" or "overlay".

Nothing matches. Try another word.

Still stuck? Go to Settings → About & updates and click Send diagnostics to support, or email [email protected] with your operating system.