How to Use InterviewLift on Zoom
A complete 8-step setup guide for the real-time AI interview copilot on Zoom. Screen-share-safe, break-out-room aware, Zoom Whiteboard compatible. ~10 minute read.
- 01
Install the InterviewLift desktop app
Download the macOS or Windows installer from interviewlift.com/downloads. The Windows installer is EV-signed (passes Defender SmartScreen); the macOS app is notarised by Apple. Both install in under 60 seconds and require no admin privileges on most machines.
- 02
Sign in and pick your target loop
Open InterviewLift and sign in with the email you used at sign-up. The first-run wizard asks for your target company (Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, TCS, Tencent, SAP, Siemens, etc.) and target level (e.g. Google L5, Amazon SDE-II). This calibrates the answer scaffolds and pulls the right slice of the 48,000-question bank.
- 03
Position the overlay below your camera
Drag the overlay window so it sits just below your laptop's camera. This keeps your eyes naturally centered when you read it — interviewers do not see you "looking away". The overlay is excluded from screen-capture at the OS level (NSWindowSharingNone on macOS, WDA_EXCLUDEFROMCAPTURE on Windows), so it never appears in a screen-share or recording.
- 04
Start your Zoom interview as normal
Click the Zoom meeting link your recruiter sent. InterviewLift listens to your system audio at the OS level — you do not need to enable any Zoom plugin, approve any Zoom App, or modify any Zoom setting. The overlay is invisible to Zoom's screen-share, recording, and the new Zoom Companion AI Notes feature.
- 05
Watch the live transcription + answer scaffolds
As your interviewer speaks, InterviewLift transcribes their question and renders a structured answer scaffold in the overlay within about 700 milliseconds. The scaffold tells you which points to hit (STAR for behavioural, complexity-anchored for coding, scale-anchored for system design) — you fill in the prose in your own voice. This is the difference between sounding prepared and sounding rehearsed.
- 06
Handle screen-share without worry
When your interviewer asks you to share your screen — for a coding round in CoderPad, HackerRank, or a Google Doc — click "Share Screen" in Zoom as you normally would. The InterviewLift overlay is filtered out of the share at the operating-system level. Your interviewer sees only your editor; you still see the scaffold.
- 07
Use break-out rooms and Zoom Whiteboard
If your interviewer moves you to a break-out room, the audio re-routes and InterviewLift reconnects automatically. If they pull up a Zoom Whiteboard, the copilot reads its visible content via screen analysis (not the Zoom API) and surfaces relevant hints in the overlay.
- 08
Run a post-interview debrief
After your interview, the InterviewLift desktop app saves an encrypted local transcript and a structured debrief: which questions came up, how each was scored against the rubric, and where to deepen prep before the next round. Your dedicated customer-success manager reviews the debrief and gives you the three highest-impact improvements before your next loop.