FAQ

Interview Sidekick is an AI-powered interview assistant that helps you during real interviews and practice sessions. It listens to your interview in real-time and provides AI-generated answer suggestions, talking points, and guidance as questions are asked.

It also includes a question bank of 16,000+ questions from 1,200+ companies, each with a suggested answer, mock interview practice, and coding interview support.

👉 Want a guided tour? The full setup guide walks through every feature step by step with UI previews.

Interview Sidekick listens to the audio from your interview and uses speech-to-text to transcribe what's being said. When it detects a question, the AI generates a suggested answer based on your resume, the job description, and any extra context you've provided.

🖥️ On the desktop app: The app captures system audio directly from your computer. This means it picks up whatever your interviewer is saying through your meeting tool (Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, etc.). It also captures your microphone audio. For best results, use headphones so that the interviewer's audio doesn't get picked up by your microphone. This helps the AI clearly distinguish between their questions and your responses.

📱 On mobile (phone): Place your phone near your laptop speaker so it can hear the interviewer's audio through the microphone. Since both your voice and the interviewer's voice come through the same microphone, the AI may occasionally pick up your responses as well. Tip: Mute Interview Sidekick's microphone while you're speaking to prevent it from capturing your side. The AI will still generate great answers based on the questions it hears.

Yes. The real-time assistant captures all audio: both the interviewer's questions and your responses. Everything is transcribed in the Transcript tab so you can review it during or after your session.

The AI uses the full conversation context to generate better, more relevant suggestions. It understands what's already been discussed so it doesn't repeat points you've already made.

Interview Sidekick is available on:

• 🖥️ Desktop app: Available for Windows and Mac. This is the recommended experience. It includes Stealth Mode, system audio capture, and a compact floating window.
• 📱 Mobile (phone): Use Interview Sidekick in your phone's browser (Chrome recommended). Place your phone near your laptop speaker during the interview.
• 🌐 Web browser: Use Interview Sidekick in Chrome on your computer with our Dual Tab feature. Share audio from your meeting tab to the Interview Sidekick tab.

For the best experience, we recommend the desktop app. Each setup has a step-by-step walkthrough with UI previews.

No. Interview Sidekick runs as a separate application alongside your meeting tool. You join your interview through Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, or whatever platform your interviewer uses, just like you normally would.

Interview Sidekick runs in a separate window (or as a small floating panel in compact view) and listens to the audio from your meeting. The two apps are completely independent.

No — not with Stealth Mode enabled. 🔒

When Stealth Mode is turned on, Interview Sidekick uses content protection to make its window completely invisible to screen sharing. Even if you're sharing your full screen, your interviewer will not see the Interview Sidekick window. They'll only see your meeting app, code editor, or whatever else is on your screen.

Stealth Mode also hides Interview Sidekick from your dock (Mac) or taskbar (Windows), so there's no visible trace that it's running.

Yes. Stealth Mode hides Interview Sidekick regardless of how you share your screen, whether you're sharing a specific window, a browser tab, or your entire screen. The content protection works at the system level.

No — on Mac, the overlay never pulls focus from your browser. The floating overlay is built as a non-activating window, so you can click it, type a question into it, and move it around while your interview or coding-test tab stays the active window the whole time. Proctored assessments that watch for focus changes or tab-switches (the browser's visibilitychange and window-blur signals) won't see anything — your browser never loses focus.

The global keyboard shortcuts — generate an answer, capture a screenshot, scroll, toggle stealth, and the rest — never take focus on any platform, Mac or Windows, because your computer routes them without switching apps. On Mac you can additionally click and type directly in the overlay with no effect on your browser.

One honest caveat: this protects against in-browser focus and tab-switch detection. It does not defeat dedicated lockdown browsers (such as Respondus LockDown Browser or ProctorU's secure client) that monitor your entire system — no overlay tool can do that.

No. Stealth Mode is only available in the desktop app (Windows and Mac). It relies on system-level content protection that isn't available on mobile browsers.

If you need Stealth Mode, download the desktop app.

There are two ways to turn on Stealth Mode in the desktop app:

1. 👁️ Click the eye icon in the top-right corner of the title bar. Click it once to enable, click again to disable.
2. ⌨️ Use the keyboard shortcut:
   • Mac: Cmd + Shift + S
   • Windows: Ctrl + Shift + S

How you know it's working: When Stealth Mode is active, an orange border appears around the app window, the eye icon turns orange, and the app disappears from your dock/taskbar. Your interviewer will not be able to see the app even if you're sharing your full screen.

We recommend enabling Stealth Mode before joining your interview call and sharing your screen.

For more details, see our full Stealth Mode guide.

Zoom's default screen-sharing method ignores macOS's content protection, which means Interview Sidekick can still appear in your shared screen even with Stealth Mode on. You only need to flip this once:

1. Open the Zoom desktop app and go to Settings (the gear icon).
2. Click Share screen in the left sidebar, then click Advanced.
3. Under Screen capture mode, choose "Advanced capture with window filtering".

Once that's on, Zoom respects Stealth Mode and your interviewer will not see the Interview Sidekick window. This is required on Zoom. Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Webex work out of the box.

• 🎧 System audio capture: The app listens directly to your computer's audio output. No need to share Chrome tabs or configure browser audio settings.
• 👻 Stealth Mode: Make the app invisible to screen sharing. Only available in the desktop app.
• 📌 Compact floating window: A small, always-on-top panel that sits in the corner of your screen without getting in the way of your meeting.
• 🔗 Works with any meeting tool: Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, Webex, and more. No browser extensions or tab-sharing required.

No. You can sign in to the desktop app with Google, or with any email address. We'll send a 6-digit code to type into the app.

No. The desktop app doesn't include a built-in video meeting client. You join your interview through the normal meeting app (Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, etc.) as a separate application. Interview Sidekick runs alongside it in its own window and listens to the audio from your meeting.

If a meeting link forces you to download an app (like Zoom), go ahead and download it. Interview Sidekick will work with it.

Yes! The desktop app is available for both Windows and Mac. You can download it from our download page.

This means the app isn't receiving audio from your interview. The fix depends on how you're using Interview Sidekick:

🖥️ Desktop app:

• Check that you've granted Interview Sidekick permission to capture system audio in your system settings (System Preferences > Privacy & Security > Screen & System Audio Recording)
• Make sure your meeting audio is actually playing through your computer (not routed to a Bluetooth device the app can't capture)
• Try restarting the app if permissions were just granted

🌐 Chrome (Dual Tab):

• Make sure you've connected Interview Sidekick to a tab that has audio coming out of it (your meeting tab)
• The meeting tab must be actively producing audio. If your interviewer hasn't spoken yet, there's nothing to capture

📱 Mobile:

• Make sure your phone is close enough to your laptop speaker to pick up the audio
• Check that the microphone permission is enabled in your browser

This usually happens when the app is picking up both sides of the conversation (your voice and the interviewer's voice) and can't clearly distinguish between them.

On the desktop app: Use headphones 🎧. This prevents the interviewer's audio from being captured by your microphone, so the app can clearly separate their questions from your responses.

On mobile: Mute Interview Sidekick's microphone while you're speaking, then unmute when the interviewer is asking a new question. This prevents the AI from interpreting your answers as new questions.

All transcripts are saved in your account and accessible in the Transcript tab during your session. After a session ends, you can find your past sessions and their transcripts in your session history.

If answers didn't generate during a session (due to audio issues, for example), the transcript may still contain partial data from whatever audio was captured.

When you upload your resume and add a job description to your session, the AI uses them as context to generate more personalized and relevant answers. It will reference your specific experience, skills, and achievements when suggesting responses.

There is a character limit on how much context the AI can process (8,000 characters for your resume). If your resume is very long, it may be truncated. We recommend keeping your resume concise and focused on the most relevant experience for the role you're interviewing for.

You can add extra instructions in the session setup screen. This is a great way to give the AI additional context, such as:

• Specific projects or achievements you want to highlight
• The tone or style you want answers in (e.g., "keep answers concise" or "use the STAR method")
• Additional experience or skills not covered in your resume
• Information about the company culture or team you're interviewing with

The more specific your instructions, the better the AI's suggestions will be.

The AI prioritizes the most relevant and recent information from your resume. If your resume is long, earlier experiences may be truncated due to the character limit.

To fix this, try adding specific earlier experiences you want the AI to reference in the extra instructions field. For example: "Make sure to reference my 3 years at Company X where I led the data migration project."

If the AI is transcribing questions but not generating answers, or not responding at all, it's almost always an audio issue. Here's how to troubleshoot:

1. Check that audio is being captured: You should see audio levels moving in the Interview Sidekick interface. If they're flat, the app isn't hearing anything.
2. Desktop app: Make sure you've granted system audio recording permission in your system settings. Restart the app after granting permissions.
3. Chrome (Dual Tab): Make sure you've connected to the correct tab and that tab has audio playing.
4. Mobile: Move your phone closer to the speaker and check that microphone permissions are enabled.
5. Try a test session first: Before your real interview, run a free 2-minute test session with a YouTube mock interview video to confirm everything is working.

If you're still having issues, email us at ben@interviewsidekick.com with details about your setup and we'll help you get it working.

Yes. In addition to our pre-built question banks, you can add your own questions and customize your practice sessions. You can also use the extra instructions field to tell the AI to structure answers in a specific format (for example, "Answer all behavioral questions using the STAR method"), and it will follow that guidance.

Interview Sidekick works great for any company, even if it's not in our question bank.

The question bank is a bonus for targeted practice, but the real power is the AI itself. During your interview, it listens to the actual questions being asked and generates answers tailored to your resume and experience in real-time. It doesn't need pre-stored questions to help you. It works with whatever the interviewer throws at you.

For practice, you can also:

• Create a custom mock session: paste your job description and the AI generates relevant practice questions specific to that role
• Pick a similar company: interview patterns are similar across companies in the same industry, so practicing with a comparable company still gives you great prep

Bottom line: the AI adapts to your interview, not the other way around. You're covered regardless of the company.

Yes! Interview Sidekick includes Code Capture. You can take a screenshot of your screen and the AI will analyze the coding problem and provide hints, approach guidance, and solution strategies.

The AI understands coding problems in every major programming language, including Python, Java, JavaScript, C++, and more.

The AI can read anything visible on your screen through the Screen Capture feature. If code is shared in the meeting chat and visible on your screen, you can capture it with a screenshot and the AI will analyze it.

It does not automatically read the meeting chat. You need to use the Screen/Code Capture button to grab what's on screen.

Open Interview Sidekick in your phone's browser (Chrome recommended), set up your session, and place your phone near your laptop speaker. The app will listen through your phone's microphone and generate AI suggestions as questions are asked.

This setup lets you keep your laptop screen free for the meeting and code editor while Interview Sidekick runs on your phone beside you.

Since both voices come through the same microphone on mobile, the AI may occasionally capture your responses as well. To minimize this:

• 🔇 Mute the microphone in Interview Sidekick while you're speaking, then unmute when the interviewer asks the next question
• Position your phone closer to the laptop speaker and further from your mouth
• Speak at a normal volume. The interviewer's audio through the speaker will typically be louder than your voice at a distance

Even with some voice mixing, the AI will still do a good job figuring out how to answer the question being asked.

We have 16,000+ practice questions across 1,200+ companies, each with a suggested answer, including:

• Big Tech: Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, Nvidia
• IT Services: TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant, Accenture, Capgemini, HCL
• Consulting: Deloitte, EY, PwC, KPMG
• And many more across industries and regions

But here's the thing: you don't need your company to be listed for Interview Sidekick to work. The real-time AI listens to your actual interview and generates personalized answers on the fly, based on your resume and experience. It works for any company, any role, any question. The question bank is great for practice, but the AI is what carries you through the real thing.

Yes! Interview Sidekick supports 31 languages for both live transcription and AI answer generation. Switch anytime from settings, and the AI will reply in the language you choose.

• 🇺🇸 English (US)
• 🇬🇧 English (UK)
• 🇪🇸 Spanish
• 🇫🇷 French
• 🇩🇪 German
• 🇧🇷 Portuguese (BR)
• 🇮🇳 Hindi
• 🇯🇵 Japanese
• 🇰🇷 Korean
• 🇨🇳 Chinese (Mandarin)
• 🇮🇹 Italian
• 🇳🇱 Dutch
• 🇷🇺 Russian
• 🇸🇦 Arabic
• 🇧🇬 Bulgarian
• 🇭🇷 Croatian
• 🇨🇿 Czech
• 🇩🇰 Danish
• 🇫🇮 Finnish
• 🇬🇷 Greek
• 🇭🇺 Hungarian
• 🇮🇩 Indonesian
• 🇳🇴 Norwegian
• 🇵🇱 Polish
• 🇷🇴 Romanian
• 🇸🇰 Slovak
• 🇸🇪 Swedish
• 🇮🇳 Tamil
• 🇹🇷 Turkish
• 🇺🇦 Ukrainian
• 🇻🇳 Vietnamese

You can run unlimited free test sessions of up to 2 minutes each, with every feature, to confirm it works on your setup before you subscribe.

For unlimited session time, unlimited AI answers, and full access to all features (including Stealth Mode and the desktop app), you'll need a paid subscription.

• ✓ Unlimited interview sessions
• ✓ No time limit on recordings
• ✓ Unlimited AI answer generation
• ✓ Full access to Stealth Mode
• ✓ Full access to the desktop app
• ✓ Access to all companies and job types
• ✓ Priority customer support

You can cancel directly from the Interview Sidekick website, no need to email us. Here's how:

1. Log in to interviewsidekick.com
2. Go to your Account settings
3. Click "Manage Subscription"
4. Click "Cancel Subscription"

Your subscription will remain active until the end of your current billing period and will not automatically renew after that. You do not need to email us to cancel. It can be done entirely through the website in under a minute.

We do not offer refunds. Here's why:

Before subscribing, every user has access to unlimited free 2-minute test sessions. These sessions give you full access to the real-time AI assistant, transcription, and answer generation: the exact same features you get as a paying subscriber, just with a shorter time limit per session. You can run as many 2-minute sessions as you want, for free, forever.

This means you can thoroughly test the product, verify it works with your setup (audio, microphone, meeting tool), and see exactly what it's capable of before you commit to a paid plan. Because of this, all sales are final.

If you're experiencing technical issues that prevent the product from working, please email us at ben@interviewsidekick.com and we'll do everything we can to help resolve it before your next interview.

We understand the frustration, and we're sorry the experience wasn't what you expected. However, we are unable to offer refunds because every user has access to unlimited free test sessions before subscribing.

If the product isn't working as expected, the issue is almost always related to audio setup, and we can help fix it. Please email us at ben@interviewsidekick.com with details about what went wrong and we'll personally help you get it working. Common fixes include:

• Granting system audio permissions (desktop app)
• Using headphones to separate interviewer audio from your voice
• Checking that the correct audio input/output is selected

We want this to work for you. Reach out and we'll make it right.

We don't offer extended trials or one-day subscriptions at this time. However, the free 2-minute test sessions are designed to let you fully evaluate the product before subscribing.

Here's how to make the most of your free sessions:

• Run a test session to make sure your audio setup is working (you'll know within seconds)
• Try it with a YouTube mock interview video to simulate a real interview environment
• Test the desktop app's system audio capture vs. mobile vs. Chrome Dual Tab to find which setup works best for you
• Run as many 2-minute sessions as you need (there's no limit)

Two minutes is enough to confirm the AI is hearing the audio, generating relevant answers, and working with your specific setup.

Your subscription is tied to your account, not to a specific device or platform. If premium doesn't show up, you're almost always signed in with a different email than the one you paid with. Sign out and sign back in with the email on your receipt.

If this happens, email us at ben@interviewsidekick.com with both email addresses and we'll transfer your subscription to the correct account.

Yes. We use current best practices for data storage and security. Your interview transcripts and personal information are stored securely and are only accessible to you.

For full details, please review our Privacy Policy.

With Stealth Mode enabled on the desktop app, Interview Sidekick is invisible to screen sharing and hidden from your dock/taskbar. There is no visible trace that it's running on your computer.

On mobile, Interview Sidekick runs on a separate device entirely, so there's nothing for the interviewer to detect on your laptop.