Microsoft Teams Interview Tips: Joining, Lobby and Settings
Microsoft Teams interview tips for candidates: joining as a guest without an account, the lobby, device settings, background blur, captions and screen sharing.
Your interview invite says Microsoft Teams, and you mostly use Zoom or Google Meet. Teams behaves a little differently for outside guests: there is a choice between the app and the browser, a name you type in yourself, a lobby, and a settings screen that decides how you look and sound before anyone sees you.
None of it is hard. It just helps to have done it once before the morning of the interview. These Microsoft Teams interview tips cover the parts specific to Teams. For general camera, lighting and delivery habits, our video interview tips guide already has the full checklist.
The short answer: join from the calendar link as a guest, in the browser or the desktop app, and type your full name. Set your camera, mic, speaker and background on the preview screen before clicking join. Expect a lobby wait. Use a personal device, and if asked to share your screen, share one window, not the whole desktop.
How to join a Teams interview without an account
Most companies send Teams interviews as a calendar invite or an email with a “join” link. Click it a day early to see what happens on your computer, so the first click is not happening two minutes before the call.
When you open the link, Teams usually offers two paths:
- Open the desktop app. If Teams is installed, this is the most stable option and tends to have the full set of background and audio settings.
- Join in your browser. Look for the option to continue on the web instead. Chrome and Edge are the safest choices. Some other browsers work with fewer features, or not at all.
You do not need a Microsoft account for either. If the page pushes you toward signing in, look for the option to join as a guest. Do not create an account under pressure in the minutes before the call.
Type your full name, carefully
Guests set their own display name. Whatever you type is what the interviewer sees under your video and in the participant list, and sometimes what they write in their notes. Use your first and last name as they appear on your resume, with capitals, not a lowercase first name or a device name like “Home Laptop.” If you go by a different first name, use that one, and keep it consistent with your application.
Browser or app: a quick decision rule
If you can install the free desktop app at least a day ahead and test it, use the app. If you are on a shared or locked-down computer, or you only found out about Teams this morning, use the browser in Chrome or Edge and test it right away. Either way, do the test run early enough that you can switch if something does not work.
What the lobby means, and what to do while you wait
After you join, you will often see a message that someone will let you in soon. That is the lobby. External guests are commonly held there until someone inside the company admits them.
A lobby wait is not a sign anything is wrong. The interviewer may be finishing another meeting, or the person who set up the invite may not be the person who admits you. A few rules make the wait painless:
- Join two to three minutes early, not ten. Ten minutes in a lobby is a long time to sit with your nerves.
- Stay camera-ready. You can be admitted at any second, and your video may be live the moment you are.
- Give it five minutes past the start time before reaching out. Then send a short email to your contact: “Hi [name], I’m in the Teams lobby for our 2:00 interview and ready whenever you are. I’ll stay on.”
- Do not leave and rejoin repeatedly. That can reset your place and make it harder for them to admit you.
How to prepare for a Teams interview: the device settings screen
Before you join, Teams shows a preview screen with your video and a set of toggles. This is the most useful minute of preparation you will get, so slow down and check each one.
- Camera. Turn it on and confirm the preview is the right camera. Laptops connected to a monitor sometimes default to a webcam you are not facing.
- Microphone. Pick the device you actually plan to speak into. If you are using earbuds with a mic, select them here, not the laptop’s built-in mic.
- Speaker. Choose the same headset or earbuds so you hear the interviewer clearly and do not create echo.
- Background effects. This is where blur and background images live. More on that below.
If the settings screen has an option to test your audio, use it. If not, say a sentence and watch for the mic activity indicator to move. Once you are in the meeting, the same settings live under the device or more-options menu, so you can fix something mid-call without leaving.
Teams interview background: blur, images or the real thing
Teams lets you blur your background or replace it with an image, usually from the preview screen and again during the call. Blur is a reasonable choice if your space is cluttered or shared. A busy custom image, a beach or an office that is obviously fake, tends to distract more than a slightly messy room would.
Test blur before the day by joining a test meeting or opening the preview and waving your hand. On some computers blur smears hands, headphones and the edges of hair, which is more distracting than a plain wall. Older machines and some browsers also offer fewer effects than the desktop app, so do not count on an option until you have seen it on your own computer.
If you can, the best option is a real, plain background that needs no effect at all. Our guide to the best background for a Zoom interview applies just as well to Teams.
Live captions, reactions and other features you can mostly ignore
Teams has a long list of meeting features. Two are worth knowing in an interview, and most of the rest you can leave alone.
Live captions can help when audio is choppy. If the interviewer’s connection lags or they have an accent you are adjusting to, captions give you a second channel to catch a word you missed. Look for the option to turn on captions under the meeting’s more-options or language menu. They are visible only to you, and they are not perfect, so treat them as a backup to listening, not a script.
Raise hand and reactions are built for large meetings. In a one-on-one or small panel, just speak. Sending a thumbs-up or applause emoji to an interviewer reads oddly. The one exception is a large panel where people are clearly using raise hand to take turns. Follow their lead.
Chat is useful if your audio fails. A quick “Lost audio for a moment, reconnecting” in the meeting chat tells them what is happening. If the problems go further than that, our guide to technical difficulties during a video interview has a script for each scenario.
Screen sharing for a presentation or technical exercise
Some Teams interviews ask you to present slides, walk through a portfolio or work on a coding or analysis exercise. Screen sharing is where most avoidable embarrassment happens, and it is all preventable.
Before the interview:
- Close every personal tab and app. Email, messaging, banking, other job applications, your notes on the company’s salary range. If it is open, it can end up on screen.
- Turn on do not disturb at the operating system level so notifications do not pop over your shared screen.
- Open only what you will show, ready on the right slide or file.
When it is time to share, choose to share a single window, not your entire screen. Sharing one window means a stray notification or a wrong click does not broadcast your desktop. Before you start talking, ask: “Can you see my slides okay?” When you finish, stop sharing so they can see your face again.
If the exercise is in a browser, keep that browser window clean of bookmarks bar clutter and unrelated tabs. For the content of a presentation itself, our job interview presentation tips cover structure and timing.
Corporate laptop caution: keep the interview off your employer’s systems
This catches more people with Teams than with any other platform, because many employers run on Teams already. Your work laptop has it installed and signed in, and it is tempting to just click the link.
Do not interview for a new job on your current employer’s device, network or account. Company laptops are often managed and monitored by IT. A Teams meeting joined from a work account can show the other company’s name in your calendar, call history or activity logs. Even if no one ever looks, it is an unnecessary risk to your current job.
Use a personal laptop, personal email and your home internet. If you do not have a personal computer, the Teams mobile app on your own phone or tablet is a better choice than a work machine. If the invite went to your work email by mistake, ask the recruiter to resend it to your personal address.
Practice once on the real platform
Most Teams trouble disappears after a single dry run: joining from a link, typing your name, checking your settings, waiting in a lobby and sharing a window. Ask a friend with a work Teams account to send you an invite and run through it for ten minutes.
If you want that dry run to include real interview questions and honest feedback on how you come across, interview prep coaching pairs you with a coach who runs mock interviews over video. Take the two-minute quiz to get matched with a coach before your interview date.
Frequently asked questions
How do I join a Microsoft Teams interview?
Open the meeting link in your calendar invite or email. Teams will offer to open the desktop app or let you join in your web browser instead. Either works. Type your full name when asked, since guests set their own display name, then check your camera, microphone and speaker on the preview screen and click to join. You will often wait in a lobby until the interviewer admits you.
Do I need a Microsoft account for a Teams interview?
No. Most Teams interviews let you join as a guest straight from the meeting link, either in a browser or through the free desktop app, without signing in. You type your name, set up your camera and microphone, and join. If the invite asks you to sign in, look for the option to join as a guest or on the web before creating any account.
Can I blur my background in a Teams interview?
Usually yes. Teams offers background effects, including blur, on the device settings screen before you join and from the meeting controls once you are in. Some browsers and older computers show fewer options than the desktop app. Test blur before the day, because it can smear your hands or the edges of your hair when you move, and a tidy real background often looks cleaner.
Should I use my work laptop for a Teams interview?
No, not if the interview is for a job outside your current employer. Company laptops and accounts are often monitored, logged or managed by IT, and a calendar invite or meeting record can show up where you do not want it. Use a personal device, a personal email address and your own internet connection. If you have no personal computer, a phone or tablet is a better choice.