Recording interviews: why, how, and tips to do it right

Interviews have always been at the heart of great decision making. Every conversation is a trove of data, ready to be leveraged for more efficient hiring processes and better informed decisions. 

But interviews are also fleeting moments, packed with nuance that’s hard to capture in real time. As a result, interview recording is an increasingly commonplace practice that forward-thinking, high-performing organizations are taking advantage of to level up their hiring. 

By recording interviews, hiring teams transform these conversations into lasting assets: a structured record that can be reviewed, analyzed, and learned from. Tools like Metaview build on top of interview recordings to give hiring teams access to game-changing productivity improvements and deeper candidate insights. 

This article helps you accurately record any interview, and especially those vital candidate calls for recruitment.  

Why record interviews?

The obvious answer is: to have a lasting record of what was said. But why does that actually matter for recruiting teams? 

Recording interviews can level-up your hiring process in a number of ways:  

• Capture details accurately. Without a clear recording, most interviewers spend time thinking back through each conversation to distill what was said. There’s a risk that you’ve misremembered or misconstrued the context or key takeaways. With a recording, you always have the primary source material.
• Give candidates the attention they deserve. When recruiters and interviewers don’t have to worry about taking notes, they can give their full focus to each candidate. Distractions and furious typing are replaced by real, human interaction and a better experience all around.
• Save time after the interview. Use AI tools to efficiently summarize calls, find key takeaways, and quickly determine follow-up steps. Platforms like Metaview take your simple recording transcripts and add deep insights, spot trends, and turn interviews into actionable recruiting data.
• Increase visibility for the whole team. Recording interviews lets you give other hiring team members visibility into candidate responses without joining in person or long debriefs. Whenever a point needs further examination, anyone can go straight to the game tape to see what the candidate actually said. 

How to record interviews: top tips

Recording interviews can be transformative for hiring teams. But it needs to be done thoughtfully to protect candidate experience and ensure compliance. 

Here are best practices to follow at every stage of the process.

Before the interview

Preparation is key. Setting expectations up front builds trust with candidates and ensures your recording process is compliant.

• Inform candidates early. Let candidates know you plan to record the interview before it begins—ideally when you schedule it. Be clear about why you’re recording (for accuracy, fairness, or training) and how the recording will be used.
• Get consent. Confirm the candidate is comfortable with the recording and give them the opportunity to opt out. Document their consent where possible.
• Test your tools. Check that your video platform, microphone, and recording software are working properly. Failures and false starts waste valuable time.
• Set clear expectations. Reassure candidates that the recording won’t affect how they’re assessed and is only for improving the hiring process. This helps reduce anxiety.

During the interview 

The recording should support the interview, not distract from it. Keep the focus on creating a natural, respectful experience.

• Remind candidates. At the start, restate that the interview is being recorded and confirm they’re still comfortable.
• Ask only compliant questions. Stick to job-relevant topics and avoid sensitive or personal areas that could create compliance risks.
• Stay engaged. Don’t let the recording replace active listening. Make eye contact, take light notes if needed, and keep the conversation flowing.
• Check the tech discreetly. Glance occasionally to ensure the recording is running smoothly, but don’t interrupt the interview to troubleshoot unless absolutely necessary.

After the interview 

How you manage the recording is almost as important as capturing it. Treat recordings with the same care as any other personal data.

• Store securely. Save recordings in a secure, access-controlled system rather than personal drives or shared folders.
• Limit retention. Keep recordings only as long as needed for the stated purpose (e.g. decision-making, calibration, training). Delete them once they’re no longer necessary.
• Respect candidate rights. Candidates have the right to access their data, including recordings, and can request deletion. Have a process in place to respond quickly.
• Use recordings productively. Share highlights with hiring panels, calibrate decisions across interviewers, or use them for interviewer training. But always within the scope communicated to the candidate.

Rules and ethics about interview recording

Another common question that comes up is whether it’s actually okay to record interviews. Interview recording is a widely adopted, legally-sound practice. But there are certain privacy and data protection obligations that need to be followed when collecting and storing this kind of data. 

The key regulations to keep in mind here are GDPR (in Europe) and CCPA (in the California/US). Regulations around the world have either equivalent or lesser requirements than these two laws, so any organization that follows the best practices outlined above should be covered globally. 

As above, the keys to staying on solid ground both legally and ethically are: 

• Always inform the interviewee they’re being recorded
• Get their explicit consent
• Only use interview recordings for their original stated purpose
• Store recordings in a secure, access-limited place
• Delete interviews when requested by the interviewee

This is a great starting point for most scenarios. Always consult a lawyer for specific legal advice. 

What do candidates think about recorded interviews? 

Some candidates may not be comfortable with being recorded. And you should be prepared to proceed without letting this harm your process or their interview. 

But in our experience, most don’t have any issues. At Metaview, we see a 95%+ opt-in rate of candidates agreeing to have their interviews recorded. 

Candidates understand that recording interviews means they’re getting a fair process. The hiring team is more likely to be making decisions based on objective evidence rather than memories or “gut feel”. 

Candidates also understand that reducing the note-taking burden for the interviewer means that they can have a real conversation, without any distractions. 

And perhaps more than anything, recording interviews is becoming the norm. So this is neither the first nor the last time they’ll have this experience. 

Generic interview recorders vs AI recruiting tools

Interview recordings are a powerful asset. But the real impact comes from what you do with those recordings. Standard video or audio recorders let you capture conversations and prepare generic recaps, but that’s often where their value ends. 

They don’t help you summarize key points in context, track candidate strengths, or make collaborative hiring decisions easier. In other words, the recordings exist, but turning them into actionable insights is still manual.

AI recruiting tools like Metaview are built specifically for the needs of hiring teams. They not only capture interviews reliably but also transcribe conversations, highlight important moments, and generate structured notes that can be shared between interviewers. 

Beyond this, they surface patterns in candidate responses, compare feedback across multiple interviewers, and produce reports that support consistent, fair hiring decisions.

Because the system is designed with recruiters in mind, every feature serves a purpose in the hiring workflow. And not just for one candidate and one role—for the whole of your recruitment organization. 

In short, while generic recorders preserve the conversation, AI recruiting tools unlock the value of conversations for the entire hiring process.

Turn interview recordings into action

Interview recordings are more than just captured conversations. They create a reliable, accurate foundation for fairer, more efficient, and more consistent hiring decisions. By following best practices before, during, and after interviews, you ensure compliance, improve collaboration, and unlock the full value of your calls with candidates.

As the leading AI recruiting platform around, Metaview makes compliant interview recording a breeze. You get: 

• Elegant consent handling so candidates are informed and comfortable
• Role-based access controls to ensure only the right people can access recordings
• Secure data storage that meets strict privacy standards
• Advanced privacy features, including redaction of sensitive information and AI-generated summaries that can even eliminate the need to manually take notes

To learn more about Metaview’s privacy and security standards, and to get started for free, head over to https://www.metaview.ai/privacy. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out! We’d love to help.