Getting Started for Hiring Managers

Welcome to Lavalier! Your recruiting team has added you as an interviewer, and you're ready to run a great interview without taking a single note by hand. Follow each step in order—it should take about 15 minutes start to finish.

Step 1: Find Your Interview

When your team schedules an interview and adds you as the interviewer, it lands on your Interview Calendar.

1. Sign in to Lavalier. You'll land on the Interview Calendar tab on the homepage by default.
2. Find the interview you're about to run. Each card shows the candidate name, role, time, and interview type.
3. Click Open Interview on the card to enter the prep screen.
   
   

Step 2: Open and Start the Interview

The prep screen lets you review everything you need before recording begins.

1. Read through the candidate's details—name, background, and any notes from your recruiting team.
2. Review the prepared questions for this role on the left side of the screen.
3. When you're ready, click Start Interview to begin recording.
   
   

What happens when you start:

• Virtual Meeting — Lavalier's notetaker joins your Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, or Webex call automatically.
• Phone Call — Lavalier places the call to the candidate.
• In-Person — Recording starts on your computer's microphone.
  
  

Step 3: Run the Interview

Once recording starts, Lavalier transcribes the conversation in real time so you can focus on the candidate.

• Questions Panel (left) — Your prepared questions appear here. Lavalier marks them as answered as you ask them, and you can add follow-ups on the fly.
• Notes Section (right) — Type freely; notes save automatically. Use thumbs up or thumbs down to flag standout moments—each marker links to the exact timestamp.
• Live Transcript — Updates in real time so you can verify what was said.
  
  

When you're done, click the red End Interview button. Lavalier processes the transcript in about a minute and shows you an Interview Summary.

Tip: Drop a thumbs up or thumbs down whenever something stands out. You'll thank yourself when you're writing feedback ten minutes later.

Step 4: Review the Interview Summary

Right after the interview ends, Lavalier surfaces what mattered most:

• Interview Strengths — Where the candidate excelled
• Observations — Patterns in how they think, communicate, and approach problems
• Things to Consider — Areas worth probing further or watching for in next rounds
• Key Takeaways — Quick insights to inform your decision
  
  

Click into any section to jump straight to the moment in the transcript that supports it.

Step 5: Write Your Feedback

Capturing your feedback while it's fresh keeps the hiring loop moving fast.

1. Click Write Feedback in the bottom-right of the interview view.
2. Pick a recommendation from your team's hiring rubric (your admin can customize these labels in Company OS).
3. Click Generate Feedback to let Lavalier draft a structured write-up from the transcript and your notes—or write your own from scratch.
4. Use Tweak Feedback to refine the AI draft with specific instructions (for example, "shorten the strengths section" or "add more on communication").
5. Your feedback saves automatically and is visible to the rest of the hiring team.
   
   

Full feedback guide →

Step 6: Compare Candidates Side-by-Side

When it's time to pick the strongest fit, Candidate Compare lets you ask questions across every interview at once.

1. Open the role from the Lavalier drop-down → Roles.
2. Click the Actions menu (top-right) and select Compare Candidates.
3. Pick the candidates you want to compare from the left panel.
4. Type any questions you want to ask about the candidates. For example:
   • "Who has experience managing budgets over $500K?"
   • "Which candidate gave the strongest answer on conflict resolution?"
   • "Who described a time they failed and what they learned?"
5. Each answer links back to the exact transcript quote so you can verify the source.

Note: Lavalier surfaces insights from your interviews—but the final hiring decision is always yours.

Full Candidate Compare guide →

What's Next?

Now that you've run your first interview, you can:

• Schedule your own interview — Click New Interview from the homepage anytime
• Dig deeper into feedback workflows — Learn how feedback rolls up across your team
• Bookmark this guide — Come back whenever you need a refresher
  
  

Questions? Reach out to support anytime, or browse the knowledge base for detailed guides on every feature.