Run the meeting and the AI interview assistant on the same laptop, and use a second device only for your own notes. The reason is technical, not a preference: CoPilot Interview transcribes the computer's audio output, the same digital stream your headphones receive, so it has to run on the machine that is playing the interviewer's voice. A phone or tablet across the desk hears room audio through its microphone, which is slower, less accurate and picks up your own voice too. Below are three layouts that work, the one that does not, and how to test the one you choose.
Why the assistant must be on the meeting machine
Zoom, Teams and Meet decode the interviewer's voice and hand it to the operating system, which plays it on your output device. CoPilot Interview reads a copy of that output. The audio is clean, it arrives with no room echo, and it does not matter whether the call is in a desktop client or a browser tab. Audio is streamed in short segments for transcription and is not stored on our servers; a text transcript is saved only in your Documents folder.
This is also why there is no Linux or browser-extension version and why a second device cannot do the live job; our Linux page covers the case where your call machine runs Linux.
Layout 1: one laptop, Ghost Mode window
The simplest layout. The meeting fills most of the screen; the assistant window sits in a corner or a sidebar. Ghost Mode keeps the assistant window out of screen sharing and recordings, so if you share your screen to walk through code, the interviewer sees the editor and not the assistant. Press Ctrl+Shift+F to keep the assistant window from taking focus, so typing stays in the editor or chat.
Our guide to where to position the assistant window covers where to place it on a single screen.
Layout 2: laptop plus external monitor
With a second monitor, put the meeting and the camera on the laptop screen and the assistant on the external display, or the reverse if the external screen holds your webcam. The assistant still runs on the laptop; the monitor is just more pixels. Share a single window, not the whole desktop, when asked to share. Our dual-monitor guide has the display settings and the sharing choices.
Layout 3: laptop for the call, tablet or phone for static notes
This is the two-device setup that works. The laptop runs the meeting and the assistant. The tablet or phone holds notes you wrote beforehand: your three stories, the numbers from your resume, questions to ask them. The CoPilot Interview iPhone app is built for exactly this second-screen role, alongside spoken practice; see our mobile app overview.
The notes are static. Nothing on the phone listens to the call, which is what keeps this layout reliable.
The layout that does not work: a phone listening across the room
People try to run a phone or second laptop as a listener, placing it near the speakers. It fails for three reasons: the phone's microphone picks up room echo and your own voice, so the captions mix both sides; room audio is less accurate than the digital stream; and the extra device adds delay. If you use speakers so the phone can hear, the interviewer hears their own voice echoed back as well.
| Layout | Assistant runs on | Works? |
|---|---|---|
| One laptop, Ghost Mode | The meeting laptop | Yes |
| Laptop plus external monitor | The meeting laptop | Yes |
| Laptop plus tablet for notes | The meeting laptop | Yes |
| Phone listening across the room | The phone | No |
Test your layout before the interview
- Open the meeting app and the assistant on the laptop, with the headset you will wear.
- Press Ctrl+Shift+L to start listening and play a video with speech; confirm captions appear.
- Run a two-question AI mock interview to confirm the microphone works for you.
- If you use a second screen, put your notes on it and check you can read them at arm's length.
Do this the day before. On the day, follow your employer's rules on whether live help is permitted; the layout does not change that.
Where CoPilot Interview fits
CoPilot Interview is a desktop AI interview assistant for Windows and macOS that runs beside the meeting, never joins it and is not a participant, with a phone app for practice and notes. Prepare with the mock interview first; use live captions only where allowed. Disclosure: CoPilot Interview is our product, so weigh what we say about it accordingly.
Frequently asked questions
Can I run an AI interview assistant on a second device?
Not for live captions. The assistant transcribes the computer's audio output, so it must run on the laptop playing the interviewer's voice. A second device works only for your own static notes, which the CoPilot Interview iPhone app supports as a second screen alongside spoken practice.
Why not put the assistant on my phone and let it listen?
A phone hears room audio through its microphone, which mixes your voice with the interviewer's, adds echo and arrives later than the digital stream the laptop already has. Captions become less accurate and slower. If you use speakers so the phone can hear, the interviewer also hears echo.
Does a second monitor count as a second device?
No. An external monitor is extra screen space for the same laptop, so the assistant still runs on the meeting machine and hears the call directly. Put the meeting on the screen with the camera and the assistant on the other, and share a single window rather than the whole desktop.
What should go on the tablet in a two-device setup?
Notes you wrote beforehand: your three or four prepared stories, numbers from your resume, questions to ask the interviewer. Nothing that listens to the call. The phone or tablet is a reading surface, which is why this layout is reliable where a listening phone is not.
Is a two-device setup allowed in interviews?
Notes are allowed in many interviews and forbidden in some; live help is forbidden more often. The layout does not change the rule. Read the invite, ask the recruiter if it is silent, and follow your employer's rules. Practicing with the AI mock interview beforehand is allowed everywhere.
Test your setup with a mock interview
Run a free AI mock interview on the laptop you will use, with the headset you will wear.
Start a mock interview