How the question guide works during a call in Interview Signal

In Interview Signal, the question guide is the left-hand pane of the live screen: your role's kit questions, one line each, grouped by category, ticking themselves off as you ask them out loud. Unasked must-ask questions stay at the head of their group with a dot, the top bar counts what you have covered, and End interview warns you if a must-ask was never asked. The ticks are worked out on your computer from the transcript, so a slow or unavailable AI model never holds up the guide. This describes version 0.9.10, current as of October 2026.

What do the marks beside each question mean?

Only a tick counts in the coverage numbers; the half circle is a hint, not a claim. Click any mark (its tooltip reads "Mark asked or not asked") to set it yourself. Your own mark always wins, in both directions, for the rest of the interview.

How does the guide know I asked a question?

It compares each question's distinctive words with what your microphone lane, labelled You in the transcript, has said. When most of them appear, the question is ticked; when some of them do, it gets the half circle. Only your speech can tick a question this way. If the candidate brings up notice period on their own, the notice question stays open, because that is exactly when asking it still matters.

Scoring can tick questions too. Each time the scorecard updates, on Evaluate or automatically with Score as we go, the scorer reports which guide questions the exchange genuinely answered, and those are ticked. That covers a question you paraphrased heavily or one your microphone did not catch.

Headphones make the ticks more reliable, because your microphone then does not pick up the candidate through your speakers. In person, both voices reach the same microphone, so expect to tick some questions by hand.

How do I use the guide during the interview?

1. Start the interview from the role. The guide lists every kit question under category headings such as Experience or Logistics, each heading showing how many of its questions are asked, for example 2/4.
2. Rest the pointer on a line to read the whole question.
3. Click a line to open it. You see what a strong answer contains and a Pin button. Click the line again to close it.
4. Press Pin on the question you are asking. The line reads "Pinned — follow-ups and scoring are about this question." and a clock runs against the planned answer time, for example 1:42 / 3:00, changing color when you go over. Click the pinned line to unpin it.
5. If you want asked questions out of the way, tick Tidy asked. They move into an "asked" list at the bottom of the guide instead of disappearing, and the setting is remembered.

Pinning is optional. With nothing pinned, follow-ups and scoring use your most recent turn that sounds like a question; pinning just makes them exact.

How do must-ask questions stay in front of me?

Within each category, must-ask questions that have not been asked come first, followed by the other questions still to ask; asked questions drop below them. An unasked must-ask carries a small dot. The chip in the top bar keeps count, for example "8/12 · must-ask 3/4", and stays in a warning color until every must-ask is covered. If you press End interview with must-asks still open, a dialog lists them, says "These are the facts a client needs," and asks you to type END to finish anyway.

Can I add a question during the call?

Yes. Press + Add in the guide header:

• Pick a category, or leave Any category, type a topic and press Suggest 3. The AI suggests three questions for this role that are not already on the guide, each with its category and a short reason; press Add on the one you want.
• Or type the whole question and press Add as written.
• Ask this on a follow-up suggestion also puts it on the guide, in the pinned question's category or in a "Follow-ups you took" group. See follow-up suggestions.

An added question arrives pinned, because the next thing you will do is read it out. It ticks off when you ask it, carries a clock, is scored against, and counts in the coverage the submittal reports, exactly like a question from the kit. Added questions have a Remove button. They are saved with this interview only; the role's kit does not change.

What does the time on each line mean?

Each question shows its planned answer time, set when the kit was built, or a default for its category if you added it yourself. The guide header shows the planned time left to ask, for example "~25 min left to ask", or "all asked". The top bar shows the elapsed time with the time of day beside it, so a hard stop never takes you by surprise.

How does the guide work on a panel?

When several interviewers share a panel, each guide marks the questions someone else has already asked with "asked by" and their initials, and a strip above the guide shows the room's coverage and how many must-asks are left. Only which questions were asked and scores are shared between machines, never transcripts. See panel interviews.

Limits

• The guide listens to your microphone lane. While Mute me is on it cannot hear you ask, so ticks come only from scoring or from your clicks.
• A heavily reworded question may stay at a half circle until you click it or scoring confirms it.
• Questions cannot be reordered during the call. The running order comes from the kit, so change it on the role beforehand.
• Phone screens work only when the call's audio runs through your computer, since that is where the app listens.

The guide is built from the role's kit; see how the kit is built from a job description. For why the same questions in the same order matter, read what a structured interview is, and what an interview guide is for the parts any guide should have.