Put the interviewing company's colours and logo on your Zoom background.
Several of my mentees had the interviewer bring it up before the first question. The interview that followed was more casual and a lot smoother, because it had started as a conversation instead of an assessment.
You can call it cringe. It works anyway.
Why a company-branded Zoom background works
Every graduate interview opens the same way. "How are you today?" "Good, thanks." Then straight into the first question, with both sides a little stiff.
A background in the interviewer's own brand colours breaks that pattern. They notice it in the first ten seconds, and most people cannot help commenting on something that is about them. Now you are talking about their company instead of waiting to be tested.
It also answers a question the interviewer has not asked yet: did this person prepare for us, or are they running the same interview for twenty companies this week? The background says it before you do.
What a good interview background looks like
Compare two versions of the same candidate on a video call. One is sitting in front of a fantasy library background. The other is in front of a clean background in KPMG's brand colours with the logo in the corner.
Same person, same answers. Only one of them looks like they already see themselves working there.
Keep it simple:
Colours. Take them from the company's website or their LinkedIn banner. One or two colours, no gradients or patterns fighting for attention.
Logo. Small, in an upper corner, where your head will not cover it. It should be visible without being the first thing on screen.
Nothing else. No slogans, no photos of their office, no text about how much you want the job.
If you have a live interview coming up and want a mentor to run a mock with you first, book a free 15-minute call.
How to set up your Zoom background in 10 minutes
Open Canva and search "Zoom virtual background". The templates are already the right size, 1920 by 1080 pixels.
Fill it with the company colour, drop their logo into a top corner, and download it as a PNG.
In Zoom, go to Settings, then Background & Effects, click the plus sign and upload the file. In Microsoft Teams, choose Background effects on the screen before you join. In Google Meet, click Apply visual effects.
Test it the day before on a call with a friend. Check that the logo is not hidden behind your head and that the edges around your hair and hands are not flickering.
When to skip it
If the virtual background glitches on your laptop, use background blur instead. A flickering outline is more distracting than any background is helpful.
If the interview is a one-way recorded video, the benefit mostly disappears. The tip works because a live person reacts to it.
And if the interviewer does not mention it, nothing is lost. You still showed up prepared, and they still saw it.
The same principle, applied to the whole interview
The background is one example of a wider rule. Interviewers remember the candidate who gave them something human to talk about, well after they forget who gave the best textbook answer.
For three real stories of grads who got hired this way, from a Star Wars keychain to an empty wine bottle, read: How to Stand Out in a Job Interview: 3 Real Stories From Grads Who Got Hired.