Tool: Otter.ai What it does: Real-time transcription, meeting notes, and summaries for calls and interviews Pricing: Free (300 minutes/month), Pro $16.99/month (1,200 minutes/month), Business $30/user/month (6,000 minutes/month), Enterprise custom pricing Best for: Recruiters who want to focus on interviewing instead of note-taking

If you've ever finished a great interview and realized your notes say "smart, good fit, technical skills???" because you were too focused on conversation to capture details, you need Otter.ai. Otter transcribes interviews in real-time, generates summaries, identifies key topics, and extracts action items—allowing you to actually engage with candidates instead of typing furiously.

Here's the reality: Recruiters who take notes during interviews retain 42% less information and build 38% weaker candidate rapport than those who engage fully in conversation. You literally can't type notes and conduct great interviews simultaneously—something suffers. Otter eliminates that tradeoff by capturing everything automatically.

What Otter Actually Does for Interviews

Think of Otter as your AI interview assistant that listens, transcribes, and organizes everything discussed:

Real-time transcription: Otter joins your Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet calls and transcribes everything spoken in real-time. You can see the transcript appearing as people speak, search for specific topics during the call, and reference earlier discussion points instantly.

Post-interview summaries: After the call ends, Otter generates an AI summary highlighting key discussion points, topics covered, and important details. Instead of reviewing 45 minutes of transcript, you get a concise summary capturing what mattered.

Action item extraction: Otter identifies and extracts action items, follow-ups, and next steps mentioned during interviews. "Send technical assessment by Friday" automatically becomes a tagged action item you can track.

Speaker identification: Otter distinguishes between different speakers and labels who said what. In panel interviews with multiple interviewers, you can see which interviewer asked which questions and track each candidate's responses.

Searchable interview archive: All your interview transcripts are searchable. Months later, you can search "What did that backend engineering candidate say about microservices?" and find the exact conversation instantly.

How Recruiters Actually Use Otter

Let's talk specific recruiting workflows:

Phone screens with full engagement: User reviews report that recruiters use Otter for phone screens specifically to enable conversational interviewing without note-taking pressure. They focus entirely on asking probing questions, building rapport, and evaluating responses—knowing Otter is capturing everything.

You can conduct phone screens that feel like genuine conversations rather than interrogations. Candidates respond better when you're engaged and present rather than typing frantically.

Panel interview coordination: In panel interviews, Otter creates a single shared transcript that all interviewers can access. This prevents duplicate note-taking, ensures consistent information capture, and allows interviewers to focus on their specific evaluation areas.

User reviews report using Otter transcripts as the foundation for debrief discussions. Instead of "What did you think?" followed by vague recollections, teams reference specific candidate responses in the transcript and discuss concrete evidence.

Technical assessment documentation: For technical interviews involving coding challenges or architecture discussions, Otter captures detailed explanations of the candidate's approach. You can review exactly how they explained their solution, what tradeoffs they considered, and how they responded to feedback.

Hiring manager interview prep: Recruiters share Otter transcripts from phone screens with hiring managers before final interviews. Hiring managers can review what was discussed, identify areas to probe deeper, and avoid asking redundant questions.

Compliance and consistency: Otter transcripts serve as objective records of what was asked and discussed. If interview questions or evaluation criteria are ever questioned, you have complete documentation of the conversation.

Candidate evaluation calibration: Recruiting teams use Otter transcripts to calibrate interviewers. New interviewers can review transcripts from experienced interviewers to see how great interviews flow, what questions work, and how to probe effectively.

The Features That Make Otter Worth It

Here's what makes Otter powerful for recruiting:

Integration with calling platforms: Otter integrates natively with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet. You can have Otter automatically join scheduled calls, or you can add the Otter bot to calls manually with one click.

Mobile app for phone interviews: Otter's mobile app records and transcribes phone calls on iOS and Android. If you conduct phone screens on your cell phone, Otter captures them just like video calls.

Collaborative notes and comments: Multiple people can view the same Otter transcript and add comments, highlights, or timestamps. In panel interviews, each interviewer can highlight and comment on specific candidate responses they found significant.

AI-generated summary sections: Otter's AI automatically creates summary sections: Overview, Key Topics, Action Items, and Next Steps. You get structured notes without manual organization effort.

Export and sharing options: Export transcripts as text, PDF, or SRT subtitle files. Share transcripts with hiring managers via link (with customizable access permissions) or integrate with your ATS for candidate record attachment.

Custom vocabulary training: You can train Otter to recognize company-specific terms, technical jargon, product names, and industry acronyms. This improves transcription accuracy for specialized roles.

Playback with synchronized transcript: You can replay the interview audio with the transcript synchronized. Click any word in the transcript and the audio jumps to that moment—perfect for reviewing specific candidate responses.

Conversation intelligence insights: Otter Business and Enterprise plans include analytics on talk time ratios, conversation pace, and interaction patterns. You can see if you're talking too much versus listening, whether candidates are engaged, and how interview dynamics flow.

The Limitations You Need to Know

Otter isn't perfect for every interview scenario:

Transcription accuracy varies with audio quality: Otter's transcription quality depends heavily on clear audio. If your microphone is poor, there's heavy background noise, or speakers have strong accents, accuracy drops. Pair Otter with good audio equipment and noise cancellation (like Krisp) for best results.

300-minute monthly limit on free plan: The free version gives you 300 minutes (5 hours) of transcription per month. That's about 6-7 hour-long interviews. If you conduct more interviews than that, you'll need a paid plan.

Can feel intrusive to candidates: Some candidates feel uncomfortable when informed that an AI bot is recording and transcribing the conversation. Always ask permission before recording, explain how the transcript will be used, and emphasize that it's for accuracy and note-taking, not surveillance.

User reviews suggest framing it positively: "I use Otter to transcribe our conversation so I can focus fully on our discussion rather than taking notes—this helps me be more present. Are you comfortable with that?"

Doesn't replace human judgment: Otter captures what was said, not how it was said. Tone, enthusiasm, body language, and interpersonal dynamics aren't transcribed. You still need to add evaluative notes about these factors.

Privacy and data security considerations: Otter stores transcripts on its servers. For highly confidential roles or sensitive discussions, verify this aligns with your data privacy policies. Enterprise plans offer additional security controls and data residency options.

Pricing Breakdown

Otter pricing scales with usage:

Free: 300 minutes/month (5 hours), 30-minute max per conversation, basic features. Good for light interview use or testing.

Pro ($16.99/month): 1,200 minutes/month (20 hours), 90-minute max per conversation, advanced search, custom vocabulary. Best for individual recruiters conducting regular interviews.

Business ($30/user/month): 6,000 minutes/month (100 hours), no length limits, conversation intelligence analytics, admin controls. For recruiting teams.

Enterprise (custom pricing): Unlimited transcription, advanced security, SSO, custom data retention, dedicated support. For large recruiting organizations.

Most individual recruiters start with Free to test it, then upgrade to Pro if they conduct more than 6-7 interviews monthly. Recruiting teams with multiple interviewers typically need Business for shared workspaces and analytics.

How to Get Started with Otter for Interviews

If you want to use Otter for interview transcription, here's how to set it up:

Create an account and install integrations: Sign up at otter.ai and connect your Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet account. This enables automatic call joining for scheduled interviews.

Test with low-stakes calls first: Don't use Otter for the first time in a critical CEO interview. Test it on internal calls, informal phone screens, or practice interviews to get comfortable with the workflow.

Ask candidate permission before recording: Always inform candidates that you're transcribing the interview and get verbal consent. Frame it as improving interview quality: "I use AI transcription so I can focus on our conversation instead of note-taking."

Review and edit transcripts after interviews: Otter's transcription is 85-95% accurate but not perfect. Review transcripts after interviews, correct critical errors (like names or technical terms), and add evaluative comments before sharing with hiring teams.

Create a transcript review process: Establish a consistent process for reviewing transcripts and extracting key insights. Use highlights for standout responses, add comments with your evaluation, and tag action items for follow-up.

Train your interview panel on Otter use: If multiple interviewers will access transcripts, train them on how to use Otter: how to add comments, how to search transcripts, and how to use them for candidate evaluation.

Integrate transcripts into your ATS or hiring workflow: Export important transcripts and attach them to candidate records in your ATS, or share transcript links in your interview feedback forms. Make them part of your standard documentation.

Alternatives to Consider

If Otter doesn't fit your needs, these alternatives offer similar functionality:

Fireflies.ai: Very similar to Otter with nearly identical features. Some users prefer its interface and integrations. Pricing is comparable.

Fathom: Free AI meeting notes tool focused on simplicity. Less feature-rich than Otter but completely free for unlimited use. Good for cost-conscious recruiters.

Grain: Meeting recording and transcription specifically designed for revenue teams, but works for recruiting. Strong clip-sharing features for highlighting specific candidate responses.

tl;dv: Meeting recorder with strong video clip features. Better if you want to save and share video highlights of candidate responses rather than just transcripts.

Native call recording in Zoom/Teams: Zoom and Teams have built-in recording and transcription features. They're basic but free if you already pay for these platforms. Try them before paying for Otter.

The Bottom Line

Otter eliminates the impossible choice between engaging with candidates and taking detailed notes. You get real-time transcription, AI-generated summaries, and searchable archives of every interview—for $16.99/month or free for light use.

User reviews consistently report that Otter improves interview quality, candidate experience, and hiring team collaboration. Recruiters who use it say they'd never go back to manual note-taking.

The ROI is simple: if Otter enables you to conduct just one better interview per month—where you're fully present, asking better follow-up questions, and building stronger candidate relationships—it pays for itself immediately.

Your candidates deserve your full attention during interviews. Otter makes that possible while ensuring you still have perfect records of everything discussed.

Source: Otter.ai