What the email contains
The organisation and the role, which stage this is, roughly how long it takes, and a link. Crucially it also carries when the link stops working.
Two different times
The one that catches people out:
- How long you have to start — the validity window. Often days.
- How long the interview lasts — the duration. Usually under an hour.
"Expires in 7 days" means you have a week to begin, not a week to finish. Once you begin, the duration applies.
Where the organisation booked a specific slot, you can join from shortly before it until shortly after it ends, and not outside that.
Before you click
You can open the link, sign in and run the system check without starting the interview. Doing that early is strongly recommended.
Starting
Starting is a deliberate action on a screen that tells you the clock is about to run. You will not start one by accident.
If the link will not open
Almost always expiry. See interview access problems — and if the window has genuinely passed, contact the organisation. They can reschedule you; support cannot, because the decision is theirs.