What should I do if a company offers to meet online instead of a traditional interview? The process of selecting candidates for a job begins long before the face-to-face meeting. First, the recruiter posts the job and collects resumes for a preliminary assessment, weeding out those who need to meet the most basic requirements. To get through this stage, you should write your resume correctly and send it to a relevant position.
During the interview, the recruiter evaluates you not only as a professional but also as a person – your manner of communication, how you dress or stand your gaze, and so on. During the interview, you can open up as much as possible and demonstrate the qualities that match the job.
It is good when you can come to the interview in person. But what if the employer is in another city? Or your schedule is too busy, and you do not have time to come? In this case, technology comes to the rescue – Skype or any other application with video communication that allows you to interview at a distance.
What are the features of video interviews?
An online interview is very similar to a live interview – the recruiter can look at the candidate, and the candidate can look at the recruiter. Except you don’t have to travel anywhere, have access to the internet and a front-facing camera. Like in person, online, you can show your best side with a quality self-presentation and humor and get the recruiter to like you. You can video chat in your kitchen while drinking coffee from your favorite cup. The home atmosphere gives you a feeling of comfort and security.
But there are downsides. Internet coverage doesn’t always work how you’d like it to, and yelling at a job interview, “Can you hear me?!” – is not the most pleasant introduction. The camera sometimes hides flaws as well as advantages. And adjusting the lighting to look natural in the frame is an art only some have. And the duration of the conversation is not reduced at all when communicating online – the interview takes the same 30-40 minutes.
Where can I conduct a video interview?
As we have already said, any application with video communication will do – Skype, Facebook Messenger. In addition, various offline video interview platforms have recently been gaining popularity, simplifying the interview process for both parties.
You cannot re-record the video, so it allows you to present yourself as realistically as possible. And for recruiters, this format saves a lot of time: the interview can be viewed several times, paused, or moved on to the next one.
4 steps to prepare for an online interview
Candidates often admit that video interviews are as stressful as live meetings. We will tell you 4 essentials of how best to prepare for it.
- Appearance. Home dress is good, but you should look neat. After all, it is a conversation with the employer. So get a good night’s sleep, comb your hair, and wear something more respectable than a housecoat.
- Theory. Any interview is like an exam in high school. You know the subject (in this case, the requirements for the job) and can guess what you will be asked. Use this. Going into sales – remember the basic scripts.
- Order. You won’t believe it, but the apartment in the background can tell a lot about you to a recruiter, and you don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to do it. So you have two options: either remove or sit in a way that has something neutral in the background.
- Location. If you have to have a video interview outside of your home, choose a more or less quiet place. It’s better that, in addition to your answers on the tape did not get anything unnecessary, such as dialogues of passers-by, the noise of the street, or something more exotic, because this will prevent the recruiter from hearing you and give the impression that you can’t find time for essential things. As for light: it’s better if it’s daylight.
Tips for recruiters who conduct interviews online
- Take care of a quality network. There’s nothing sadder than being well-prepared for a conversation and running it through bad Wi-Fi.
- Don’t sit with your back to the window. The sun may warm your back, but the interlocutor will only see the bright light around you and the dark spot in the middle.
- Dress appropriately. Preferably not only waist-length.
- Take care of a comfortable and quiet location. A crowded cafe may be OK for a chat with friends, but it won’t be the best idea for a conversation with your employer.
- If you’re at home, ask your family not to distract you during the conversation or arrange for them to take a group walk or go to the movies.
- Be focused. The conversation format from home or your favorite cafe can be somewhat relaxing. But you only have one chance to make a first impression.
- Check everything. Skype interviews are often resorted to when the company is in a different city or country. Check if the company’s office is in a different time zone. If so, find out what time you will be calling.
Remember to check the technology. Make a test call to ensure the camera and microphone work well. The sound must be of good quality. Otherwise, the job manager may hear something wrong and form the wrong opinion about you.
- Prepare everything. Open your resume, portfolio, or other necessary documents in advance, and gather the references you’ll need into one list. This will avoid awkward pauses during the conversation. And technology hangs up at the most inopportune moments so that you don’t get nervous, prepare in advance.
In addition, make a list of questions for the manager, review the text of the position, and read about the company.
Put a notebook and a pen near your computer to write down questions that arise. It will be very problematic to clarify something when the call is over. Also, if you can still chat with the HR manager while he sees you off in person, once you hang up, there may not be an opportunity to ask a question anytime soon.
- Work on your speech. During an online interview, it’s harder to show your charisma, and it’s harder to perceive information by ear, so you should pay special attention to your voice and speech:
- Don’t gibber. Take pauses, perhaps even a little longer than usual.
- Get your intonation right.
- Pause between phrases so that HR has time to ask questions.
Feel free to ask if you can hear and understand everything if you have lost the connection. And try to avoid typing during the conversation to prevent unpleasant noise on the other side. If necessary, turn off the microphone.
- Smile! The experience of all live or online conversations shows that a smile overcomes all barriers and works at any distance.
90% of the interviews with candidates are conducted online by employers who post job openings on the https://layboard.in/ because they recruit people from all over the world.
One of the essential criteria in video interviews is the ability to communicate openly and authentically, articulate your opinion and reveal yourself from a personal perspective. In addition, a person’s ability to develop and grow is one of the central values. Therefore, during a video interview, it becomes the primary key to the assessment of a candidate.
They also pay attention to presentability, general preparation from a technical point of view (for example, whether the candidate has taken care of a good internet connection), practice knowing the company, conciseness, and focus on expressing oneself.
Every job interview is unique, but there are things to remember, regardless of the job’s specifics, roles, and stack. Know in advance what you expect from the interview, prepare, rehearse, formulate a concise description of your merits, study possible provocative questions and be prepared to answer them with equanimity.
And most importantly: a job interview is not a one-way game. It is a dialogue about experience, aspirations, readiness, and expectations. And for you, it’s an excellent opportunity to learn everything you want. This applies to advise on hiring processes and tips on how and what to say/show best, but in general, no one stops you from asking about the situation and trends in the market. Being up to date is already a big step forward. Any adequate person will accept to tell you something worthwhile.
