Tech-Tested Virtual Interview Tips for Professionals
If you’ve decided that 2024 is the year for you to dust off your resume and jump on the job market, you’re going to notice that more and more interviews are being conducted virtually. In addition to brushing up on your interview skills (check out our Interview Secrets to Success), we recommend you take some time to recognize how a virtual interview is different from an in-person experience. Some of these may seem obvious, but through our work at Bryant Group, we’ve seen it all.
Setting Up for Your Interview
Pick Your Ideal Environment. Take care to be in a quiet, private space, demonstrating your commitment to the process and your potential employer. Ensure there are no distractions for you or for the people you’re interviewing with – no other people or pets in your background, no extraneous noises from open windows. Use a laptop or computer, not a tablet or cell phone. Tablets or cell phones might not display everyone in the virtual interview room or may position you at an awkward angle for the group. Speaking of cell phones, make sure yours is silenced.
Test Everything. Minimize the tech turbulence by testing everything before your interview. Test your lighting (the more light on your face, the better), your camera, your background, your sound, your internet connection – all in advance of the call. Log into the tool (Zoom, Google Meet, etc.) and join your own room to take a look at your lighting, hair and background. The first time you see yourself the way your interviewers are seeing you should not be when you join the interview. While logged into the tool, check for updates to make sure you don’t hit a hiccup. Lastly, test the meeting link that was shared for the interview. This will tell you if there is a waiting room or if you will join the meeting as soon as “Join Now” is clicked. Once testing has concluded, power up your devices – your laptop and wireless earbuds should be fully charged.
Come Prepared. Keep notes on your achievements and goals within reach, but use them as reminders, not scripts. Reference goals you’ve had and by how much you exceeded them. Share your total dollars raised in previous years or outline skills you want to highlight in your responses. Make sure you have everything you need on one screen – including your virtual interview. Also, don’t open and close windows – the lighting changes that come from opening and closing windows will reveal you’re looking up information you didn’t have ready.
Pro Tip: Look up your interviewers on LinkedIn and the organization website as part of your preparation to become more familiar with their roles so that you can customize your responses to areas that might be more relevant to their work.
Maximizing Your Virtual Interview
Dress to Impress. Dress like you are at an in-person interview. Don’t assume that because this interview is on Zoom that it’s more casual; it’s not. Pay attention to your bottom half too. We hold ourselves differently when we’re in shorts versus suit pants.
Be Fashionably Early. Join early and be okay with waiting. Just like you would at an in-person interview, join the virtual interview room five minutes early. Ideally, there will be a waiting room made available for you and you won’t be invited into the room until all your interviewers have gathered, so you might have to wait a few minutes after your start time. If in joining five minutes early, you are plunged directly into the virtual interview room, be gracious. Simply mute yourself, smile and wait until they are ready for you to “officially” join.
Make Eye Contact with Your Camera. While your interviewers are talking, you should look at them on your screen, but when you’re speaking, maintain direct eye contact with your camera. This allows you to avoid distractions in others’ backgrounds, come across confidently to those viewing you and your seemingly direct eye contact will help your interviewers remember what you said.
Pro Tip: Incorporate the organization’s brand into your interview attire – whether that is their colors in your shirt or a lapel pin on your blazer, demonstrate your attention to detail by visually showing you know their brand.
Setting Yourself Apart
Use Interviewers’ Names. Use your interviewers’ names when responding to their questions. This will help them remember what you said. And, direct your questions at the end of the interview to them by name, especially if the question is relevant to their expertise area.
Engage in the Interview. Be yourself while also smiling, nodding and actively listening throughout the interview. Many times, interviewers are conducting multiple virtual interviews in one day. Be the candidate they remember being genuinely engaged in the conversation and who seemed genuinely interested in being there.
Send Email Thank Yous. The same day as your interview, send personalized emails to each interviewer and reference the questions they asked or the answers you received from them to your questions. Often with multiple interviews in one day, decisions are made that same day on which candidates will move forward. Don’t get left behind by waiting to send your thank you note.
Pro Tip: When preparing your questions for the interview, include something along the lines of “Tell me what you are most looking forward to accomplishing together with this new hire.” Then, take notes of what they say excites them and reference how you too are looking forward to accomplishing those things both in your responses and in your thank you note.
In the dynamic landscape of interviewing and recruiting, mastering these tech-tested tips will position you as a standout candidate. Bryant Group’s mission is to change lives to positively impact the world, and we look forward to working with you to do just that in 2024.
