10 essentials to set yourself up for virtual interview success.
I was all set up, ready to give the candidate, who looked the best on paper, a great interview and had a pretty good image in my head of how the interview would go. I connected to the MS Teams conference call with my colleague and we waited patiently for the candidate to join. And we waited, and waited, and waited. After 5 five minutes we began to doubt that we had the right date and time. Eventually, seven minutes late, the candidate appeared on the screen, flustered and unapologetic. And it went downhill from there.
The disappointment of how this interview went got me thinking about how some simple preparation would have set this candidate up for success, instead of diving head-first into a car crash scenario!
Do you want to show yourself in the best light — both metaphorically and literally? Can you give yourself the best chance of making a good impression? Of course you can.
10 essentials to get ready for a virtual interview:
1. Prepare yourself the same way you would for a face-to-face interview.
This should be a no brainer, but you’d be surprised how many people struggle to answer some basic questions. Even if it’s just ‘tell me about your background’ — don’t give a 20 minute monologue.
2. Set up — Do you know what you’re going to look like on camera?
What’s the background? Can you use one of the standard backgrounds supplied? No-one wants to see your dirty washing piled up in the corner — or as one shocked friend found out after the event — her bra hanging from a door handle. That just means the interviewer is distracted and not focused on you.
3. Does your camera and sound work well?
Send yourself a dummy meeting request or send one to a friend — and test what your set up looks like from their end. Make sure your camera isn’t too high or too low — your eyes should be pretty much in the centre of the screen, if anything the camera should be slightly above your eyeline. If the angle of your camera is too high or too low, it won’t be flattering in the slightest. And if you wear glasses, try not to have a light source reflecting in the lenses of your specs. Turn sideways to the light.
4. Do you need headphones and/or a microphone?
The microphone and speakers in many laptops unfortunately don’t pick up well — again, check out how you sound with a friend. Even using wired ear pods or wireless headphones will be a better bet. If you’re using wireless headphones, make sure you know how to connect them and do that well before the interview. And make sure they are 100% charged.
5. A paper chase.
Have any papers, like a copy of your resume or answers to questions you’ve prepared, close by and organised.
6. Sharing your work.
Showing off what you’ve done before is a great way to set you apart from other candidates. If you have the opportunity to show a portfolio or some examples of your work by sharing on screen, make sure you know how that works and the various settings that are available. Every platform is different, make sure you are familiar with how to do that.
7. Peace and quiet.
Get rid of any distractions — pets, even children if possible, and background music — yes, one candidate thought it would be soothing to have background music playing and was taken aback when I asked her to turn it off as I couldn’t hear what she was saying. I’m not saying Kenny G would be preferable to listening to her, but the interview went downhill from there. And, of course your phone. At a minimum on silent, preferably well away from your desk. Don’t be distracted by incoming notifications and alerts.
8. Screen management.
If you have a dual screen set up, make sure you have the meeting window on the monitor or laptop where your camera is. It’s tempting to move the meeting screen from your laptop to a bigger screen, but if you are looking at that and the camera is on the other device, then all the interviewer sees is the side of your face and it’s very disconcerting for them.
9. Best dressed award.
Wear appropriate clothing. Wear what you would if it was an in-person interview. Just because it’s on a screen you shouldn’t lower the expected standards. But be appropriate — active wear is probably only suitable if you’re interviewing for a gym trainer role but a business suit wouldn’t work in that situation. Look at the company’s website or social media channels and see if they have pictures of employees. What are they wearing? You should wear something similar.
10. Be on time.
Last but certainly not least, join the meeting a few minutes before the allotted time — in case you have connectivity issues. If possible, it would be ideal to have a number that you can contact the interviewer on if you are having any issues joining the meeting. There’s nothing worse that the interviewer sitting there wondering where you are. They are likely to give you 5 minutes grace before ending the meeting — opportunity gone.
Follow these simple rules and you’ll set yourself up for success. Good luck!