Interviews are stressful! You only have 60 minutes to showcase why you think you’d be the perfect fit for a position and company. Remote interviews add a layer of stress because, for most people, this added technology step is new.
To help you prepare for video interviews, we mapped out both the traditional interview and video related preparations you need to do in order to ace the interview:
Research the Company
It is crucial to understand who the company is, what they do, and how they fit into their specific industry. Interviewers need to know you grasp the value of their company, product, and/or service.
Map Skills to Job Description
Make sure you’ve fully read the job description and map it to your experience. Bring up examples of when you’ve excelled and how this can be applied to the current position.
Sell Yourself
Clarify your selling points and what makes you, you! What skills do you have that separates you from your potential competition? Why do you want this job? Make sure to really think these through.
Anticipate Concerns
Are there gaps on your resume? Is there something in the job description you don't have experience with? You need to anticipate concerns the interviewers might have and provide solid answers that give them confidence in your abilities.
Prepare for Common Questions
Here are some typical interview questions, but remember, most of the time questions will be a mixture of your background as well as behavioural and technical role-specific questions:
- Tell me about yourself.
- Talk to me about the most successful idea you’ve taken from zero to launch.
- What would you do if an important task was not up to standard, but the team was already bought-in?
- What are the challenges you currently face in your role?
- Why are you leaving your current position?
- How would you handle a colleague you were unable to form a positive relationship with?
- Explain a time you failed. What was it and how did you handle/solve it?
Prepare Interviewer Questions
A lot of interviews flop here. Companies want to feel that you are interested in THIS specific role, not just the paycheck. They also want to feel that you are a catch. Prepare questions about the position, culture, team, etc. This shows you are truly interested. Write these down and have them near your computer during the interview.
Practice
Stress can cause weird reactions so practice, practice, practice. Make sure you have at least a rough idea of how you will answer typical interview questions.
Have References Ready
It is also a good idea to get pre-approval from your references so if the hiring manager is interested in next-steps you are ready to go.
Thank You Email
Always send a thank you email. Use this as an opportunity to reiterate that you are still very much interested in the position and look forward to hearing from them.
While the steps mentioned above should be used a refresher, there are some very unique differences to video interviews that need to be considered:
Body Language
The interviewer is now only seeing your face and upper body so eye contact is more important than ever. On video, it’s the main way to show interest. In traditional interviews, body language helps to show engagement, but since that is no longer visible, compensate by making sure to nod your head in agreement.
Distracting Sites & Sounds
Just like a cell phone beeping during an in-person interview, sounds are distracting and unprofessional. While there might be a little more leeway for interviews-from-home, make sure to limit any potential sounds (dishwasher, laundry, dogs, kids, etc.) as much as possible.
Technical Mishaps
There are a lot of horror stories of wifi not working, video programs not properly downloading, lighting that creates distracting shadows … the list goes on. Make sure to set things up in advance to minimize unprofessional goofs. We’ve created a handy checklist to help you set up and succeed in your video interview.
The Little Things
Have some tissues and a glass of water nearby, mute your phone and computer, and ALWAYS wear pants!
While there are obvious differences between an in-person and remote video interview, the thing to remember is that the goal is still the same: to showcase your skills and ask the right questions to ensure you’d be successful in the position.