Published: 15 February 2020

Here are our tips on smashing that Video Interview

With recruitment technology advancing at such a fast rate, its important as individuals we don’t get left behind.  You may have already been involved in a video style interview; in which case “Congratulations” you’ve broken your duck. One thing’s for sure though, if you haven’t, it's likely, you will soon be required to do so. We all need to adapt to embrace rather than fear the use of such technology in our recruitment process. We’ve listed a few tips to help you tackle the Video meeting and smash the recruitment process.

A – Don’t allow yourself to blame the tools

Just as you would perhaps do a “dummy run” to check out the physical location of a face to face interview, don’t be afraid to test out your video portal before your meeting. There's so much choice in the market for Video Technology (Skype, WebEx, Zoom, good old-fashioned face time!). It's important you familiarise yourself with the clients choice of format ahead of your meeting. Ensure you download any required software (if applicable) in good time, ideally a few days before. There would be nothing worse than panicking about software 5 minutes before you are scheduled to speak. If you have friends/family on a similar portal you can of course always conduct a dummy run and strike up an early conversation with them to test its functionality. Perhaps it’s a good idea to have a plan B too, this responsibility would usually fall under the person who has arranged the meeting with you though.

B - Ensure you're powered up

Sounds obvious but the last thing you need when trying to impress the interviewer is the dreaded “low power” indicator popping up mid-conversation. Whilst we are on that notification subject, it’s a good idea to close off any “email alert” or other notifications that are likely to populate your screen mid-interview. Although fascinating I’m sure the interviewer doesn’t need to know that your Uncle Jim has checked into Birmingham Airport on Facebook.

C – It's important to zone yourself out

Ensure you position yourself in a room/location where you will not be distracted by family members, pets or even strangers (I have known a candidate once ask if it was OK to conduct this type of call from the park, ”true story”). If there are people around, ensure you let them know that for the next 30/60 minutes you don’t need disturbing. Also think of your surroundings, unless you plan on holding your face less than 2 feet away from the camera, it's likely the interviewer is going to get sight of the area around you. Remember to move that big pile of ironing that you haven’t quite got round to as yet.

D – Wear the same attire as you would if you were meeting them in person

It’s important to follow the same dress code rules as you would if you were in a face to face meeting. Imagine the person interviewing are actually in the room with you, so business attire is always the advised dress code.  I often wonder if the smart-looking newsreaders you see on the BBC (*other newsreaders are available) are only dressed smartly from the waist up. It is, of course, fine to look the part from the waist up if that is all the interviewer is going to see but don’t forget halfway through and stand to reveal a lovely 50/50 outfit of smart business jacket and baggy pyjama bottoms…although it would create a talking point!.

E – However difficult, its best to imagine the interviewer is in the same room as you

As with a face to face interview its good practice to maintain as much eye contact as possible. Remember with Video calling it’s the cameral on the laptop/webcam that you need to be looking into not necessarily the screen or face of the person talking on screen. If you are using an external webcam be sure that the laptop is within a good distance still as many microphone facilities will still rely on the one embedded into the laptop itself. The last thing you want is to look good but sound muffled.

F – Don't forget to allow for a technology delay

Unless you are lucky enough to already have the latest 5G technology your Wi-Fi connection will likely be subject to the occasional blip. Digital connections often come with a momentary pause between connections too so always leave a short delay after the interviewer has asked a question before you deliver your response. There is nothing worse than both parties trying to talk over each other, it does nothing for the flow of conversation.

G – Having smashed it, don't forget to end with a proper and worthy close

Having nailed the video call, don’t undo all your good work by forgetting to close the meeting appropriately. As you would (hopefully) face to face, remember to thank the interviewer for their time. If it hasn’t been discussed already, it’s perfectly acceptable to ask about the potential next steps and timescales in which you may expect to hear from them.

Right, there you go, you're all set to go and smash it. Still feel like you need a little more guidance, don't worry we would be happy to discuss your approach further, just contact us here 

Better still arrange a video call with us to put these skills into practice.