Did you know that there are some easy things you can do on your virtual interview to come across as more likable and competent? These tips won’t substitute preparing for your interview, but if you just prepare for your interview as if it’s an in-person interview, you may not be performing as well during your interview as you could if you knew these simple tricks that I’m about to share with you today.
If you have an interview coming up, we have Interview Mastery where you can take a course and do practice interviews with us to prepare for your interview.
It’s a really thorough process and so many candidates have shared with us that our process improved their interview readiness by a lot. Interview Mastery has a module on virtual interviews that go a lot deeper into the topic than what I can today in this video as well.
Virtual interviews, whether the platform is Zoom or something else, are different from in-person interviews because both the interviewer and the interviewee are sitting in front of computers. You look into cameras and see each other through a screen.
Most standard interview preparation tips still hold for virtual interviews, you should still prepare your answers, but there are some extras that are not that hard to do.
- It’s tricky to remember to look into the camera while you speak. But if you watch a video of someone speaking and they’re not looking into the camera, it can be pretty distracting. You don’t want to be that distracting person on the other side, so what do you do? Well, grab a sticky note draw a smily face on it like this, and place it right next to the camera, not on it, just next to it, to remind yourself to look at it while you speak. We’re a social species, we like looking at faces.
- Your perceived energy goes down by a lot when you’re viewed through a screen. What do I mean by this? For example, on TV a scene where someone hops up on a table at a restaurant comes across as crazy or funny, whatever was intended, but only by a little bit. Imagine someone actually did that at a restaurant while you were there, the emotional impact of watching that would’ve been much larger. The scene would be much more memorable. The reason for this discrepancy is because, in technical terms, the screen zaps away your energy 50. What this means for you is, if you don’t want to be perceived as a low-energy unmemorable person, you need to amp up your energy before the call. Go for a run, do jumping jacks, or just scream real loud. Do something strong to your body to bring up your energy level before your call. And try to maintain high energy during the interview. Don’t try to be someone else, but try to be more of you as if you had to go on stage and talk.
- If you have a standing desk or somewhere to stand and take the interview, do that. it helps keep your energy high, so use it. Bring it in front of a window, clean-up the background, and you’re good to go.
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Those were my 3 best tips. Also, pay attention to all the standard advice pertaining to video interviews – lighting is so important. in-front of a window is a great place to take the call. Make sure your background is clean and looks good. Try to bring your camera up to your eye level, if you’re using a laptop, you may need to stack up some heavy books under your laptop to bring it up. Turn off all notifications for both your phone and computer and make sure your internet connection is strong. Lock the room door so nobody comes in. Don’t let anyone stream videos on your wifi while you do this, you need the best connection you can get.
Please record yourself in the exact setting you plan on taking the interview and watch it. Tweak anything necessary.
And a word about the background, I know virtual backgrounds are very popular these days. And if you really just can’t find a suitable place for the call, this is a good option for you to explore.
However, I just want to make sure you know that it’s pretty obvious to the person on the other side that the background is virtual unless you’re using a well-prepared green screen, which most people don’t have. I know a little bit about this because I often hop on calls where the other person is using a virtual background, so I’ve seen a lot of bad ones. And I also considered using one for filming YouTube videos. In the end, for me, I decided against it. Personally for me, If it’s going to be obvious that it’s a virtual background, I’d rather not use it, even though this background isn’t particularly exciting. This is just me, and it’s a personal choice. Unless you’re using a green screen properly, the edges of your body look weird when you use a virtual background. It also has a hard time processing hair and movement. I just wanted to share this so you had all the info you need to make the best decision for yourself.
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If you’ve been invited to a virtual interview, I’d highly recommend getting professional help from someone who has experience interviewing other people. Interviewers on our team have plenty of experience interviewing others, and we’d love to help you do well on your interview if you’re interested in working with us. Check out Interview Mastery which is linked up below for more information.
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