The rise of the virtual job interview, largely due to the pandemic, has changed the way we conduct our professional lives and the hiring process.
Many top employers who are actively hiring are opting for virtual interviews instead of in-person job interviews.
If you’ve never taken part in a virtual or remote video conferencing interview, it’s valuable to familiarize yourself with the process.
While virtual interviewing doesn’t give the advantage for some classic methods for making a good impression, like giving a confident handshake, there are many ways to wow your potential boss from behind a screen. 😃
In today’s episode, I’m breaking down my list of 6 Preparation Tips for Your Next Virtual Interview!
Tune in to learn:
- How to setup ‘The Right Interview Setting’ at home (without fancy or expensive equipment)
- How to combat nervousness in an interview
- My uncommon clever body language tip to connect with the hiring manager
- What to wear in a virtual interview
- Preparation tips behind-the-scenes so that you are confident & ready to nail the interview, and more!
LINKS & RESOURCES MENTIONED TODAY:
- Click Here To Read The Full Transcription for this episode!
- Listen to the podcast episodes below for more valuable interview tips!
- If you are an NP or NP student looking for your first or next job, then you have to check out my NP Job Search Workshop *previously known as No More Job Boards. Click here to learn more and enroll for just $47!
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Grab my FREE interview guide and I’ll walk you through the 7 most common questions you’ll encounter in an interview plus give you a list of some uncommon ones that might take you by surprise.
- If you enjoyed this episode and would like to support me in being able to create new & valuable content for The Nurse Becoming Podcast, buy me a coffee here ☕️ 😊
Listen to more episodes here!
6 Tips To Prepare and Succeed in a Virtual Job Interview
1. Prepare your interview setting
Consider your environment and make sure you have the correct lighting and camera angle to make a good impression. Here are a few tips to set the scene:
Face a light source
When you are lit from the front, it’s a much more visually appealing look than when you’re lit from the back. When you’re lit from the back, you’re likely to create weird shadows and maybe a halo effect. Being lit from the front automatically puts a “twinkle” in your eye and will make your face appear brighter. You don’t have to have anything fancy like a ring light. But at the very least, have a window or lamp behind your computer to create a flattering composition of your face.
Have a clean background
Your background can be clean as a plain wall! Simply find a quiet space, with no people in the background or distracting elements such as messy piles of laundry.
Set your computer slightly higher than eye level
When you have your computer slightly above eye level, it’s going to set you into a nice posture and will eliminate unflattering angles. (Goodbye camera looking up your nose!)
2. Have your notes, résumé, and any helpful links handy
Have your resume and a document open on your screen with questions and for notes. What I usually do for a virtual interview is I have the following pages open on my screen:
– Résumé
– Notes app (with questions & a place for me to take notes)
– Sometimes, I’ll open up the interviewer’s LinkedIn profile or the web address of the organization, so that I can make sure I have a quick resource if needed.
One of the nice advantages of a virtual interview is you can have notes available and it won’t look like you’re wrestling through papers to speak. If you are asked something about your experience, you don’t necessarily have to look down in reference to your resume, you can look just slightly in a different spot on your screen and have the information that they’re looking for.
If you are anticipating some difficult questions, and you tend to be someone whose mind goes blank, you can have the notes app up on your screen or a document with some bullet points (reminder words and keywords), so that you can remember the big points that you want to hit in your responses.
3. Look directly into your camera lens (not your screen)
Something that we lose in the virtual setting is the inability to have direct eye contact with each other. And so what I’d like to encourage you to do is to sacrifice receiving eye contact in favor of giving eye contact.
Look directly in the camera and whoever’s watching you on the screen is going to see my eye contact with them- and that’s important. It gives the hiring manager the opportunity to read your facial expressions, and for you to really put forth connection through eye contact. What that means though, is that you’re not going to be able to look directly at them, because you’re not going to be looking at your screen, you’ll be looking at your camera. The slight disadvantage is you won’t be able to see their eye contact, so you won’t be able to really see their facial expressions except kind of in your peripheral vision. But I think that giving eye contact shows confidence in yourself, and consideration for the other person’s experience.
4. Have supplies ready off screen.
Give yourself comforting and/or emergency supplies next to you such as water, tissues, a pen, maybe a calming scent like a candle or anti stress essential oil and anything else that will help you to stay focused and relaxed during the interview.
When I first started speaking back at the beginning of my business, I stole a fidget spinner from my kids and kept it right off screen. I would fidget with my hands because it was a way for me to get out nervous energy as I was delivering my communication. Whatever you need to be more comfortable, do it!
5. Dress (comfortable) to impress!
Wear something that is comfortable, non-distracting and that puts a smile on your face.
You can choose between fully dressed in traditional professional attire, or opt for something more lounge-leisure on the bottom, where the camera won’t see – (I’m kind of a waist up kind of person; a blend between comfortable and presentable!)
Be mindful to avoid bright colors, distracting designs, sequins and shimmery things that may cause a reflection on screen. And remember to smile!
6. Test your tech
Test running your tech is super important. Here are some checkpoints that may apply to you:
– Check that your wireless earbuds are charged
– Check that your mic and earbuds are working properly
– Clarify which video conferencing platform you’ll be meeting on in advance and make sure that you have that software downloaded
– Test your video and audio settings (Does everything look and sound the way you want it to?)
The last thing that you want is to show up five minutes late because you didn’t have the updated version of Zoom, or to realize halfway through your interview that your Airpods are going to die. Consider what could happen ahead of time and prepare in advance so that you can simply show up and rock your interview!
Did you find this helpful?
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Don’t forget to grab my FREE interview guide and I’ll walk you through the 7 most common questions you’ll encounter in an interview plus give you a list of some uncommon ones that might take you by surprise.