We have all had lots of adjustments to make in the last year, a big one being the move to remote everything. Zooming is now a verb and it brings with it various challenges including the fatigue.
One area where it has its benefits is in interviewing.
Here are seven things you can do in a remote interview that you can’t do in a face to face interview:
1. Stick post-it notes with key points around your screen (hidden) to prompt you. Ditto anything you like printed out and spread around you – their company values, your CV, your best examples. Whatever will give you a confidence boost.
2. Enhance your appearance at the push of a button (Zoom enhance appearance feature, under video settings).
3. Wear whatever shoes you like, or even better, no shoes. This makes a pleasant change from travelling to an interview in heels or worse, trying to find somewhere to swap your shoes just round the corner from the venue and carrying a massive bag.
4. Travel to the interview in a matter of seconds.
5. Make your own drink just how you like it and not have to sip politely at the over milky pale monstrosity if what you are really craving is a good old builders’ tea.
6. Make ‘eye’ contact with everyone on the interview panel all at once by looking right into the camera. You don’t want to be starey, but for a good part of the time it is impactful to look directly into the camera and engage.
7. Fit it in discreetly to your working day. Of course you will make up your hours and are a highly dedicated professional. But it’s much easier to take a personal hour when you are working at home and don’t have to go AWOL from the office for a couple of hours to an unexplained ‘personal’ appointment.
But there are some watch outs – with thanks to members of The Recruitment Coach Facebook Group for sharing their horror stories…
- Check behind you before you hit ‘click to join’. It’s a no to ‘pants on the rad’.
- Be aware of your lighting. It sounds obvious but many people still get it wrong. I highly recommend investing in a light ring. At the very least sit facing a window. Avoid having a window or bright light behind you, directly above, or to one side.
- Have back up plans for if your tech fails due to a power cut / your other half rebooting the router at an inopportune moment / other.
- Avoid the echo. Wear a headset with microphone rather than using the sound from your laptop.
- Aim to be eye-level with the camera so no one is getting a view right up your nose, or seeing many chins. The enhance appearance feature can only do so much.
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