Regardless of how impressive your resume is, you won’t be able to secure the job of your dreams without a successful interview. If you think this sounds stressful, you’re not alone. According to data released in the 2013 Job Interview Anxiety Survey, 92% of employed Americans get stressed out about job interviews.
Due to the COVID outbreak, video conferencing has become the main way to communicate and hold meetings that would typically be conducted in-person. To put it in perspective on just how big video conferencing has become, Zoom has surpassed 300 million daily Zoom meeting participants. That’s up 50% from the 200 million the company reported in early April, and a huge jump from the 10 million back in December 2019.
Due to the pandemic, almost all interviews are all being held virtually. While many things about an interview don’t change, there are some unique challenges and important factors to keep in mind during a virtual interview. This is the best way to prepare for a virtual interview.
Start by doing research:
When it comes to the best way to prepare for a virtual interview, the first step is to do your homework and research the company, as well as the people who will be interviewing you.
Once scheduled, most companies will provide you with a day-of schedule for your virtual interview that outlines the time slot for each section of the interview, who you will be interviewed by, and relevant meeting information (i.e. zoom link, etc.).
The worst thing you could do is come into an interview unprepared and without having researched the company or the people conducting the interview. Conduct a quick LinkedIn search to check out each person’s profile. This will help you identify their area(s) of expertise, help you gauge what kind of questions they might ask you, and will enable you to identify any potential talking points or areas of common ground. Science suggests that delays on phone or conferencing systems of 1.2 seconds make people perceive the responder as less friendly or focused, so it’s essential that you do research ahead of time so you can prepare some talking points and increase your rapport with the interviewer.
Furthermore, it’s also important to do research on the company in the same way that you would if the interview was held in person. What are the company’s short and long term goals? What is the mission statement? Has the company come up in the media at all with any big news? You want to show the interviewer that you’ve put work into the interview and that you’re interested in the company. It would be detrimental to your application if the company recently made a big public announcement and you had no idea about it. A situation like this would make you seem careless and unaware of pertinent information.
The whole point of doing your research is to show your interviewer that you are motivated, are able to create rapport even amidst current challenges, that you know what direction the company is going, and that you want to be a part of it. You want to show them that you will be beneficial if you are hired.
The first step is going through the company website to gather information and verbiage about the company mission, vision, and goals. Next try doing a simple google search to find any big events or newsworthy information that is common knowledge. Additionally, you can always go on websites such as Glassdoor to get a better feel for company culture.
Create SOAR stories:
Being on a video call requires more focus than an in-person conversation. As humans, we need to work harder to process non-verbal cues like facial expressions, the tone and pitch of the voice, and body language. This makes it essential to practice possible interview questions and come up with talking points to articulate your value.
Create at least one SOAR Story for each interview question you prepare for. What is a SOAR Story? Career Coach Alyson Garrido explains that the SOAR format (Situation, Obstacle, Action and Result) works wonders when writing a resume, a cover letter, or preparing for an interview. “Not only will this exercise get you ready for interviews, it will also bolster your confidence as you reflect on your achievements.”
Creating SOAR stories ensures that you are in fact writing down results, and gives you an opportunity to break down situations clearly so you can include all relevant information in your interview. This will enable you have everything laid out for your interview. This way you can practice and feel confident with examples of your achievements.
Find something that you think the company could improve upon:
It sounds counter-intuitive, but it shows a lot of motivation and expertise if you can find an area which you think the company can improve upon. Again, you want to show them that you’ll be beneficial to hire, so providing a perspective which they haven’t thought of will strengthen your case and highlight how you’ll be an asset.
This is a great opportunity for you to bring in past experience. For example, you could say something along the lines of the following.
“I’ve done a lot of work on [topic] with [company] and I noticed that your [area or project] could be improved by [way to improve it]. Have you thought about utilizing [ways to improve it]?”
Discuss how you could improve a weakness or how you could be a solution to their problem:
This directly stems from the step above, but you should always talk about what you would do and how you would improve the company if you were to get hired. Showing them how you would solve a problem or how you would improve a weak point gives the company (and interviewer) direct insight as to how you could help them.
A wise marketing professor at UC Santa Cruz once told me that the key to landing a job or a client is to show them that you are the solution to their problem. If you can show a company and interviewer that you are the solution, they will almost always hire you!
Be yourself:
While it’s important to do the legwork and make sure you know all of your talking points, it’s equally important to calm down, be yourself, and act natural. Remember that no matter how great a job seems, you want to work for a company where you mesh well with the other employees and company culture. Even if you love your job, if you don’t love your peers and fellow employees, the experience can go sour very quickly. The interview is where both you and your interviewer will get a better idea about whether you’ll fit in and be happy, so don’t try to hide who you really are. Maintain a professional and sociable demeanor, however if you’re someone that generally likes to be around people, don’t act as though you will be happy working in a closed off office away from any human interaction, or vice versa.
Set up your interview space:
When you go to prepare for a virtual interview, it’s important to prepare the physical space as well. Set yourself up in a private area away from other distractions or other people who might be at home with you, and ensure that you have neutral background. If you’re in a bedroom, make the bed, and ensure that everything is neat and tidy. Additionally, try to be near natural light so the interviewer gets a good visual of you. Because it’s harder to pick up on physical cues and body language, you facial expressions and tone of voice are very important. Be sure that you set up your video camera so the interviewer can clearly see and hear you with ease. If they have to focus too hard on trying to get a clear picture of your or have trouble hearing you, this could negatively impact their perception of you.
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Job interviews create anxiety in a lot of people, and given the current public health pandemic, everyone is more on edge than usual. With that said, it is very important to prepare for a virtual interview so you feel confident going into it. Virtual interviews can be a challenge, but there are positive aspects of them as well! The commute to the interview is short, you can use your own bathroom, and at the end, you can sign off and quickly go recoup on the couch. At the end of the day, all you can do is put in the work, prepare, and be yourself.
Good luck!