Tips for candidates having video interviews
1. Ensure that your iPad or webcam/computer set ups are ready to go – that the internet is working, the sound is right, passwords are set up. This includes video and audio tests that are easy to run. Remember that the mike may pick up extraneous noise. It is important that you speak into the mike and that this is heard correctly – you may want to test this with a friend.
2. Be aware of where the eye of the camera is, in order to look directly at the other side.
3. Have a clean, dedicated, professional appearing work area – especially true for the candidate.
4. If at home, make sure no people, animals, radios, TVs, outside traffic will interrupt.
5. If this is in a teleconferencing centre, treat this like an in-person interview as there will be a formal setup, a camera to look at, as if it were a person.
6. Dress for an interview – suit (shirt, tie, for men), neat hair (appropriate blouse, shirt, jewellery, for women).
7. Have a pen and paper ready to take notes and as with any interview, ask if it is OK for you to take notes.
8. Be aware of your body language – sit up, look at the camera, remember to smile when natural to do so.
Whichever platform is chosen, the interview process using video may not differ substantially from a more traditional process. It is still the candidate on one side, the potential employer on the other, either singly or as a group.