How to Prepare for a Virtual Interview

By Sam Barrett, EMEA Recruitment Account Manager

You have just been requested for a virtual interview. Congratulations! Now it’s time to prepare. A virtual interview is somewhere in between a phone interview and an in-person meeting. A lot of the stimuli and limitations of both are present and often we forget about them when thinking about virtual interviews. Luckily, we live in an era where virtual interviews are becoming more common place and so there are plenty pieces of advice out there in the world and so here are 5 tips to think about when preparing for a virtual interview.

1.Check your connection.

Make sure that your WiFi is up to standard. Don’t assume that you will have good connection. Practice making sure that the app you will be using works well with your current set up. The camera and light sensitivity are not the same for different apps and so trying them out beforehand can save you a potential blunder in your virtual interview. Nothing worse than realising that the camera crops awkwardly with a different app you’re used to or the lighting being too bright or dark. Best to be prepared!

2.Check your background.

This is something that we must remind our candidates of all the time. Remember that your interviewer will see what’s in your background. This is not always a bad thing but can be a great way to start up interesting points of conversation if you leave impressive objects in your background.

3.Check your background programs.

This is a combination of both tip 1 & 2. This is especially important if you are looking to use a personal machine. Your personal machine may be running programs in the background, and this can slow down your meeting and cause you to look glitchy. Make sure to ensure that only the bare minimum is running. This will increase your chances of having a smooth virtual interview.

4.You’re allowed to cheat.

The interviewer can only see what the camera sees. So, you can leave notes all over the place with points to help make your interview flawless. This can be important projects that you want to talk about, or it could even be specific points about the company you want to highlight in the interview. Just make sure to not be so obvious!

5.Dress as though meeting in person.

If you think about meeting this interviewer in person, and you wouldn’t wear that to meet them, then don’t wear that for a virtual interviewing. This is for a multitude. One is that many interviews form biases based on what they see and if it looks like you didn’t put that much effort because it was a virtual interview, instead of in person, then it will show. That doesn’t always mean dress to the nines, it means find what works for your industry. Not only will this put you in a good spot with first impressions, but it will also make you feel more comfortable and it’s easier to channel that superhero that you have inside of you!