10 Must do’s when interviewing during CoVID
As a candidate, there are must-do’s in the interview process regardless if you are an active or passive job seeker and this will make the difference between having a good experience or a bad experience.
Please see the list below that will aid you in having a successful, engaging, and rewarding interview experience.
MUST DO:
- Acknowledge
After receiving the Video Conference interview invitation, reply with a quick thank you note and acknowledge the invitation. - Lights, Camera, Action
First impressions still count, Dress the part and look professional, in the CoVID era this includes your hairstyle, facial hair, and your background if you are unable to blur your surroundings. Think about lighting, get some glow rings to present yourself clearly. - Be on time
Join the room 1-2 minutes ahead of time, be punctual.
- Speaking voice and body language
A lot of interviewers prefer to meet candidates face to face during the interview process, during CoVID this is usually the last step. During the 1st and 2nd rounds you need to maintain high energy levels and voice intonation, keep the energy high, smile and show your personality as much as you can, look straight at the camera. Demonstrate Energy, Passion, and interest, and most importantly strong body language. Remember to take notes but ask before doing so. - Research
Do your research on the company, understand their strengths, understand their needs, demonstrate to the interviewer you have researched the company’s history, culture, product portfolio, stock price, and recent news releases. - Be prepared for the BIG standard questions.
– Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
– What do you know about the company?
– Why do you want to work for our company?
– Where do you see yourself in five years?
– Why should we hire you?
Have detailed answers ready that are straight to the point. - Be detailed, speak to specifics
Be prepared to back up replies to questions with data and demonstrate deeper understanding. Have a presentation ready to demonstrate your answer and discussion points in more detail.
- 10 questions
Have your own questions ready, make them intelligent, deep, and thoughtful, prepare at least 10, typically throughout the interview half of them will be discussed or become redundant during the discussion. - Have the last word
Follow up with thank you email, thanking the interviewer for their time, and express your interest in moving forward.
- Call your recruiter
Call your recruiter and give them your thoughts on the interview, how long was the interview, how did you feel about the atmosphere, what questions were tough, what questions were easy, did they mention the next steps.
Lastly, express your thoughts and interest in the role so your recruiter can follow up immediately and return timely feedback.
Positive and Negative outcomes of following and not following these must-dos.
Lighting and a candidate’s background resulted in the candidate being rejected, keep it clean, keep it white. REJECTED
Lively and energetic candidates 95% of the time always do better. Even if you don’t have all the necessary requirements for the role, the person with Energy, Passion, Drive, eye contact, and outward communication with triumph. Mandatory for all sales and customer-facing roles. HIRED
Especially with foreign interviewers, voice tone and loudness show confidence, looking at the keyboard and speaking in a low voice will not demonstrate your communication skills. REJECTED.
Lack of research and knowledge of the company’s product will be clear very quickly; will show the candidate couldn’t engage and build a discussion. REJECTED.
Company feedback was “No questions, so we feel the candidate has no interest in our company our role”. You Must ask questions. REJECTED
Candidate demonstrated knowledge of our company, product portfolio, and potential customers, detailed and demonstrated a strategy to gain market share from our competitors. HIRED.
The candidate asked challenging and thoughtful questions which demonstrated that we were talking to the right person. HIRED.
The candidate spoke well during the interview and used the correct level of politeness and combined this communication skill with follow-up and thank you emails. We felt our customers would be treated the same and customer satisfaction would increase. HIRED.