With the pandemic having introduced changes to every aspect of our lives, it’s now imperative to learn how to make a good impression in an online job interview. Our familiarity with technology means that we sometimes take online situations less seriously than we take real world scenarios, but we have to ditch that attitude when it comes to video job interviews.
As a leading career accelerator, HiCounselor loves to help people put their best foot forward! With that in mind, we’ve created this list of tips that will ensure you impress your online interviewers. If you need more help in launching your career, get in touch with us to see how we can improve your professional life!
1. Get Energized
Yes, we love our comfy, cozy home setup with everything being conveniently arranged around us, but that can lead to us feeling a bit too relaxed. Being in an unfamiliar waiting room awaiting your turn puts things in a professional context. Since you don’t have that option at home, make sure you’re prepped for the video interview. This can mean drinking coffee, having a dedicated space undisturbed by others, taking a few minutes before the interview to just gather your thoughts instead of lounging in front of the TV, etc.
2. Kill Distractions
Well, not literally, but you know what we mean. This is your first impression on your prospective employers and you don’t want it ruined by background chatter. Working from home and attending meetings online entails all kinds of hilarity as we’ve seen in the news in the past 2 years but it’s better to leave that for when you’re more familiar with others. Make sure your cute kids and pets are resting somewhere else and try to keep the background free of items like bed or laundry pile. If you’re on your phone, mute notifications and alerts.
3. Keep It Charged & Glitch-free
You’re most likely going to use your laptop or your phone to attend the video job interview, so make sure everything is charged and won’t run out of battery midway. Also test out the equipment before the online interview to ensure everything works as it should. For example, test your earphone and mic and make sure the camera is clean so you don’t appear blurry to the interviewers. Make sure you’re logging in with an account that has a neutral username and image, you don’t want anything too risque or controversial just yet!
4. Be On Time
It’s hard to believe that people can be late for a video interview when they simply have to log into an online account, but there are cases of people getting reminders 10 minutes in advance and then completely forgetting about the interview in those 10 minutes. It helps if, after you get the reminder, you just wait for the interview and use that time to collect your thoughts, think of the questions you’d like to ask or simply finish getting dressed. If you give in to a distraction, chances are high that you’ll forget all about the interview!
5. Dress Right
We get it! We’re not big fans of getting dressed up just to sit at home. Seems pointless, right? It really isn’t for a video job interview though! You’re still applying for a professional role and odds are the interviewers will judge you on your personal presentation. Research also shows that people feel more confident and professional in the right attire, so it might really work for you to be dressed for the job you want. Don’t go for bright, flashy colors as these can be distracting on screen. Also make sure your clothes are neatly ironed.
6. Body Language Still Counts
All the body language tools you’d use in a face-to-face setting will remain relevant during the online job interview as well. Maybe you can ignore things like which direction your feet are pointing, but you must still sit straight without slouching, maintain good eye contact, limit nervous or fidgeting gestures, etc. For online interviews, you also have to try to look more at the camera than at the screen because it gives the illusion of eye contact, and try not to move around too much to avoid any lagging on screen.
7. Exit After Pleasantries
It can be harder to know when a video job interview is over than an in-person one, but you shouldn’t rush out after you feel it’s done. Either wait for the interviewers to let you know it’s okay to log out or ask them a question like, “Is there anything else you’d like to know about me?” to see if they have any additional questions. Before you log out, thank them for taking the time to interview you and state that you’ll look forward to hearing from them. This signals an interest in the role and is a nice and polite way to exit the interview.
These are just some of the steps that can help you make a better impression during an online job interview. If you’d like more professional help in acing interviews and securing jobs, get in touch with us at HiCounselor and we’ll be glad to help you get your career on the right track! One of the best things about us is we only take payment once we help you land a job so you don’t have to worry about paying us when you’re not working.
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