Online interview tips

Dress to impress - Top and bottom

If you need to get up to close a door or adjust something mid-interview, you won't want to be wearing pajama pants to do so. Dress as if you were going to an in-person interview. It will be worth it when you bring your A-Game.

Tidy the room 

Not only is it better for you to work in a clutter-free space in the first place, it also creates the right impression when the interviewers can see a neat and tidy space behind you. Zoom and MS Teams backgrounds are helpful if you really need to hide what's behind you, but these can blur and break up, revealing glimpses of whats in the background.

Avoid 'The Freeze' 

Do whatever you can to ensure that your broadband will keep up while you are on the interview. Position yourself as close to the router as possible or it to you. Make sure nobody else is streaming, gaming or placing a load on the internet. In fact, send them away for an hour if you can.

Quiet space 

Do whatever you can to make sure that there will be no interruptions while you are at the interview. No background noise, no kids or pets running into the room. Even the thought that it might happen will have you on edge, so again, (sorry about this) send them away!

No chin or brow shots 

Make sure that you have your laptop positioned at the right height so that you are in the middle of the screen. Flat on the desk, and the interviewers might be looking at your chin. Too high and they may see your eyes and nose, but what about the rest of your face?

Eye contact 

For an online interview its important to look at the camera. If you have a second screen, don't be tempted to interact with it and ignore the camera. To have eye contact with the interviewers and convince them of your sincerity, you must be looking into the lens of the camera, whether its on a laptop or an external camera positioned on top of your screen.

Dry run

Its always a good idea to do a dry run to ensure that everything is working as it should. Do it with a friend, family member or ideally with the recruiter who has proposed you for the role. Taking 20 to 30 minutes to run through some general questions and make sure that the microphone is working, the laptop is at the correct height, the background looks great and you are making eye contact will be time very well-spent.

 

First impressions count - make the right one!

 

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