Eek! A virtual interview! Now what?

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Almost all hires are being done right now with video or phone interviews. While in person interviews are normally nerve wracking, phone and video interviews can be too!

Here’s some tips to help you out in a virtual interview. These may sound funny but try them!

1. Print out / show on a screen people so that you have something to focus on. This could be random pictures of business people or your interviewer’s picture on LinkedIn.

2. If headphones (or anything else) helps you concentrate, wear them! This can include using a quiet fidget toy, headphones, or even business shoes. Need to pace? Do it.

3. Smile! You can’t rely on body language in a phone (or even a video interview as you can’t see all of the interviewer), so your face and your voice need to express emotion for you a little more than usual. If you smile, it comes across in your voice.

4. Dress like you’re at an in person interview. Doing this will make you feel more like you are in the interview frame of mind. Also, if it’s a video interview and you have to get up… it’s much better to be properly dressed and not be wearing sweatpants!

5. Practice questions in advance. The best to practice are the behavioral questions (what would you do if..) This questions are great because there’s a structure to answering that helps minimizes oversharing/ long answers - SAR (S - situation, A - Action [yours], R - Results)

6. Know what makes you different from others they are considering - this is the answer to “Why should we hire you?”. What makes you unique? What value have you brought to your past work experiences?

7. Make sure you know about the company. Have they been in the news, what’s their philosophy etc. What draws you to this company?

Have your resume ready, the job posting, make sure your phone/ computer is charged, be in a (hopefully!) quiet place and take a deep breath! You’ve got this. :)