Did your Interviewer tell you about Video Conference Interview?
Are you looking for interview tips for freshers?
Looking for a job or want to change your current job?
Are you puzzled and extremely clueless about what is it and how to ace your video conference interview?
Well, you might be familiar with facing interview live but not with video conference interview. You might also know/ heard about video conference interview in theory but in practice, you might have not faced something like that, though it had been there since a very long time.
When it comes to taking the interview, a live interview is the best form of face to face interview. Video conference interview was performed rarely by a few companies but nowadays due to COVID- 19, recruiters or companies are finding video conference interview to be the current best method of face to face interview. It saves cost and time both to increase the efficiency of the company. The best part, for now, is that it also helps in maintaining social distancing.
So in this pandemic situation if you are really looking for a job you need to ace the interview which is getting much difficult day by day though people are giving it from home.
What is a Video conference Interview?
Let me give a small description for a video interview in case you don’t know what I am talking about-
Video Conference Interview is a type of face to face interview which is taken from distant places through the use of technology may be from home. A video interview can be of two types- Video Conferencing & One-way video interview. Video Conferencing is live and two or more people are present in that video (taken with the help of an online platform), whereas One-way video interview is a pre-recorded video by the interviewee answering to a set of questions given by the interviewer. Here I will be taking about Video Conference Interview.
Now the real question is- How to ace your video conference interview:
Tips for video conference interview
Research and Practice :
Before giving an interview you need to do your part of research beforehand i.e. about the company, details of the interviewer, details about the product or services etc. Check out their website for the details or any other source from google.
Prepare how you will be starting with the interview, how to introduce yourself. Your basic details are known by the interviewer through your CV. So no need to repeat that, rather say something that’s not present in the CV.
Study and gather more knowledge about the job role you applied for. Think of how you can show your interest for that position and for the company and that you will be a fruitful employee to the company.
Check out some basics interview questions available on the internet. Answer and record videos in beforehand, look at it, review/rate it and find loopholes/mistakes you made, for improvement. After finding your own flaws it helps you to build your confident and improve further.
Practice mock interview by asking your friends or family to help. Mock interviews are basically interviews taken by your friends or family to judge and guide you so that you can improve further. As the old saying is that experienced people can guide and shape you in the best way possible and brings out the most in you.
Proper dress-up:
You should be properly dressed up from head to toe. You need to be in proper formal wear as you would have been wearing if it was a personal interview in an office. If you are giving an interview for the first time, check-in google for the perfect attire. Because there will be points for your dress-up. If you generally do makeup, do a little more for the interview.
Home setup:
Generally, there is a lot of noise at home. But there should be no background noise while giving the interview because interviewer gets disturbed and annoyed by the noise and might even cancel the interview. Inform your family members about the interview beforehand so that there is no noise coming from inside the house. If the sound is coming from outside sources, I would suggest that you change the place for the interview.
When you sit in front of the camera you will notice that your background can also be seen. It is preferable that the background must be clear (i.e. no objects) and the background colour is ideal (i.e. light colours, avoid bright colour walls for background) for the interview with sufficient light. Always keep in mind to sit in the opposite direction of the light for clear view by the interviewer because if you sit on the same direction of the light, it will become the main focus and the interviewer would not be able to see you. Find an empty room with a clear background for the interview.
There should be absolutely no interference while the interview is going on. Any kind of disturbance can irritate the interviewer. So lock yourself up in the room so that there is no interference by any pet, children or other family members.
Technology & Software Setup:
You should use a good quality webcam so that the interviewer can properly see you because an interviewer might judge you with your looks and all, for which you need to be properly visible. Check the quality of the camera beforehand.
It is always preferable to use a laptop while giving the interview. If you don’t have any try and borrow it from your friends/relatives for the interview. Still can’t manage? Then have to give it on phone only. Keep the phone or the laptop on a table so that it helps in maintaining a good camera angle. Your face must be the main focus of the whole interview.
While giving the interview your voice must be loud and clear enough so that the interviewer and hear you properly. I advise you to use a microphone while speaking so that your voice doesn’t break during the interview.
Ask the interviewer about the software used for the interview process. Download, install and get familiar with the software by using it once or twice beforehand.
Check the quality of the network you will be using for the interview. I advise you to go and get a WiFi so that you don’t face an issue during the interview process. This might hear like a less important point. But believe me, this is the most important point as because the meeting will not take place in the office, it is going to be solely through the internet.
Documents:
Before starting the interview arrange hard copies of all your documents (ex- CV, Id proof, results etc.) along with properly scanned copies of the documents in the computer/phone (whichever you are using). The interviewer might ask for them during the interview process. Along with the documents keep a paper and a pen by your side because the interviewer might also tell you to write down something and send in a copy of it through the mail.
Etiquette:
You should look like you are confident enough. It also doesn’t mean that you become overconfident. Just don’t stress out, try to keep calm and relax. You should not look tensed. The more you get tensed, nervous or afraid the more is the interviewer going to create pressure on you just to check if you can cope up or not. There is a high chance they will reject you if you seemed tensed/ afraid.
In an interview one of the rules is to make direct eye contact with the interviewer rather than looking around. In a video conference interview you need to make direct eye contact with the camera. Don’t look at the screen. Always have to look at the camera because if you look at the screen it seems like you are looking down.
You should always avoid excess body movement. Just sit and stay still wherever you are sitting. Think it yourself if the interviewer is moving a lot you will also get annoyed.
Always keep your mobile on ‘do not disturb’ mode otherwise if your phone rings or message tone rings while you are on the interview process, the interviewer might get angry.
Think of the interviewer as your better half and that you have to be decent in front of them. The better your etiquettes, you will get a shot.
Even after taking so much of precaution beforehand something might get wrong. So I advise you to always apologize if there is any mistake from your end. Apologizing doesn’t harm your ego.. It shows your respect for them.
Don’t bluff:
Don’t even try to bluff in front of the interviewer. An interviewer will always find out the truth because their job is to that and to identify what qualities you possess that might be fruitful for the company. Be straight forward and speak the truth. Always say to the point answers. If you speak more it’s more likely to get more difficult questions.
Be Positive:
Don’t speak rubbish and negative things in the interview. Always put on a smile to give a positive gesture. It shows that you are confident enough and a happy person. Even if the interviewer is disturbed of annoyed because of something, your smile can change their mood. . You never know that you might also get selected because of your smile/ positive gesture.
Clear your doubts:
During the interview process or at the end of the interview process you can always ask about your doubts. You need to ask if you are selected or not, what will be the next steps after the interview, under whom you will be assigned etc. If it’s the last round of the recruitment process you have the liberty to talk about the salary and negotiate if necessary, your offer letter and from when will you be joining.
At the end of the interview, you need to say thank you for taking your interview. After it finally ends you need to send in a short and formal thank you note through the mail. If there was more than one interviewer in the video conference interview, compose different mails for each and every one. This is a part of etiquette which comes at the last. Your thank-you note might also change the decision of the interviewer.
Facing Interview is not an easy task. That too a video conference interview, which almost every company is taking in this pandemic situation. And even after this situation gets solved, many companies and recruiters will be following this method permanently because it saves time and money of the company. But still, some companies may follow the old method of face to face interview at the office itself because as I told you it is the best method of recruitment.
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