March 18, 2020
As COVID-19 tightens its grip on the global economy, few industries remain untouched – least of all human resources. If you’re in the midst of a career change or job search, in the middle of an already lengthy interview process, or responsible for hiring at your own company – you might be feeling overwhelmed.
For Hiring Managers & Talent Acquisition Teams
- Plan: The most critical component is to have a clear plan. Assign an owner to the entire interview, responsible for kicking off the first video, navigating technical issues and ensuring all parties arrive at their allotted time slot.
- Access & Agenda: Ensure all attendees have access to the interview meeting link, dial in instructions, backup phone number for the candidate, resume and interview scorecard, and the full agenda with instructions on arrival and completion of their allotted time.
- Prepare: Review the resume, assign predesignated questions in advance to allow focus upon engaging and connecting with the candidate. Remove distractions from the background, be present, turn off other apps and notifications to show the candidate you are 100% engaged, just as you would be in-person.
- Experience & Feedback: Schedule an interview team online feedback session within 24 hours, helps to keep the interview experience fresh in memory the interview process moving along. TA should conduct a video feedback session with the candidate to understand their experience, lingering questions and circle back on critical followups.
For more information on how hiring managers and talent teams can prepare, read Liz’s full article on LinkedIn.
For Candidates
- Dress for success – or at least dress the part of you that’ll be on camera. Although you aren’t going into the office for this interview, it’s still important to give this meeting the same amount of care and attention. It’ll help get you in the right headspace for a professional, confident conversation.
- Prepare like it’s a phone interview. A big advantage of the phone interview is your ability to lay out notes in front of you without the interviewer knowing. In the case of video interviews, you’re showing your face; probably not your entire workspace. Place a few sticky notes away from the camera’s view to help guide your conversation.
- Choose the right environment. This is somewhere with good lighting where you can focus – no background noise, and nothing behind you that would distract the interviewer. You should be able to speak at an audible level and should not need to wear headphones. I repeat: do not wear headphones during the interview! It can be distracting and give off the vibe that the interview is not important enough for you to dedicate time to going somewhere quiet to take the video call.
- Make eye contact. This one sounds a bit tricky, but hear us out. The solution lies within placing the video feed with the interviewer right below your computer’s camera, which creates the semblance of eye contact.
- Have a backup plan. Before the interview, be sure to ask your contact for a phone number to reach them directly if anything should happen to your Wi-Fi connection. The unexpected can happen at any time, and it’s better to start the interview slightly late or reschedule than to miss it completely.
- Follow up. As video interviews enable recruiters to interview more candidates at a faster pace, the speed to follow up is crucial here! Block time in your calendar later in the day to remind yourself – it shows your interest in the position and respect for the interviewer’s time.
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