20 Tips on How to Ace a Video Interview Like a Professional

Find a quiet, clean place to conduct the interview, turn on the camera and microphone, and, for crying out loud, put on some pants; these are the basic minimums for a good video interview. Candidates that are comfortable with the basics of Google Hangout, Zoom, or Skype have an advantage as the number of organizations conducting interviews through these methods rises.

Candidates who exhibit self-confidence and expose themselves online do better in virtual interviews, just like in real life. The goal is the same as in a traditional interview, but the path to getting it is different, so you need to focus on helping the recruiter focus on your talents rather than on making sure they can hear you.

If you want to make a good impression in a video interview, you should follow these guidelines. (If you want to know how to do well in a virtual interview, here is the place to look.)

Advice for Crushing Your Next Video Interview

1. Do your best to pretend this is a real interview.

The fact that you are doing the interview over Skype (or some other medium) does not change the fact that you are conducting an interview. A job interview is no different from any other day at work in terms of preparation, including the need to organize transportation. Spending time learning about the company and the role, practicing common interview questions, and coming up with some thoughtful, relevant questions of your own to ask the recruiter can help you succeed in the interview. Prepare yourself to show why you're the best person for the job by showing your interest in and knowledge of the position you're applying for.

2. Please dress to impress.

A video interview is much like a regular interview, so you should dress professionally. Do your best to put on a complete outfit (from head to toe), even if you don't feel like it. While it may be tempting to let your guard down at home, doing so might send the wrong message about how seriously you regard your employment. For the next hour, dressing up is harmless, but remaining nude is dangerous.

Also, make sure your outfit looks good in pictures. Try it on in front of the interview room and see what others think. If your full blouse is visible off-screen, for instance, a lower-cut top that is perfectly okay in person may seem odd in a video context.

3. A test of your technology is requested.

Practice your interview setup on a real platform, with a real internet connection, and with the real equipment to make sure everything works well on the big day. Put your mind at ease regarding the video or audio quality of your call by inviting a friend to join in. As a bare minimum, you should know how to mute and unmute your microphone and navigate around the interface.

4. Place Yourself

In contrast to traditional interviews, when the company and the evaluator set the scene, a video interview gives you full leeway to express your individuality. Pay close attention to how you come across to others in the outside world.

You should choose a quiet area and place yourself in front of the least distracting background possible, such as a blank wall or an empty room. Always use a well-lit area (natural light is best), and make sure the light is behind your gadget and not in your eyes. (And if you have to use a phone, prop it up on a stand instead of holding it in one hand.) If you don't have ready access to a well-lit room at home, you may want to invest in a picture ring light to position around the lens of your electronic device.

5. Don't get up or shuffle around.

You can't be any closer than three centimetres (or eight feet) to your computer than you would be to your recruiter in a conference room. Be mindful of how the height of your chair may affect your overall stature in the room. For a well-balanced look, raise your arms so that your shoulders and upper body are visible, and leave some blank space above your head.

6. Engage in good eye contact.

Is it usual for people to look past you while they're talking to you? How well did you connect with the character? Probably not. Since it's hard to make direct eye contact in a video interview, it's best to sit as close to the camera as possible. You may show that you care about what someone is saying just by staring at their face.

 Find a middle ground between being too near and being too far away from your subject and the camera so that you can concentrate on what you're shooting. As an added bonus, the interviewee's frame should be close to the camera (preferably dead center) and on the same screen as the camera. You will be staring directly into the camera while you engage in conversation with them.

7. Seek Introspection

Before choosing an outfit and backdrop for your interview picture, you should make sure there are no distracting reflections or glares. Watches, jewelry, and glasses are the most prevalent culprits; getting rid of just one of them might eliminate the issue.

 Some people may feel awkward leaving their glasses at home for a job interview. The following methods may be used to reduce the amount of light:

Distance your face from the light by either relocating the bulb or pointing it away from you.

The light might be moved or turned off altogether.

Adjust your focus between your gadget and yourself.

Adjust your laptop's screen height or the angle at which you hold your phone.

Natural light is preferable for interviews, so try to schedule your photo shoot at the same time of day (or just before) as your meeting.

8. Your video interview preparation

If you're not accustomed to communicating with people through video chat, it might seem unnatural at first, especially if the other person can see your face while you talk. A friend or career advisor may help you evaluate your practice video interviews for potential trouble spots. It's likely that you're not making direct eye contact with the camera or that your hands are too high for the frame. It's also a good idea to document your workout progress. Whether you watch it again or not, you'll notice things like how often you looked at the camera, whether you fidgeted with paperwork, and if your posture was terrible. Then you can make the necessary adjustments.

It's crucial to practice answering interview questions in a realistic context, especially when it comes to talking about your background and accomplishments. You don't want to make a fool of yourself at the interview by stumbling over the names and numbers you need to mention or making a mistake.

9. Pay attention to your tone as much as your words.

Most individuals worry more about how they seem than how they sound when practising for a video interview. If the person you're practising with has trouble understanding what you're saying, consider slowing down, pausing more often, and changing your tone and accent.

Any candidate with a weak link would benefit by speaking clearly and at a reasonable tempo while maintaining an air of casualness. The use of a computer to conduct an interview does not give you permission to act like one. Since your body language may be limited during a video interview, it's up to your tone of voice to portray your feelings. Make an effort to seem excited while discussing matters that really interest you.

 

10. Write down your ideas, but don't rely on them too much.

Since the recruiter doing the video interview can't see your desk (or your computer screen), it's tempting to have a lot of stuff in front of you. Though caution is advised, Only a few short notes should be kept and consulted on rare occasions. You should write down the key points, but just the essential ones. Don't try to seem robotic in your speech.

Meanwhile, you shouldn't bother keeping any paperwork on hand. Taking notes during questions might be distracting since the best interviews are really just in-depth conversations. It's hard to make a good impression in an interview if you're attempting to do many things at once.

If you want to utilize the notes you made during practice interviews during the real thing, keep them close by. This will not only help you determine whether or not they fit organically into the debate, but it will also reduce the number of times you need to evaluate them.

11. Try to limit interruptions, but be ready to improvise.

As few disruptions as possible should be tolerated. Make sure there won't be any disturbances on the day of the interview and, if feasible, schedule it in a room where you can close the door. Make sure your roommates know not to disturb you during the interview if you have to share a room. For instance, you wouldn't want to find yourself unexpectedly on a construction site. In addition, please put your computer notifications on hold and silence your phone to avoid any interruptions.

 However, if you know there's a significant chance you'll be delayed because of circumstances beyond your control, bringing it up early may show initiative and prepare your employer. It might help you relax and feel better overall. You may let the recruiter know, for instance, that your dog is in the next room and could start screaming at any moment.

 

The objective isn't to deny that you're in your own house. Having as much skill as possible is crucial.

12. Get there ahead of time.

There's no way you'd show up to a 3 p.m. video interview; you should show up to the designated area at 2:59 p.m. Reduce the size of all open windows and tabs. A résumé or other material you may want to present through screen sharing during the interview should be kept in a collapsed window that is easy to access.

Start the program you'll be using for the video chat a few minutes before the specified start time. You can see how you'll look in the video conference before you join in using several popular video interview programs. Relax then. Prepare for the interview by settling down a few minutes early and doing deep breathing exercises to ease your worries.

13. The first step is a digital handshake.

In a face-to-face encounter, there is a lag between the scheduled start time and the moment when the interview really starts. You and the reporter are physically shaking hands as you enter the room and sit down to talk. Avoiding the small talk won't prevent you from settling in. However, in a video interview, this is not always the case, so it is even more important to make a strong initial impression.

 

Send a digital hello instead. In addition to smiling and making eye contact after greeting the camera, nodding your head ever-so-slightly as if to say "yeah!" is another great way to convey friendliness and openness.

14. Be aware that variations exist.

It's OK to bring up the fact that there are key differences between an online conversation and a face-to-face meeting at the moment. Despite their distinctions, they are comparable to icebreakers used during initial encounters. And if anything doesn't seem right, such as if you can't see or hear your counterpart, don't be afraid to point it out. Simply put, it will demonstrate that you have the guts to be forthright when it counts.

 15. Hold a straight posture.

One may relax their guard somewhat while at home. Try not to slump in your seat because of this. This will make you seem less engaged. You should instead rearrange your seat so that you may recline on its outermost edge, with your feet flat on the floor and your hands resting on the table. In addition to letting the camera see you, this will also free up your body for other purposes.

If you sit up straight, you'll feel more alert and project an air of excitement for your task. If you discover that standing helps you stay alert and energized, you should do that instead of sitting.

16. Show your interest by making eye contact.

Nonverbal clues are important in any conversation. Video conferences, however, make it tough to express nonverbal cues like eye contact, body language, and tiny nods of appreciation. Therefore, we have little choice except to heavily depend on our final resource—face gestures.

In most cases, you can tell whether someone is listening to you even if they aren't making a lot of facial expressions. Never again will you have to fear that someone in the room with you has had a sudden loss of sensation and hence cannot see or hear you. On film, however, movement may be faked by anyone. Don't stop talking; the reporter could start to wonder whether you're still around.

Short vocalizations are useless in video chats since only one speaker may be utilized at a time. The "yeah, certainly!" reaction that may happen when two people are in the same room or on the phone is eliminated with video chats. However, if the other person's microphone is suddenly muffled because you are typing, you may miss some crucial information.

 

Instead of saying "mm-hm" or "yes," try nodding your head or smiling when you would typically speak. This will allow your interrogator to hear you without having to raise their voice to compete with yours.

17. Please wait for the other person to finish speaking.

This is good advice in general, but it's particularly important when chatting through video since your response might accidentally cut the other person off, making you seem unpleasant even though you didn't mean to. Internet lag also makes it hard to know whether someone has stopped talking for good. Wait a bit before answering questions you think the recruiter has finished asking. If you're having trouble with this, try muzzling yourself while the other person is talking and then unmuting yourself when they've finished.

18. Finished work must be shown.

Even if your reply is short, it's still courteous to let the other person know when you're done talking if you've taken a long time. You may physically show agreement, verbally conclude on a strong note, or vocally engage the reporter by asking a question. Waiting for the reporter to figure out whether you're done talking or not might be awkward during a video interview.

19. Explain why it's okay to be quiet.

Given the limitations inherent in video conferencing, your evaluator may miss your point of action if you don't speak out during the session. If you need time to scribble down some notes, check anything up, or even simply figure out how to answer a question, just say so. This shows that you're invested in their satisfaction and eliminates any concerns they may have had regarding technical difficulties.

20. It's best to handle video interviews like you would any other chat.

Any interview, but especially one in which you want to establish a close personal connection with the subject, would benefit from your treating the video interview as if it were a dialogue. Because you probably won't have much time to talk to the interviewer before or after the meeting, it's important to do so while you have the chance. Act like a person. Keep it real. Maintaining a professional demeanor while still coming off as nice and accessible is essential.

 Keep the queries and replies to a reasonable minimum during your video chat. Feel free to expand upon the interviewer's responses if you'd like to. And don't wait until the end of the conversation to ask questions; rather, sprinkle them in at random. Instead of asking the same set of questions over and over, the best interviewee is someone with whom the interviewer can easily imagine having a natural discussion.

No matter the format, job seekers should always aim to prove their suitability for the open position. It's important that we don't lose sight of the fundamentals of the work at hand. Paying as little attention to the camera as possible when being interviewed on video is recommended. It's crucial to stand out to a recruiter.