Congratulations! You’ve landed an interview with your dream employer. You’re now one step closer to beginning the new career you’ve been searching for. All you need to do now is prepare yourself properly, and the job could be yours.
But before you print out your work examples, reference sheets, copies of your resume, and plug their corporate address into your car’s GPS, you should know beforehand that the hiring manager probably isn’t going to invite you down to the office for a face-to-face interview… At least not yet.
They’ll most likely want to hold a virtual interview with you before any in-office invite comes. We’ll explain why this is the new trend, in just a moment.
First, most employers today conduct their job candidate interviews virtually. In fact, 82% of employers now utilize virtual meeting technology to conduct first interviews with their candidates. And of them, 93% plan to use this practice for every candidate, every time. So chances are, your first interview will be held virtually.
Why virtual interviews rather than in-person?
Well, virtual interviews have become a great way for employers to pre-screen candidates to get a better idea of who they really are. Your resume may tell a whole lot about your hard skills and work experience, but today’s employers are looking for much more. And they want to find the right employee for the job, as efficiently as possible.
The average virtual interview may last perhaps only 20-25 minutes. Employers use this time to see not only how you’d fit into the company culture, skills wise, but they want you to demonstrate the other things they’re looking for such as soft skills like communication, preparedness, organization, and foresight.
Since an employer can efficiently hold a dozen or more virtual interviews in a single day, they use these short windows to determine who will get the face-to-face, and who won’t.
If you prepare for your virtual interview correctly, it could very well be you who earns the face time.
Of course, before you’re even invited to a virtual interview, you’ll first need to find the job you’re looking for and submit your resume.
FindYourJobNow.com has made finding this dream job easier than ever before.
You see, no matter what field you want to work in, where you want to work from, how much experience you have, or what your salary demands are, FindYourJobNow.com has thousands of eager employers lined up and ready to hear from you today.
Now, once one of the employers in the FindYourJobNow.com network contacts you for a virtual interview, here’s what you’ll need to do to prepare:
First, and this may seem obvious, be 100% certain that you’ve downloaded the virtual meeting app the employer is using. Whether its Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, GoToMeeting, Skype or any of the dozens of other virtual meeting apps, you MUST be certain you have it downloaded. And you MUST be certain you’ve familiarized yourself with how the app functions.
Don’t simply assume that since you’ve been invited to a virtual interview it’s on Zoom. Every employer has their preferred virtual meeting apps, and when you’re invited to join a meeting, the app name will usually be in the invite. Download it.
Be professional. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, never conduct your virtual interview from a cellphone. You’ll want a computer with a good webcam, microphone and speakers; and you don’t want your virtual interview conducted from a public space like a coffee shop or library. This is your first impression. Make it count!
It’s important that well before your virtual interview, you do background research on the company. You’re going to want to know as much about their products and services as possible.
Doing so will not only allow you to have good questions for the interviewer when the opportunity arises, but you’ll have great responses to some of their first questions like, “are you familiar with what we do?”
Even light research on the company will give you more confidence and show you’ve done your homework. These are soft skills every employer is looking for.
Don’t be late. If the hiring manager has scheduled 15 minutes of their time to speak with you, and you’re late, you’ve got no chance. Instead, log into the meeting a few minutes early and wait for them to join you.
Dress as if you are at a face-to-face interview. Even though your virtual meeting may only show you from the waste up, you should dress as if the interviewer can see all of you. Dressing for success gives the immediate impression that you are serious about the position.
Now that you look professional and feel professional, be sure your background matches. The interviewer can see everything behind you and hear everything too. Choose a place that is appealing to the camera and has no distractions like barking dogs, children or dirty laundry. Prepare your background in a way that puts you in the best possible light.
If that’s not easy to do, most virtual meeting apps have an option to alter your background. Do a practice run with a friend who can tell you honestly what you should change, if anything.
When you’re talking with the hiring manager, be sure to look at them, and smile. Don’t let your eyes drift off the webcam. Even though it’s a virtual interview, you’ll want to keep good eye contact with them. Good eye contact with a genuine smile fosters trust and comfortability.
Since you want your eyes locked on that webcam as much as possible, have any portfolio, work examples, or resume materials you want to show them at the ready. It’s not 1995, so you’ll want these documents prepared in digital form, set on a tab ready to share when the opportunity arises.
Again, familiarize yourself with how the particular virtual meeting app works, so you can share documents and screens seamlessly, and professionally.
Always be yourself, be polite and try to stay engaged with the interviewer. If you sense a lull in the conversation, it’ll be up to you to keep it moving smoothly. By being attentive to what’s being said, and picking up the conversation when it’s needed, you’re showing that you are a great listener and have communication skills that go beyond your hard skill set.
Of course, during the course of your virtual interview you’ll want to highlight all of your hard skills, your background and your desire to be a member of the team, but you’ll want to do so in a soft skill manner… conversationally.
As your virtual interview comes to a close, be sure to thank the interviewer for their time, but DO NOT log off until they do.
Should you log off first, it may give the impression that you have something else to do. You should be showing them that there’s no better place for you than with them, and the company.
If you follow these simple, yet important virtual interview tips, you’ll greatly increase your chances of landing the face-to-face…
Putting you in the perfect position to get your dream job!
But before a virtual interview even happens, you’ll first need to find that dream job. FindYourJobNow.com has made doing it a snap. Simply go to the search bar, input the company, position, field or location you’re looking for work in, and voila!
Thousands of employers are waiting to hear from you. Chances are one of them has exactly what you’re looking for.
But on the off chance they just filled your dream position with another candidate, simply register HERE to get continuous job alerts based on your exact search criteria.
Maybe your dream job will be posted this afternoon…
Maybe they want a candidate like you to interview tomorrow…
By registering for our job alerts, you’ll be the first to know!