Preparing for a video job interview is all about set up and practice. Don’t let your dog, the kids or your unusual wall art upstage you. Follow these tips to make sure you are the star in your job interview video!
Video Interview Preparation:
- Set the Stage – video interview preparation starts with picking an ideal location in your home where you can sit comfortably in front of your computer and where the background is not too distracting. A home office, dinning or family room are ideal locations. What will the interviewers see behind you? Remove clutter, unusual artwork or other items that may be distracting.
- Control Lighting – pick a location where you can adjust the lighting depending on the time of day and brightness outside.
- Minimize Noise – pick a location where you can close a door or at least position yourself some distance from household or street noises. A room with carpet muffles sounds better than hard surface flooring. Indoor noises to be aware of are toilets flushing, dishwasher, laundry machines, blender, doorbell, phones, and of course pets, children and other people in your household. Don’t forget to consider outdoor noises such as the garbage truck, lawn mowers, leaf blowers, construction noises, and anything else that could be loud and distracting.
- Manage Pets, Children and other People Distractions – if possible, arrange to have someone take the dog and the children out of the house for an hour or two.
- Silence your Cell Phone – eliminate distractions from your cell phone by turning off the volume.
- Turn off Computer Calendar Alerts – turn off calendar alerts and other pop-ups and noises that might interrupt the interview.
- Set up your Computer – download or update the software necessary for the video interview. Test out the platform and make sure you are familiar with how to use it. The most important part of video interview preparation is testing the video application. Can you make a video call, can you answer when someone calls you, do you know how to turn on the camera and adjust volume?
- Be prepared for Technical Difficulties – test everything a couple of days ahead of time and then do it again the day of the interview. Sometimes there are problems and you need to stay calm and not let this impact your interview.
- Dress for the Interview – it is a job interview, so dress in the way you would for an in-person interview including dress shoes. For many people, dressing up changes how you feel about yourself and can help keep the interview professional. Resist the temptation to wear sock monkey slippers or pajama pants. You might look down and completely lose your focus.
- Practice Good Grooming – similar to dressing up, good grooming is important. Make a special point to check for visible nose hairs.
- Arrange Seating – don’t sit too close to the computer screen and try to angle your head so that the interviewers are looking at your face straight on and not on an angle where they really will get a view of your nose hairs.
- Smile and make Eye Contact – don’t forget to smile. Control the volume of your voice. Try not to move around too much. Try to make eye contact with the interviewer by looking directly at the camera lens, not the computer screen. This feels strange and takes some practice.
- Listen for Time Delays – sometimes there will be a short delay during a video interview, so make sure you pause before speaking to ensure you do not speak over top of someone else.
- Practice, practice and more practice – whether you are a novice at the video interview or not, practice with a friend. You can video tape yourself, play it back and make adjustments.
- Prepare for the Job Interview – don’t get so caught up in the video interview prep that you forget to prepare for the actual job interview. Visit our other Career Planning Advice blogs for more interview tips.
Good luck with your Video Interview Preparation. If you have any other tips to share please comment.
