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Talking Shop 101: Preparing for a Video Interview

22 May

A Simple Guide to Landing the Job

The proliferation of job-finding and career-building tools available to professionals today has made applying for a job thousands of miles away as easy as clicking a button—literally. In fact, there are too many websites and apps to count.

Say you’re growing bored of your job or the city you work in. All you need to do is upload your resume, search for the job you want and the city where you’d like to live, and you’ll be presented with dozens (maybe hundreds) of new opportunities—just like that.

Easy, right?

Well, yes…but also, not quite. While these global job boards have given greater visibility to jobs across the country and world, they’ve also presented new challenges for job seekers and employers alike.

For one, the greater visibility means a wider applicant pool—simply put, more competition. You may have greater access to finding your dream job in your dream city, but so does everyone else. A position that might typically have 100 applicants may very well now receive 1,000.

If you do receive a call back, it’s likely the interviewing process could depart from what you’re used to. To accommodate the number of qualified applicants and the varying distances they’re applying from, companies will often conduct part or all of the interview process through video conferencing.

Depending on the job, the distance and the company, this could entail hours of video conversations. Professionals need to be prepared for this unique communication environment, as there are notable differences from the phone and in-person interview settings.

What Makes a Video Interview Different?

In many ways, a video interview is exactly like a normal interview. Several of the same manners and rules apply. For example, maintaining eye contact throughout the interview and not chewing gum are facets of appropriate interviewing behavior that will remain the same in a video interviewing format.

However, when interviewing over video, there won’t be the opportunity to shake hands with the interviewer, making the age-old “firm handshake” rule obsolete. In the absence of that typical greeting, what replaces it?

It’s questions such as these that surround the video interviewing environment. As video interviewing continues to become more standard, it’s worth thinking about the appropriate ways to conduct yourself while in one.

Below, we’ve compiled four simple rules for a successful video interview.

At some point in your business life, you may encounter a video interview. Whether you’re conducting the interview or being interviewed, it’s important to handle yourself appropriately. Our list can help you begin navigating these conversations.