Top5 Best Practices During a Virtual Interview

business owners alike. Have any questions for us ideas or topics you'd like us to deep dive into? Send it in and you might spur our next conversation. I'm Tara Thurber, Director of Talent Innovation and joining me to discuss how to show up as your best self for a virtual interview through five best practices is Victoria right recruiter and business development partner at DefineTalent. Hey, Victoria, how are you today?

making sure it works. And then checking again, like 10 minutes before your interview, making sure you can actively get into the technology that is working, it's not having any issues. If you are having an issue again, checking early enough so that you can let somebody know, hey, I'm having some sort of technical difficulty is key the same way you would call if you were running five minutes late to your in person interview, you have to treat this the same way, people's time is still very

valuable. The last thing you want us to keep the person you're meeting with waiting for 5, 10, 15 minutes because you can get your technology to work. But also making sure you have a strong WiFi connection is really important. Obviously, you don't want to have awkward pauses in the interview, you want to have the call drop or glitch now you're frozen on a weird funny face or vice versa. So that's a really common sense thing to do.

But a lot of people don't always realize, hey, maybe I don't have the best WiFi in certain parts of my house or, you know, maybe I need to go somewhere because my house in general doesn't have the best WiFi like these are little things that are just going to set the better impression. And also making sure you dress for success. Same way you would for an in person interview, you want to wear a nice suit blazer, if you're a guy a nice button down with a

tie. If you're a woman and nice blouse or a sweater, something that's just gonna really set the stage make sure they know, hey, I'm taking this job seriously, I don't care what job you're interviewing for. If it's an entry level role, or an executive level role, you always want to dress the part. And sometimes you almost want to dress more than the part to really just show them how excited you are and how serious you are about setting a good

impression. And going off of that's just body language in general, I think it's important to make sure you're making eye contact in a video interview. I think some people get distracted by the room around them. If they have pets walking around, or children walking around, you'll notice that their eyes are not

on the interviewer. And again, you can't be there in person to give them that actual handshake, you have to do that with your eyes, you have to make sure you're focused on them looking up to think or take notes every now and then is totally fine.

But you still want to have that good eye contact the same way you would in person because again, this person is relying on this as your first impression, especially in a situation today where because of COVID-19 you're not getting that chance to do it in person and make up for that

video conversation. So you almost want to do a little bit more than you probably think you should just so that they really can understand, hey, they were focused, they're not distracted by what else is going around there in the moment with me and there's taking it seriously. So all of that I think is probably the first bucket which is just making sure technology wise and presentation wise, like you're

ready to go. My number two thing would be just being prepared about the position, the company, the job description, everything in that sense, you want to make sure you fully understand what the responsibilities are so you can speak about when you've done them before. Why you're a good fit. You also want to be able to speak on the company itself, and why the company excites you why

that's a good fit. Any key facts about the company, hey, I noticed last year you had X amount of revenue, or you hired 10 different people across five departments, whatever those facts might be, it's just going to show them You really did your homework. And that's what they want to hear. Every hiring manager wants to know that you came to the interview, ready to talk about the company, but also that you genuinely want the job.

People who don't come to the table with those things look disinterested, and don't look like they're taking it very seriously. You want to use that moment, to really like butter them up in that sense. And I think, from there, it's just about making sure you're prepared to answer questions. A lot of the common interview questions that we see, as recruiters getting asked by our clients are some of the general gist, hey, what do you actually know about this company and

about the job? And why do you want a role like this, some of the biggest weaknesses that you have, and going off of that some of the biggest strengths that you might have, and tell me about a time that you had a really momentous achievement, something that was really a proud accomplishment for you or a challenge for you how you turned it around? And then just what are you looking for in a new position? Tell me about your job history. Why are you leaving

your current role? Things like that are some of the biggest questions that we're seeing.

type questions. But I always like to prep my talent by having them think about not only kind of what personally gets them excited about the job, but they're skills that they've brought to the table, why they personally think they're a good fit, but also just looking at the job description. And I encourage a lot of my talent to do the highlighter test, where you physically take a highlighter, and write off all the skills that you've done. And you know, that's how you incorporate it into answering

the question strongly. I hear that you're looking for x, y, and z, here's what I've done it.

really beneficial. And when it comes down to answering questions like, you know, your biggest professional achievement, or the biggest challenge that you've overcome, I like to recommend using the star method, which is an basically an abbreviation of

situation task action result. So anytime you get faced with a situational question, that's always the little kind of method I use to think about the best way to answer it, you want to restate it by saying, hey, the situation I was dealt with was x, the task at hand I had to take was the next part. What action did I actually do? And what was the result of that

action? And when you think about answering a question like that, almost as if you're writing an essay, in kind of a paragraph form, you're gonna set yourself up for success to have a really good, solid answer of your experience and how that's contributing to why you're a great fit and the success that you're having there. So I think it's all about posing yourself the right way, preparing your thoughts in a nice way. And just making sure you have everything in your toolbox to speak on all

of your strengths. You don't necessarily want to talk about negative experiences, unless you can really turn it into a learning lesson or a positive. You don't want to bad mouth any, you know, potential past bosses or co workers. Yeah, talk about those conflicts or challenges on hey, maybe I had a negative situation with somebody, but it taught me how to handle conflict in the workplace better, or I realized maybe I needed to

communicate differently. So it's just making sure you're prepared for what questions might come at you and just the best way to answer those.

than the answer itself. Like, you can take a not so great situation and word it really well and make it more positive, that's still going to give them the answer that they're looking for.

three to five questions. And they should be really in depth questions. So a good example is Hey, what are my day to day responsibilities going to be in this role? And from the company standpoint, what are your goals as a company for the upcoming quarter or the upcoming year? How is this role going to directly contribute to those that those performance goals? How can I make sure I'm performing? Well? How would you describe the ideal candidate for this position? I love that

question. Because you can then flip it and say, hey, based on what you're telling me, here's a restatement of why I think I'm a good candidate. Again, it's almost like writing an essay, where at the end, you restate your thesis like, this is why I'm even sitting here in front of you. Because based on what you're telling me, I know, I'm a

really good fit. And then asking just about the organizational structure, how this role fits into the hierarchy of positions, what teams you're going to be working with, learning about the next steps of the interview process is crucial, not only for you, but to show them, Hey, I'm interested in moving forward to those next steps. When can I expect to hear back? What are those steps look like? And how

should I better prepare? And then another great question that I think could even add on to this that I've gotten a lot, and I really love to tell my candidates about because I think it just really shows, hiring managers, you're thinking long term about how you'd be a good fit, is asking about the 30, 60, 90 day expectations when you join this team, what am I going to be expected to accomplish in the first 30 days, the first 60 days and the first 90 days, because that's really your quote

unquote, training period when you're joining a new position. So when you understand for yourself, this is what's going to be thrown at you the first 90 days that you're in the role. Okay, now I have a better understanding of what they really need for me off the bat to make that good impression and remind them that they made a good hire, how can I add to that and say, hey, I've actually done all of these things that you're asking me to do in those first

90 days in my past role. So I think I'm going to hit the ground running. Again, just a great way to kind of turn it back on yourself and put that cherry on top of a good interview of why I'm a good fit. And you're sitting here taking an hour or sometimes more to speak with me. Let me really just make it worth your time by restating all of these things about myself.

filled. Or, you know, maybe even there's expectations that the the talent can then even explore those expectations more in order to, you know, Ace the interview a little bit heavier, or to show their true colors a little bit stronger in order to make them a potential better fit for that

client. So Yeah, I think it's just another great point to to remind yourself as the interview interviewee I should say, Is this a job that I really think I can do but also do I really want to do this job now that I've heard from the horse's mouth? Exactly everything that they need for me, was there anything that they answered in these questions that gave me some cause for concern or gave me some hesitations? Because that might happen sometimes, and

that's okay. Not every interview on both ends is going to be a perfect fit. So You also want to be smart about the questions, you're asking to make sure you're not gonna waste your own time going through with an interview process, if you don't think it's going to be the right fit for you. But if it works out well, and you ask these questions, and everything you

hear is great. That's when you really want to continue to just sell yourself and really set the stage for re emphasizing all of the points that make you a strong candidate. And I think another best practice, my fourth best practice, I guess, I would say, is really just finding that connection with, why you're interviewing for the role, why you want the job, and what makes it the next best fit for you,

right? Like, I don't think you should look at a job as just another stepping stone, I think every position that you're potentially taking on, no matter how far along you are in your career, if you're just getting started, or if you're 1520 years in is going to be an asset to the longevity of your process. So really making sure going into it and coming out of it, that you've gotten some sort of clarity around why this role?

Why are you interviewing make that human connection with the person, why this company, why this potential hiring manager right afterwards, if you're like, Hey, I don't know, if I would connect with that person is that who I'm directly

reporting to? Or is that person just somebody in HR, or, you know, just somebody up in the company that I that I have to kind of jump through hoops to speak with, these are the things you want to really make sure, again, are good fit for you, but that you can also be a good fit for them from a cultural standpoint.

I also think too, that the fit professionally, but also culturally, you know, find, find that connection on a personal level to especially the hiring manager, because, you know, more often than not, you spend more time working in with your your work family. And so you want to make sure that you want to have a coffee with this person, and that you can hold a conversation

with the person into it. But find that connection, whether it's you both like fishing, or you both like watching Dancing with the Stars, or you know, some sort of that human connection to not just be very professional, but also that you have that the human side of you or the personality to back up who you are and be and showing up and being real, right?

Because then then you're able to not only form form your professional connection, but your personal connection to, which I think just strengthens you. In the interview process.

and other ways. This is your opportunity to make sure that this is going to be a way that at least like rewards you and keeps you going because you can have that human moment if you're just having a bad day and need to talk about something other than the task at hand. I agree. I think that cultural fit is so

important. So that's your opportunity to really find that balance when you're telling them about yourself, hey, maybe I went to college at XYZ or if you looked at the interviewers LinkedIn profile ahead of time, hey, I noticed you were involved in this. I'm also involved in that in my free time, what have you. So those are just little ways to really further that connection on both ends. And then I think the last thing is really just following up and

being responsive. Especially in a world like we're in today where we're all stuck at home.

So you're forced to be on your computer, you're forced to be on your phone, checking your email every day, that responsive rate and how quickly you're responding and following up goes even longer and farther than it used to I think because now there's almost no excuse not to send a quick thank you note, which so many people still appreciate it seems to some I think a little antiquated, especially younger generations might not realize the importance

of a thank you email. Really just a quick follow up, even if it's a couple hours later, hey, I really enjoyed speaking with you. The parts of our conversations that stood out to me were X, Y, and Z. And here's another reason why I think I'm a great fit. I look forward to hearing from you that just make somebody's day restates your interest and your seriousness

about the role. But again, just shows them like hey, you have the professional courtesy to at least let them know how you're feeling because sometimes it is hard to tell over video chat, what your thoughts are and what the next steps are going to be. And going into that making sure you're following up if they do email you about a next step and they do want to get something scheduled, the faster you can Get that response out there, the faster the process is going to

move for you. But it's also going to reflect how interested you are and how committed you are to making things go smoothly for everybody. So it's just making sure that you're communicating, almost over communicating. I think in a lot of ways in today's day and age goes the extra mile, because people would rather get maybe three emails from you in one day, then one every three days.

they get a thank you email. And after two days, if they don't receive a thank you email, they'll move on. I mean, it's again, and it depends on the roles, but really any role. Following up responding. And, and communicating is huge, especially in today's virtual world. With technology, it's very simple to just send a quick one to two sentence, follow up email, always make sure you include all parties on that email to know that everybody's aware of it.

comes of the process. Or if you're like, Man, this is exactly what I want to be doing that courtesy, I think is just really a nice thing to do. But it also just makes you look like a really well rounded professional. And then again, it's an opportunity for you to just restate yourself, I think there's no harm in putting it all on the table and expressing why you want this job. Everybody wants to be wanted. And hiring

managers are the same way. Like they get those butterflies from a candidate saying like, Hey, I'm really excited about this role. And I think I'm a really good fit. It's almost a mirror effect, where part of them's like, wow, okay, like, I think I really like you too, especially if your skills do align and your interview went really well, that they're just going to continue

to feed off that. So it's just these little tiny touches that realistically, none of this takes a very long time, you do not have to spend four or five hours preparing for that interview, you do not need to take all of these notes or do all of this extensive research on the company. And it takes you maybe five minutes to send some of these emails like none of this takes that long. But it's all about the thought that you put into it. That's going to make the difference.

team. As always, everyone keep an eye out for our next podcast where we are going to pull together five top ways to answer one of the biggest questions "wh do you want this job during a interview?" We are DefinedTalent a DefinedLogic service coming to you at Top5 Make it a great day.