How to Impress a Prospective Employer During a Video Interview

The impact of Covid-19 on the recruitment process has resulted in more and more video interviews, with often only a face-to-face interview taking place in the final stages.

When meeting in person, it’s very easy for the interviewer to see how you portray yourself through your body language, facial expressions and even how interested you look! Interviewing over Teams, Zoom or any other video platform however, does make it harder for the Interviewer to see this, especially if there is lots of background noise, or even distractions on your end! (I.e. Don’t leave the TV on and glance across because something interesting has popped up on the screen!)

With the percentage of Employers opting to conduct initially interviews drastically increasing recently, we have put together a few tips for you in order to help you excel during your next video interview!

Managing your Environment
As mentioned above, managing your environment is a key element to you succeeding with a video interview. Aside from managing easily avoidable distractions such as televisions, radios etc. You should also think about the lighting and the setting that you are in. For example, you should try to avoid, where possible interviewing in your bedroom. Preferably, you should aim to interview in your living area or kitchen… or study if you have one! Make sure that the room is bright enough for the interviewer to see you, but not so bright, that the sun is shining on the camera and you cannot be seen!

If you have young Children, that are at home when you’re interviewing, it’s always best if you can get someone you know well to keep an eye on them whilst you’re interviewing. In the event that this isn’t possible, and you need to be interviewee and parent, try to keep them occupied with their favourite television programme or film, and move into another room leaving the door open. Naturally, this is not the ideal situation, but it would be advantageous for you to inform the interviewer of your situation before the interview!

Your Appearance
It sounds pretty self-explanatory doesn’t it, you wouldn’t turn up to an interview in your pyjamas, so don’t do it for a video interview!

You’ll often hear of how people wear a shirt on their top half, but joggers on their lower half when on Teams calls, however, this really is not advisable. By dressing as you would for an onsite interview, you will automatically be in the right frame of mind for interviewing, helping you to come across well to the interviewer.

Another thing to mention, is that if you’re using a video platform that you use personally too, make sure that your display name is something professional and simple, I.e. your name.

Body Language and Facial Expressions
Just like a face-to-face interview, you should be mindful of your body language and facial expressions, just because you’re interviewing in the comfort of your own home, doesn’t mean you should be sitting with your feet up!

In addition to maintaining a good posture, smiling, you should aim to keep eye contact with the interviewer. This can take a little practice, so you may wish to do a few dummy runs with a family member or friend, but spend the majority of your time looking into the camera and not in the persons eyes on the screen! Due to the way in which we communicate, your eyes will naturally be drawn to the eyes of the interviewer, but by looking into the camera it will make you look even more engaged in the conversation.

As with all interviews, ensuring that you prepared rather than referring to notes throughout will allow you to deliver coherent responses to the questions you’re being asked.

If you have any questions about an up and coming interview, and would like some guidance on how to come across well, give us a call on 01245 362 500 to have a chat with one of our experienced Recruitment Consultants!