Dress as if you would to attend an interview in the office

First things first, you must ensure you are dressed professionally and as you would to attend an interview in person. This doesn’t mean wearing a business shirt and tie with tracksuit pants on the bottom. Just because your bottom half wont necessarily be seen on camera, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t dress appropriately. What if you had to stand up to adjust your screen? Or were asked to review something that wasn’t right in front of you? Exactly.

It should also be noted that certain colours don’t come up as nicely on camera. So, make sure you do a camera test first as your lucky floral interview shirt may not come up as well on camera as it does in person. After all, you want the focus to be on you and not on your shirt or necklace that is reflecting so brightly into the camera that it is blinding the interviewer.

Ensure your surroundings are clear

Whether your interview is via video or phone, it is important that you take the call in a businesslike setting. Start by making sure the room has a proper chair to sit on and a table to set up your computer/iPad/phone for the video. You want to ensure that the background is neat and tidy as well, as any clutter could have you be perceived as disorganised and it’s also a distraction. So, avoid a busy backdrop.

Maintain professional body language

Whilst you can’t give the interviewer your best handshake through a screen, you can still use professional body language that shows that you are interested and engaged in the digital interview. Start by sitting up straight with your shoulders back and not hunched over the screen. Use firm nods in response to questions and hand gestures when you are explaining things to show that you are interested and engaged. Do not forget to look into the camera too, as this will ensure you are looking directly at the interviewer. It can be easy to look over the screen and around the room when you are thinking of an answer to a question, so try and make a conscious effort not to do this.

Ensure you remain present in the interview

With a computer or phone in front of you, it can often be a distraction. Whilst you are interviewing, it is a good idea to log out of all social media channels, including email, so that you aren’t receiving notifications throughout your interview which could in turn be a distraction. Even if your eyes only wander to the corner of the screen for a second, the interviewer will notice and it’s not a good look. You wouldn’t put your phone on the table in an in-person interview, so don’t do it in a video one.

Use the video interview to your advantage

Whilst you must remain present, don’t be afraid to have a copy of your CV in front of you/next to your computer. You may have a few key questions you would like to ask, or some points on your CV that you would like to address. The advantage of a video interview is that you can have some cues in front of you to avoid freezing in the interview and having a mind blank. A great tip is to place a few small post-it notes along the top of your computer screen with dot points of anything you want to ask or say (just make sure you still have full view of the camera and interviewer!), that way when you look at them you wont be looking around the room and away from the screen.

Practice

Just as you may run through some practice interview questions for an in-person interview, it’s a good idea to do so for a video one too. Why not practice via FaceTime with friend/family member to check your camera and sound are working properly and to work out the best position for your camera. After all, you want the interview to get off to a smooth start, not with you readjusting your camera and not being able to hear anything. Sort any technical problems out before the interview begins.