Interviews have always provided an opportunity for candidates to showcase their abilities, talent, and leadership spirits to recruiters. However, ever since the pandemic struck, the concept of physical interviews has faded away, now being replaced by virtual interviews.

The unfortunate pandemic has transformed almost every aspect of recruiting talent, including interviews. Video interviews have become the norm, especially as most job roles have shifted to remote working, and the added benefits of cost & time savings attract organizations. However, not even for once should video interviews be considered as less serious or systematic. Even in virtual settings, employers tend to conduct interviews with extreme diligence and still expect the same sense of integrity & upstanding attitude from candidates.

Keeping that in mind, candidates must understand that there is a set of do’s and don’ts that they should follow in order to set good impressions on recruiters even in today’s scenarios. In this article, we will talk about the various do’s and don’ts of a video interview. Let’s begin.

The Dos
1. Prepare Well Beforehand
Before the interview starts, there are several things you must ensure. The beginning should be with ensuring that you’re well updated with all the latest happenings in your industry. Keep notes prepared, if needed, but you must have a thorough understanding of all that’s happening around you. This must be followed by dressing up the same as you would for an in-house interview. Dressing formally would portray our sense of sincerity despite being in a remote location.

If you feel the pre-interview jitters the night before, try to turn toward healthy measures of destressing rather than distracting your mind with video games, long movie nights, parties, or alcohol. Such actions can impact your performance the next day and ruin the chances of having a good interview.

Make sure that you’re in a closed room and have notifications turned off for all your devices. Remove all possible causes of disturbance so that you don’t get interrupted during the interview. Double-check that your mic and camera work properly, and try to do some practice recordings for a quick background check.

Being well-prepared for the interview beforehand will only help you stay more confident during it. With low chances of anything going wrong, you can wind up the interview smoothly.

2. Always Keep Your Resume On Hand
Just like for offline interviews, keep your resume handy for reference. Interviewers tend to ask certain specific questions about things mentioned in your resume, so you must always have it on hand to avoid anything holding the interview. Additionally, it will portray your preparedness for the interview and stop you from giving any unclear or vague answers.

3. Have Good Energy and Give Direct Responses
Maintain a positive and optimistic attitude during the interview. As you’re not present in physical settings, the only way you can express your positivity is through your posture and facial expressions. Try keeping an attentive posture and happy facial expressions. Express your passion and interest through your body language just as much as you do with words. Avoid keeping blank expressions.

Also, give direct responses rather than weaving stories. The interviewers should understand the gist of your responses, and if they get lost in the length of your answers, the purpose will most likely remain unsolved, and your chances of selection will also reduce. So, avoid rambling and answer as clearly as possible.

The Don’ts
1. Don’t Lose Focus and Avoid Over-Responding
Stay focused on the interview panel and attentively listen to everything they ask or say. If you have a set of required notes in front of you, don’t get too lost in them. The interviewers shouldn’t get the impression that you’re reading scripted answers.

Also, avoid over-responding and squeezing in unnecessary facts just because you have knowledge about it. Stick to what is being asked and portray efficiency as much as possible.

2. Avoid Getting Too Personal
When you’re asked to talk about your past experiences and failures, avoid getting too personal. It is common to lose your train of thought during online meetings. However, oversharing about personal experiences can turn off the interviewer and diminish the quality of the rest of the interview.

3. Don’t Leave Long Pauses Unexplained
Video interviewing brings a set of expected problems with it. Either party can have internet failures or connectivity issues with microphones. Although such glitches are expected to occur, ensure that you don’t leave any long pauses unexplained. Even if you’re pausing to collect your thoughts, let them know. Interviewers observe your soft skills just as attentively, and such behavior will highlight your good and professional personality to them.

4. Don’t forget to Follow-Up
Although the interviews are now unconventional, it doesn’t diminish the importance of follow-ups. Email your interviewers to thank them for the opportunity and follow up regarding post-interview thoughts. Follow-ups in video interviews matter just as much as they did for in-house interviews.

Conclusion
Whether it is an in-house interview or a video interview, the goals don’t really change. Just as candidates still aim to show they are fitting for the job, the recruiters still want to recruit the best talent. The only aspect that truly changes is the way the interview is conducted.

Change in the mode of interview brings with it certain changes in behavioral expectations and added responsibilities for ensuring smooth conduct. By understanding the do’s and don’ts of video interviews, candidates can ensure they finish their interviews smoothly and with minimal interruptions.