Written by: Eric Handler
Lights, Camera, Virtual Interview!
Virtual hiring is helping organizations advance despite COVID. Skillfully conducting virtual interviews requires building trust and optimizing technology.
Building Trust is Mutual
Trust is foundational to an authentic virtual interview experience, and building it begins long before we click “Join.”
We judge candidates from the first contact: How long to return a call, reply to an email, or do what they promised? We note tone and diction, spelling and grammar, and every nuance.
Recruitment is a two-way street. Respect and responsiveness in reciprocity build trust along the way.
Optimizing the Platform
Since March, video meetings have been the default, yet many users have neglected optimizing the platform. That unfortunate nostril shot that can never be unseen? Avoid that nose being yours by:
- Ensuring your camera is eye-level
- Placing lighting in front of you, not behind
- Adjusting camera distance to a head-and-shoulders frame with a professional background
- Testing audio quality, critical to good communication
With trust building and technology tested, here’s how to ace a virtual interview:
- Establish eye contact by switching your gaze between the camera and the screen
- Exchange pleasantries long enough to settle in
- Gather feedback on the candidate’s recruitment experience so far
- Share the interview agenda
- Present the employer story and sell the opportunity
- Conduct the interview
- Answer the candidate’s questions
- Explain the next steps.
Finally, fix your mindset on grace. Accept that disruptions and interruptions are likely. Be gracious and don’t allow them to sidetrack what otherwise might be a right-fit candidate streaming to your screen.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
People Analyzer Tool to Identify Right-Fit Candidates
Executive Guide to Interviewing Executives – Seven Dimensions of Interviewing
3-Question Reset – Jumpstart COVID-Cautious Hiring
