There has been a lot of discussion about the new normal. My guess is that one thing that will stay with us in the new normal is that there will be more interviews held by Teams with people’s own PC at home than before. This is definitely good because it lowers the threshold for first-round interviews.
We all remember the funny memes where a child creeps into the room! While things happen when you’re working from home and with toddlers, try to pick your time and place. While the incident might be just funny for your interviewer it may get you off the track. Here are some useful tips for everybody.
- Make sure you have video capability and that it is working properly; a candidate who will at the beginning of the meeting say that sorry my video is not working, just will not go further. Most of the first-round interviews are to make contact, get to know each other and see how the chemistries “click”.
- Remember where your camera is and at least every now and then look at it. Keep your own picture in the frame so that you are reminded of that.
- Think about the background. If it’s natural, make sure, there is not a window right behind (then your face will be dark) or that there are no distracting images/items behind you. If you use background effects, be aware that if your surroundings are dark, there will be an unnatural “aura” around you head especially when you move and it may look awkward. Especially wearing big headphones may cause that effect. The best background is natural neutral colour wall and light coming from the front. You can also use a table lamp or ring light to light your face.
- Position yourself further away, so that part of your upper body is showing at least shoulders. If your face is too close to the camera, it will not show your body language which is equally important as your facial expressions. Remember, this is for you as well as for the other person a situation to figure out each other, not a one-way discussion.
- If you take notes by hand, make sure your notepad is close so that you don’t have to constantly look at it. Somebody leaning constantly their head forward close to the camera when taking notes loses the eye contact. If you take notes by the PC you are using, it might be a good idea to mention that beforehand, so that the other person doesn’t think you‘re checking your emails.
