Phew, it’s just an online interview. That’s way easier than an in-person interview, right?
Wrong! Contrary to popular belief, online interviews
can be much more difficult than in-person interviews. Sure, you COULD take an online
interview in your living room in your PJs. But doesn’t mean you SHOULD.
The stakes for online interviews are just as high as in-person ones, and the virtual
format comes with a host of unique challenges. So don’t make the mistake of underestimating
your next online interview. In today’s lesson, we’re going to take
a look at some of the challenges of online interviews and how we can address them.
And for those of you who are deeply invested in supercharging your online interview skills,
we have a special treat for you at the end of this lesson, so stick with us!
What’s up Explearners. Mary Daphne here of explearning.co where we believe social
skills are the key to the Good Life. What’s the Good Life? It’s where you call the shots,
you have a crew you can count on, and you’re on a mission you care about.
Before I jump in, I wanted to tell you about a great free resource we’ve created for
the Explearning community. It’s a comprehensive small talk guide. If you find yourself grasping
at thin air when you’re in unfamiliar social situations, then our small talk guide is for
you! Click the link in the description box below to get the downloadable delivered to
your inbox. Okay, so let’s first talk about what makes
online interviews tricky. I bet you can guess the first reason… It’s
kinda obvious. Ready for it? There’s a screen between you and the interviewer!
The presence of that screen makes a HUGE difference. We talk a lot about the shortcomings of virtual
communications. Because of that pesky screen, all of these shortcomings apply in online
interviews. For example, remember Professor Mehrabian?
He discovered that only 7% of our communication is conveyed with our words. The remaining
93% is conveyed in our body language and tone of voice.
So with online interviews, we’ve lost 93% of our communicative power, right off the
bat. Okay, well now you’re probably thinking:
“Umm, but MD, there’s video and sound in an online interview. So what’s the problem?”
Well unless you and the interviewer are projecting life-size holograms into each other’s locations,
there’s a huge difference between digital body language and real-life body language.
On a screen, the picture is effectively two-dimensional, and it’s a heck of lot smaller than a life-size
person. And unless you’re rocking a gigabit internet connection, chances are the image
is pixelated and your voice cuts in and out. Good luck trying to detect micro expressions
and subtle shifts in body language. Also, how are your laptop speakers? Or built-in
mic, for that matter? For most of us, the audio experience is heavily handicapped.
All of these little issues add up to a big problem when it comes to communicating with
clarity during the interview. So what’s a poor online interviewer to do?
For starters, we need to make our words count. Even with the addition of video, our words
and tone of voice are still our best tool for conveying our meaning. And since those
communicative devices need to compensate for a lack of body language, we need to be unusually
thoughtful about how we articulate our thoughts. The best way to be thoughtful is to take your
time when you respond. Don’t rush into an answer. Pause and consider what you are going
to say before you say it. Strategic preparation ahead of the interview
also goes a long way toward articulating your thoughts with clarity and precision.
Do your homework on the company and your interviewer. Try to anticipate ahead of time what types
of questions you’ll be asked. This way, you’ll have a general sense of how you’d
like to answer. You can also stack the odds in your favor
by developing a personal connection with the interviewer during your interview. People
who feel a personal connection to you are far more likely to evaluate you favorably.
Make sure you are conveying your authentic self through candidness and humility. Use
descriptive language to show, rather than tell, your capabilities.
There are also a number of important technical steps you can take to improve the clarity
of your communication during an online interview. Test and optimize your internet connection
ahead of the call. Among other things, you may want to ask any other housemates who share
your internet connection to go on airplane mode during your call.
You should also get your hands a on a decent mic and headphones to ensure you can speak,
and hear, clearly. You’d be amazed at how much better a $50 mic is compared to your
laptop speakers. And of course, don’t forget to adjust your
lighting so that the interviewer can see you clearly. Make sure your face isn’t shrouded
in shadow or underexposed due to a bright window behind you.
Finally, don’t make the rookie mistake of looking away from the camera. Instead, speak
and listen with your eyes glued to the camera lens so that you appear to be engaging directly
with your interviewer. ----
Phew, okay, I’ll stop there. As you can see, I have a lot to say on this
topic. Way more than I can fit in a YouTube video.
Which is why we decided to put together an entire web course on this very topic.
If you’re looking for a much more detailed walkthrough of the steps you need to take
to ace an online video interview, check out the link in the description box below.
This course draws from Greg and my combined experience navigating highly selective recruiting
processes, on both sides of the table. We get deep into the head of the interviewer
to understand what they are looking for in candidates.
It’s packed with original insights and powerful, actionable strategies to equip you for success.
Again, if you’re interested, check out the link below.
So now that I've shared our thoughts, I would love to hear about your experiences with online
interviews. What challenges have you encountered so far? What strategies have helped you overcome
those challenges? Share that with me and the Explearning community in the comments below.
And, if you loved this lesson, please be sure to let me know. You can give this video a
thumb’s up on YouTube and if you haven’t done so already subscribe to join our tribe
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about new lessons and our weekly live streams. Email this video to a friend or coworker who
also wants to supercharge their social skills. While we’re at it, feel free to also share
it with your Facebook and Twitter friends as well!
And remember, the writeup of these lessons are always available on our blog at explearning.co/blog.
With that, have an awesome week, Explearners. Thank you so much for joining me and I’ll
see you next time for your next Explearning lesson.
Happy Explearning ⚡