Tips for successful video interviews

Since relocating to Yorkshire almost 10 years ago, I have remotely interviewed candidates on a daily basis and due to Covid-19 more and more people have had to do this.

There are many pluses to remote interviewing. Firstly, it can make the recruitment process much quicker.

A candidate could apply to a role, I could interview them, send their details to my client and arrange an interview with them, all in less than 24 hours.

This also means clients can interview from anywhere, and with so many people now working from home, this is a massive advantage.

Remember to put the applicant at ease. In a normal scenario, the candidate would have walked through the building seeing various team members who would have acknowledged them, offered them a drink and started to break the ice. This is really important, but doesn’t happen when you are remote interviewing.

I tend to make a bit of small talk before starting the actual interview and then ask an open question to get them talking about themselves, then go from there.

My advice to candidates is that though a remote interview can feel informal, it is still an interview. Dress smartly even if you have been working remotely and are dressed casually, and make sure there are no interruptions. Turn all technical equipment off, and ensure the dog and little people are hidden away so that they don’t walk in or make noise.

And a final tip for everyone: try to do a remote interview through wifi and not your phone signal due to breaks in the signal which can cause a number of technical issues.