We live in a digital era where careful planning and participating in virtual interviews have become a norm in the course of securing a job. While plenty of people prefer virtual interviews to physical ones, there are common mistakes that can turn the experience into a nightmare.
To prevent these common mistakes during virtual interviews, you must recognize them and take steps to avoid them before your interview.
1. Fluctuating Internet Connection
A fluctuating internet connection is arguably the most common challenge during virtual interviews. It is usually from the interviewee’s end, but this is not to say network hiccups don’t stem from the interviewer’s side.
Either way, the interviewee takes the brunt of the fall, as the interview gets rescheduled or canceled entirely. While this is undesirable for both the interviewer and interviewee, the interviewer can move on with other candidates who have a hitch-free internet connection.
Hence, it is pertinent for you to have a seamless internet connection during your interview. To avoid falling victim to this mistake, you can test-run your internet connection, andfix any Wi-Fi connection issuesyou identify before your meeting.
While you can do this anytime, conducting a final check hours before your interview is advisable. Additionally, you can set up a mock interview with anyone and see how your internet connection fairs during the interview.
2. Technical Issues
Technical issues during a virtual interview could arise from a variety of factors, from hardware issues like a malfunctioning web camera or faulty microphone, to inexperience with the required software. Prospective employees do not have to be IT experts to attend virtual interviews, but a considerable tech savviness is still essential.
You can always try out the software beforehand or have someone help set up the system’s hardware requirements, such as the microphone and webcam. Further, you can work towardsinteracting with mainstream video-conferencing tools like Google Meetsince virtual hiring companies will likely use them.
3. Lack of Synergy/Rapport
Virtual interviews often lack rapport between the two sides. While physical interviews allow more connection between interviewers and interviewees, virtual consultations are more professional and do not offer as much synergy as physical meetings.
To improve rapport in your virtual interview, you should listen keenly to questions to respond most effectively. Further, you can enhance your synergy with the interviewer during question time.
Most interviewers often give candidates room to ask questions at the end of the interview. During this interval, you should interact with the interviewer and ask intelligent questions to pique their interest.
4. Missing Out on Non-Verbal Cues
In most virtual interviews, interviewers or prospective employees usually cannot grasp non-verbal cues. As an interviewee, you can quicklylearn to communicate mindfully with techbefore your interview.
Some of the non-verbal cues that interviewers look out for include; facial expression, lousy posture, nervousness, and professionalism. With this in mind, candidates can look for body language cues to turn the table in their favor.
For example, you can remember to keep a level head, make and keep firm eye contact, and smile as much as you can while without coming across as overly forward. Before the interview, you can pre-record yourself to evaluate your level of command over these cues.
5. Inability of Candidates to Grasp the Company’s Culture
There is a saying that you should show people where and how you work rather than tell them. Physical interviews allow prospective employees to get a feel for how an organization works, their level of stress, and communication patterns and determine if they would be able to fit in.
In a physical meeting, an interviewee can grasp the company’s culture by seeing the impressions of employees and the ambiance in the workplace.
Conversely, virtual interviews leave no room for the candidates to develop first-hand impressions of the company’s culture. Despite this drawback, the presence of the web comes with virtual interviews, as interviewees can easily connect with nearly anybody across the globe.
As a budding employee, you canlearn more about your potential employersby checking out what people say about them in online job communities. Other ways include reaching out to past and present employees and asking questions that give you a sense of the company’s culture before the interview.
6. Disruptive Sounds
Disruptive sounds stem from notification sounds or background noises in your setup. As ineffectual as they sound, they can lead to miscommunication, distraction, and frustration during the interview.
These can cumulatively lead to the interviewers getting the wrong impression of the candidate. Aside from giving the interviewer a hint of unpreparedness in the interviewee, it can set off the flow of the meeting and disrupt the interviewee’s mind, especially if it’s an emergency that needs urgent attention.
As an intelligent interviewee, you should make a concerted effort to prepare a quiet place for your virtual interview andset up visual alerts in place of notification soundsbefore your virtual interview. Doing this gives you room to put your best foot forward and showcase your skill while being fully secure in knowing you have your audience’s attention.
7. Inaccurate Screen Sharing
Virtual interviews allow prospective employees to present their ideas using multimedia and infographics. With screen-sharing platforms, interviewees can screen present their visual ideas to their interviewers for better understanding.
While screen-sharing allows interviewees to be more resourceful and versatile, it can become a nightmare when interviewees share the wrong presentation or even find it challenging to navigate the screen-sharing platform.
Interviewees should prepare their files and slides ahead of time and practice displaying them in the same manner as they would during the interview to reduce the likelihood of any errors occurring during screen sharing. This way, they can discover inaccuracies and master their presentations effectively.
A Seamless Virtual Interview to Improve Your Chances
A seamless virtual interview is essential to scoring yourself a job in the tech milieu. A lot of interviewees often look forward to the main interview and overlook the little things that can make or break it.
Aside from careful preparation, mock interviews are a great tool to evaluate your abilities and practice avoiding the mistakes most frequently made. Don’t let the fact that you are attending the discussion from the comfort of your home trick you into a false sense of security.
