These can be a challenge regardless of which side of the table you’re on…

Interviews are when the basics are both on display and even being actively assessed.

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We don’t always have as much notice as we’d like, but the more of the basics you can master the more you can focus on preparing for the content of the interview rather than how you present yourself. Specifically take time to consider:

Visual Cues — How are you going to convey attention and interest?

Postural Cues — How are you going to convey confidence? Approachability?

Vocal Cues — How will you be engaging?

The Substance — And how will you do all of the above while saying the right thing…

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The tips covered in the basics will all apply to in-person interviews, but additional dimensions can be added when interviews are conducted via video. Four points are worth carefully considering in advance, whether you are the interviewer or the interviewee.

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First, lighting is important. If your face isn’t well-lit you will be unable to effectively convey eye contact and facial expressions (not to mention it’s distracting to attempt to have a conversation with a silhouette). Make sure you’re well and evenly lit, and not positioned with a window or significant light source behind you.

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Next, consider your camera angles. You want to make sure you can naturally be in the centre of the field of view. With some laptops, that can mean raising it up on some books so that you’re not being filmed from a low angle (and thus have your face slightly distorted).

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Once you have the camera set up properly you'll want to think about how you can convey attention and interest through eye contact— even over video. To do this, try setting up your screen so that you can easily look directly into the camera (or at least appear to; if you’re a few degrees off people often don’t notice). One way could be a layout like the above: rather than fill the screen with the video, which often results in looking somewhere in the middle of the screen, try a smaller window close to the camera lens. This should allow you to look into the camera as you speak, while still observing the other person’s reactions. You can also place notes near the camera in order to avoid obviously looking elsewhere (if you look at notes low on the screen or on your desk, you may appear to have your eyes shut when you consult them!).

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And on the topic of notes… While it is important to prepare, there is such a thing as over-preparation. The temptation to do this in a video interview can be even stronger than an in-person interview, given the interviewer can’t actually see what you might have propped up off-camera.

If you have so many notes that you are either:

  • Obviously looking around to find the right point every time you are asked something.

  • Distracting yourself by thinking more about your notes than listening to the actual questions.

Then you need to seriously pare it back.