Interview Guide

• Choose an appropriate interview space that is quiet, comfortable, and private.
• Have a copy of your resume available for your reference when answering questions.
• Keep a short list of your qualifications and skills specific to the job you’re interviewing close at hand- a “cheat sheet” will help you respond to related questions without fumbling for words.
• Make sure your phone isn’t set to block unknown callers.
• Be ready to take notes.
• Be sure to smile. Smiling will project a positive image to the listener and will change the tone of your voice.
• Speak slowly and enunciate clearly.

Test Your Tech

• Cut down on technical difficulties by testing out your setup ahead of time using the same platform, internet connection, and hardware you’ll be using for your interview.

Set Up Your Shot

• Choose a quiet area and set up in front of the most neutral background you can—either a blank wall or a room without a lot of distracting clutter or decoration. Make sure you’re well lit (natural light is best) with your light source behind your computer or phone, not behind you. (And if you must use a phone, prop it up rather than holding it in your hand.) If it’s hard for you to find a space with good natural lighting in your home, you might consider investing in a selfie ring light that sits around the camera on your laptop or phone.

Don’t Sit Too Far or Too Close

• Just like you wouldn’t sit three inches or eight feet from your interviewer in a conference room, you don’t want to sit an uncomfortable distance from your computer. When you’re setting up your chair, you’ll want to make sure you don’t end up looking too tiny or too huge. To be well proportioned, make sure there’s a bit of empty space on the screen above your head and check that your shoulders and upper chest are visible.
  Prep for Optimal Eye Contact
• While actual eye contact isn’t possible in a video interview, you’ll want to get as close as possible. Make sure you’ve found a comfortable distance that allows you to look straight ahead rather than down at the camera. And place the window where your interviewer will appear on the same monitor as your camera and move it as close to the camera as possible centered is best.

Pay Attention to How You Sound, Too

• People are usually concerned with how they look in a video interview and often forget to think about how they sound. Take note of how fast you speak, how you pause, and the tone and pitch of your voice. Be sure to speak clearly and at a reasonable pace but keep it natural. Since there’s less body language–based communication in a video interview, you also want the way you speak to help get across how you feel about what you’re saying. Make sure you sound excited when discussing the things you’re passionate about, for example.
  Minimize Interruptions—But Take Them in Stride If They Happen
• Do whatever you can to cut down on the chances of being interrupted. If you can, set up in a room where you can close the door and inform anyone you share a space with that they shouldn’t disturb you during your interview (and give yourself a cushion on either side.) Check your space the day before for any unexpected distractions. You don’t want to be caught off guard by an ongoing construction project, for example. And make sure you turn off or silence your phone or any other electronic device that might make noise and pause any notifications on your computer.
• If there’s a high chance of you being interrupted by something outside of your control, mentioning it at the start can prepare your interviewer and show them you’re proactive. It can also help settle your nerves about the situation. For example, if you have a dog in the next room that might start barking, you can make your interviewer aware of that possibility.

The importance of “doing your homework” before the interview cannot be overstated. One of the first questions you may be asked is “what do you know about our company?” Unless you are able to speak intelligently about what they do, you may not be able to recover for the rest of the interview.

What should you find out about the company?

• What products or services do they provide? Is there anything new they will be promoting soon?
• Have they received any publicity lately? What are the important aspects of the company’s history?
• Have they been bought? Recently merged?
• What are the current trends or issues in that industry? What kind of predictions is there for their type of business?
• Who are the key players in their company and/or industry?
• Who is their competition? How do their products and/or services compare?
• What is the organizational culture like? Conservative? Risk-taking?

You only have limited time to express to the interviewer how your skills will benefit them, so be succinct, but with enough depth to be meaningful.

• Make a list of the key points you want to make sure you cover in the interview. This could include your most valuable skills, your knowledge of their market, a networking contact you made there.
  • Insert these points in appropriate places during your interview to ensure the interviewer receive this important information, even if he or she does not directly ask a question, which would elicit this response.
• Develop a three or four sentence statement about yourself, which describes your best skills and attributes. Having this kind of statement prepared in advance keeps you focused on expressing your most important assets without rambling. It can also be used as a starting point to the question “tell me about yourself.”
  • Think of examples that illustrate your skills. For example, if an interviewer asks “what are your strengths?” replying with “I’m a good communicator” is not very descriptive. Backing up this claim with “I would say I am a good communicator based on several experiences that I had in my last job. For instance, Practice interviewing with a friend.

The following is a list of common interview questions. If you come to the interview with a clear understanding of who you are, your strengths and abilities, and what you want, you will be able to answer any of these questions.

• Tell me about yourself.
• What do you know about our company?
• What special qualities do you bring to this job?
• What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
• What do you want to be doing in five years? Ten years?
• What do you look for in a manager?
• How would your coworkers and boss describe you?
• Tell me about a difficult work situation and how you handled it.
• Describe how you typically approach a project.
• How do you motivate people and what is your management style?
• What would you want to work on first if you were offered the job?
• Why should we hire you?
• What was your toughest job challenge & how did you deal with it?
• Why do you want to work for us?
• What do you think it takes to succeed here?
• Do you prefer to work w/ others or on your own?
• What do you look for in a job?
• Why did you leave your last job?
• How do you spend your spare time?
• Describe your ideal work environment.
• What motivates you?
• What decisions are difficult for you to make?
• How do you handle stress?
• Tell me about the best job you ever had.
• Do you have any questions?

Follow the interviewer’s lead about when the interview is ending. Don’t initiate this step yourself.

• Conclude with more than “thanks for your time.” Express your interest in the company again and reinforce briefly why you are a good match for the position.
• Find out what the next step is. Do they have more candidates to interview? Will there be a second interview? When does the position start? Is there any other information you can supply to help the interviewer in his or her decision?
• Ask if you can follow up in a few days to see how their decision-making process is going. Thank the interviewer for meeting with you.
• Always send a thank you letter to your interviewer(s). This is yet another way to gain positive exposure.

Once again, say more than “thanks.” Comment on something you learned from the interview if appropriate. Also reiterate in a few sentences how you can benefit the company.