How To Ace Your Video Interview

HOW CAN YOU ACE YOUR VIDEO INTERVIEWS?

Prior to the outbreak of coronavirus, employment in Britain hit a record high. The Office for National Statistics reported that the number of people in work increased by 184,000 in the three months to January 2020, reaching a record high of 33 million.

While this was great news at the time for both recruiters and people looking for jobs, it didn’t last long, and the coronavirus pandemic has subsequently caused chaos.

Although some thought that the current state of play would pass quickly, it is now becoming apparent that businesses and their places of work are going to be impacted for a long time yet.

This means that companies and hiring professionals are having to adapt quickly and think outside the box if they are to recruit and retain the best talent. Subsequently, this means that the people applying for these jobs also need to be flexible and adapt to new recruitment processes.

Digital recruitment

Before COVID-19 had even begun to rear its ugly head, video interviewing had already started to emerge as an important part of the hiring process. Technology advancements mean that people across all sectors have become increasingly comfortable with virtual meetings and digital meet and greets, while social media has become an important part of the recruitment process.

According to US company Career Arc, 91% of Employers Use Social Media for Recruitment, with the same group believing that it will become an even more significant platform for recruitment in the next five years.

Odro is one of the UK’s biggest video interview platforms and according to their CEO, there were 6,500,000 minutes of video interviews on Odro in April and more than £1,000,000 of placements logged on the platform. This demonstrates that businesses are still hiring and interviewing.

It’s safe to say however that lockdown and quarantine measures have forced many more companies to take the plunge into virtual recruitment and remote onboarding processes.

In recent years there has been an influx of artificial intelligence tools that can source and screen candidates. There are even algorithms that can analyse candidates’ tone of voice, facial expressions, and speech patterns during video pre-assessments.

So how can potential candidates ace their video interview and what are our top tips for success?

How to ace your video interview – The White Label Way

The first thing to say here is that it is important that everyone treats the remote interview just like a traditional face-to-face meeting. Just because it feels a little less formal is no reason to slack off. The roles are the same and, if anything, you have to work harder to make that personal connection and leave an impact.

Make sure you follow these five strategies to maximise your chances:

• Test the Tech: Before your interview starts, make sure you are comfortable with the technology you are using for the video interview. It may be a good idea to even ask your White Label consultant to do a trial run.
• Set the Stage: Make sure you set up your video interview in a space free of distractions, cluttered backgrounds and try to position yourself in natural light.
• Dress for success: Dressing professionally would be essential during a ‘normal’ interview so a video meeting is no different. Choose formal attire and avoid bright colours and busy patterns.
• Properly prepare: Again, just like you would do for a normal interview make sure you have gone over the job description thoroughly, know your CV inside out and are familiar with the company you are meeting with.
• Be aware and engaged: Try to maintain ‘eye contact’ with the interviewer, hold yourself with good posture and make sure you stay engaged and don’t fidget.

By honing your interview skills and being prepared, you are demonstrating to your potential employer that you are committed, organised and genuinely interested in the role you are applying for. Make yourself stand out for all the good reasons and the time you put in preparing will surely pay dividends.

The future is bright

Many professionals in the recruitment world think that the global coronavirus pandemic has the potential to change the world of work forever, with virtual interviews being just one part of this.

At the end of the day, there are many benefits of virtual interviews – candidates don’t need to travel to get there for one thing, and they are much more time-efficient for everyone involved.

Remote working has become the norm for many people over the past couple of months, as has flexible working and both these things could also be a major positive going forwards.

The LinkedIn Global Recruiting Trends 2019 Report stated that flexibility in the workplace is becoming more and more important as employees look for a better work-life balance: Since 2016, there has been a 78% increase in job posts on LinkedIn that mention work flexibility.

Here at White Label, we think it will be interesting to see if this trend continues and if video interviews become a more mainstream part of the recruitment process as a whole. To make sure you’re ahead of the pack, check out our full Video Interview Guide here.