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Remote Interviewing: Our Top Tips for Candidates

• April 21, 2020

Remote video interviews are becoming increasingly popular; working within the data center industry, we've seen this dramatic increase first hand. It seems as though, due to ease and convenience, that there’s a chance we’ll be seeing remote interviews becoming the new ‘normal’.

We want to share with you our top tips to help you prepare and execute your remote interview, based on Preparation, Performance and Post-Interview. If you're a candidate looking for a new role in the data center industry, make sure you keep up to date with our jobs page.

Preparation

The main differences between face-to-face interviews and remote interviews come in the preparation stage.

1. Test your platform. Your interviewer will let you know what platform they will be using to conduct the interview. This could be Skype, Zoom, Microsoft Teams etc. Make sure you download and test the platform ahead of your interview, so you can see whether you encounter any problems and you know how to navigate your way around. Don’t leave this test until 5 minutes before your interview as you will look unprepared.
    
2. Test your connection. Be prepared you may have to work with poor connection so you want to make sure you can stream video in the software. Have a back-up solution in-case. If your connection is too poor to stream video then make your interviewer aware of this, it may be that they suggest a telephone interview instead.
    
3. Test your technology. Make sure your laptop/phone/headphones are fully charged ahead of your interview and that everything is working as it should.
    
4. Make sure you have good lighting and sound quality. A good tip for sound is to have headphones in so you can use their microphone. It’s important to not trust your laptop microphone as they can often be unreliable.
    
5. Keep your background plain, or if you can, blur your background. Zoom and Microsoft Teams allow you to blur the background. You don’t want to be sitting in front of a cluttered background or in front of your bed. This looks unprofessional and may distract the interviewer.
    
6. Dress for success! You should still dress in smart/business wear, as though you are going to a face-to-face interview. Not only does this look more professional, but it will also put you in the right mind-set for your interview.
    
7. Let others in your household know you have an interview and know not to disturb you. This accounts for keeping pets out of the room. We suggest going to a quiet room in your house, where you can close the door to enable privacy.
    
8. Adjust the angle of your webcam. You won’t want your interviewer to be looking at you from an unflattering angle. If you need to, prop your laptop up on a stand or a pile of books and adjust according to your height. This will keep you at a level position.

Performance

1. Answer the questions clearly and concisely. As with any interview, stick to the point and relate examples where relevant.
    
2. Maintain eye contact. Though you are speaking to your interviewer via video chat, it is still important to be able to maintain eye contact. Make sure you are looking through the viewpoint of your webcam rather than looking at your screen.
    
3. Ask questions. After your interviewer has asked all the questions they have prepared, ask questions you want to about the role and company to determine whether this is the right move for you. Just as this is advice for face-to-face interviews, this is still important to follow in remote interviews.

Post-Interview

1. Leave a lasting impression. Even more so than after a face-to-face interview where you have the benefits of shaking the hand of your interviewer, it’s still important that you leave a lasting impression so thank your interviewer. Send a message using the video channel or via email to thank the interviewer for their time and whether you are interested and want to follow things up. This only needs to be a few words, but ensures you leave a lasting impression.

We hope these tips prepare you well for your remote interview. Good luck!