How to conduct virtual interviews?
Recently I went on a job hunt and I had to go through my fair share of interviews. The times are changing and virtual interviews are becoming a norm. There are a lot of blogs/tutorials telling you how to conduct yourself as an interviewee while going through a virtual interview. This blog is directed towards the other side of the table. This blog talks about how a virtual interview should be conducted if you’re an interviewer.
Disclaimer: Everything written here is my personal opinion and not the absolute truth
During my interviews, I had some experiences due to which I coined (or did I?) the term An Entitled Interviewer.
An Entitled interviewer is a person, who, even before the start of the interview thinks themselves somewhat superior to the candidate. Some interviewers don’t realise that an interview isn’t just a quiz where they’re the quiz master. This happens more than it should.
Keeping this in mind, I’ve compiled a list that I think could improve a candidate’s experience in an interview.
Things to do as an interviewer
Introduce yourself first
- Start by introducing yourself to the candidate. *What you do? What problem are you solving at the organisation? etc.* This will make the candidate more comfortable and it will help the candidate know, what you’re looking for in a candidate’s introduction. It’s not just you that has to work with the candidate but the candidate also has to work with you.
Don’t rush things
- Try making the candidate comfortable before diving straight into the interview specific questions. Give the candidate a little time to adapt to the environment.
Don’t be an entitled interviewer (Obviously!)
- Don’t reschedule at the last moment. If you’re busy with your work, the candidates could also be very busy with their work. If they can take some time out to have a chat with you, it should be respected. It’s not just the candidate who needs this job, but the organisation needs the candidate as well. (Happened to me, twice)
- Don’t make them turn on the video if you’re not turning it on. Apart from network issues, there should be no reason for the candidate to show themselves when the interviewer is choosing not to. This happens a lot. Either both the videos should be turned off or both the videos should be turned on.
- Don’t ask the candidate to share the screen just so you could see that they’re not cheating. This is a highly unreliable way of checking if the candidate is cheating. Most of the platforms give you the option to select a particular application or screen to share. This instantly shows that the interviewer doesn’t trust the candidate.
Don’t mute yourself
- Interview is not a simple question and answer session where the interviewer asks a question and the candidate starts figuring out the answer to it. You want to see if the candidate would be able to collaborate properly with the team. Constantly assure the candidate that you’re listening to their thoughts. Candidates don’t want to bounce the ideas or thought processes off the wall.
Opinion: It’s always better if a candidate reaches the solution to a complex problem by thinking about different approaches, rather than starting at the solution itself.
These are some of my opinions on the ways we could make the interview processes more seamless for the candidate.
As virtual interviews are going to be a part of our professional lives, we should try and make these as seamless as face to face interviews.
The way that the company is conducting the virtual interviews can tell the candidate a lot about the company.
The candidate’s experience during the interview can prove to be a very strong factor while deciding the company the candidate wants to work with.
Feel free to reach out to me on my website
