Tips to Interview Like a Pro (Part 1) By: Staffing Strong

By Nonprofit Marketing ArizonaSeptember 9, 2020

So, you have an interview even during the current healthcare crisis-congratulations! You are turning heads with your skills, experience, and resume, during a pandemic no less. You're almost ready for a face-to-face talk with a hiring manager that could be life and career-altering. Ready to ace that interview?

Maybe a few tips can help. Because let's face it, interviewing can be intimidating in a regular, in-person setting. Video conference interviews have a few more moving parts and can be extra intense if you're camera shy.

I've pulled together some tips to help you nail that next interview-whether it's on Zoom, WebEx, or Skype-I've got you covered!

1. Find the perfect place.

Do you have a quiet corner in your house or apartment with a window nearby? You want that natural glow to keep the conversation personable. Try to sit facing light or a window. Do a test run and double-check your glasses or jewelry for excessive glare that can get distracting.

Avoid sitting right in front of a window or lamp-backlighting creates shadows.

Find the best possible background-one that's basic, clean, and limits distractions. If you're agonizing over which wall works best for you, use a custom background instead. Zoom has a handful you can upload-applications like Microsoft Teams have ready-to-go options right in the meeting menu.

2. Maintain eye contact.

I know! You need to make confident eye contact in any interview, but it can be tougher when you're on video. Here's how to get it just right:

If you're using your phone to interview, go hands-free if you can. Purchasing a cost-effective phone mount is ideal-then you can stick it to your window or on the wall nearby your light source. If you can't get your hands on a smartphone mount then you can prop your phone on a nearby shelf or even a stack of binders.

If you're interviewing via webcam, make sure you're positioned at eye-level with the camera lens. If you have more than one monitor, make sure the one with the camera is squared perfectly centered in front of you.