The Expert’s Tips on How To Prepare for an Online Interview
As you can imagine, during lockdown we have seen a lot of things changing in recruitment, so you need to know how to prepare for an online interview – or even just an important meeting. The way things are now during lockdown won’t only be the new norm for the foreseeable future… we believe that these kinds of lockdown changes will most probably become the new normal post-lockdown and forever more!
With people working from home, we now live in a world where more and more interviews and meetings are now being conducted online via online meeting platforms like Zoom. As a result, many of our clients have come forward asking what the best way to go about this is. Of course, it can be as simple as hitting call on Zoom or Skype, but we’ve been advising many of our clients – both interviewers and interviewees – how to incorporate new ideas and embrace new technologies when it comes to recruitment interviews. Some go without saying, but some are vital but often overlooked small things such as:
- Making sure you are conducting interviews in a quiet room
- Ensuring there are no animals, kids or other interruptions around
- Thinking about how you come across e.g. what is in your background?
You don’t, for example, want your teenage kids’ heavy metal music blasting in the background. Having dirty pots and pans in the sink may show a potential client/employer you are messy. And you definitely don’t want this to happen mid-interview!
This video is proof it really can happen to anybody, however bright you are or however important the inline interview. Robert Kelly might be a professor but he definitely didn’t think about how to prepare for an online interview before going live on BBC News 24 and being beamed across the world! This is what he’ll be famous for the rest of his life. Yes, he can laugh it off, and it hasn’t really affected his reputation, but imagine if this happened to you and you didn’t get a job because you didn’t think about how to prepare for an online interview.
Tip Numero Uno is… Don’t be like Professor Robert Kelly!
So as well as this fun visual mnemonic to help you remember, we’ve also decided to make the next module of our new training series ‘Learn to Lead’ in the HR Academy to cover recruitment and we’ll no doubt need to consider these things also as the new ‘norm’.
10 Tips On How to Prepare for an Online Interview from the Experts
With all this in mind, we decided to ask Fiona Mobbs from Your Colour & Style if she could give us her thoughts on how people should be presenting themselves when it comes to these new online interviews, especially when it comes to how to prepare for an online interview.
Recently Fiona, along with Mindset Coach Cliff Jerred, recorded a video about being interviewed online – they combine their specialisms to show how you can enhance your chances of gaining a job offer, it is all about “Preparation, appearance, and colour.”
Fiona has also recently made another video with her Top Ten Interview Tips which you can find here.
Fiona is a highly trained, independent personal stylist and belongs to the Federation of Image Professionals International (FIPI). For over ten years, she has been helping women understand what colours and clothing styles work best for them so that they can develop their unique style. Check out her website for more information: https://www.yourcolourandstyle.com/
If you would like help on how to prepare for an online interview or any support with the ‘new normal’ recruitment procedures, please feel free to contact the KUHR team at [email protected]