Zoom interview

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Has anyone ever had a zoom interview? What are they like? I've only ever had face to face and I feel really nervous for some reason!
Thank you

Shameless bump! And it's actually teams if that makes a difference lol

There are videos about setting up screen to look your best.
Make sure you know what you are doing with the tech side of things and be mindful of facial expressions as over zoom can be magnified.

Have good lighting (a ring light works well, or in a pinch you could use a lamp behind the laptop on a table, dress well, make eye contact and speak clearly. Do you have a decent laptop to do the meeting on, if not could you borrow one, some cheaper laptops can be horribly grainy. Also if possible, plug your laptop into your router using an ethernet cable, it is much faster and can handle the calls better, I bought an adapter on amazon that plugs into my USB-C port for £5.

I've interviewed candidates a few times lately. Pretty much the same with a pretty straight forward ice breaker - just make sure you have no distractions if possible and test your connection etc before

Good luck

I haven't been interviewed over Zoom but I've done loads for some roles I've been recruiting for over the past 6 months or so. The first few minutes can be a bit awkward but it then just becomes normal.
My top tips would be
make sure you have the teams app downloaded in your computer / laptop and also on your phone as a back up. With teams you can only join the meeting from the link they email you so make sure you have access to the email on the device you will be joining from
Log in 10 minutes early to join the meeting to give yourself time to iron out any issues
If possible do a test run and understand / apply the screen settings- do you want to be able to see yourself or do you want to just see the interviewers. Make sure you know how to mute / unmute
Perhaps tell them you haven't done a video interview before and If you have kids at home tell them upfront you may be interrupted, and if it does happen just roll with it. I was interviewing someone this week and his kids kept coming in to collect stuff off the printer- I didn't mind at all and any decent interviewer shouldn't care
Prepare yourself exactly as you would for a face to face interview. Think of what they are likely to ask you and prepare at least 8 good examples that showcase your skills- when you've done really well, examples of how you work with / lead a team, when you've been in challenging circumstances etc all the usual stuff
Do your research about the role / the company and prepare a few questions to ask.
I think when you are nervous a bit of extra prep helps calm the nerves
Good luck!!

Remember you can put pay it now behind the screen to remind you about things you might like to make sure you cover, good examples of things you have done.

Also switch off phone so it doesn't ring

Pay it now?? Post it notes

I’ve been conducting a few, just ignore any awkwardness of talking over people by accident, it happens! Wear something plain coloured. Have a practice run with a friend if you feel unsure of settings. Have ID ready if they have asked to see it.

We spot light them and turn off our cameras for any presentations which are timed and cut off whether finished or not

If we feel they are reading off a script they are marked down accordingly.

Don't mind a referral to notes but some clearly read some answers word for word is not on.

Don't mind them writing down the question to refer to

Thank you so much everyone, I've asked a friend to invite me to a teams meeting tonight so we can work out lighting and angles etc

My husband works from home (pre covid) and the internet connection is fine

Thank you for the post it note idea I'm going to stick a few at the back of the wall now!

Thank you for your tips & good luck!

I have had several zoom interviews and have been the interviewer on the other side of the screen for ~ 20 interviews during the last year.

Couple of points from me - check your lighting, what can be seen in the background of your headshot (either blur the background, or scurry round frantically 2 mins before your interview tidying up!), tell kids not to start their musical instrument practice just before the interview starts, try not to have pets in the room (I'm sure my cat psyched out one interviewee when she jumped up into my lap and stared into the screen mid interview....) and turn your phones off /to mute.

Try not to go on and on when answering a question - face to face you might pick up on non verbal cues that you should really stop talking now, but you can't always spot these online. One of my interviewees went on for 18 mins with no encouragement from the panel at all (we were timing him by the end....) long after he'd answered the original question.

You may want to write the question down to refer to and to make sure that you have answered it completely - not a problem to my mind, hopefully it will help you to answer completely and not waffle.

Most people are most understanding if you need to ask them to repeat a question due to network issues etc, and remember the interviewers will be in the same boat as you.

Good luck!

@throwa thank you so much for the advice!!!
The kids and musical instruments really made me laugh! Luckily DH has agreed to taken DS out for a walk at that time on his lunch. I will test the lighting thank you!

This is very timely as I have an interview next week and am more worried about the technology going wrong than the actual interview!

I had a skype interview a while ago where the microphone setting was wrong and no-one could hear me... they had to reschedule .

I'd used skype lots on our laptop but not on the PC, I realised belatedly... check your tech! Get someone in the family to contact you via another device and make sure you know all the settings.

I've had a few, including for my current job.

Have a plain background or uncluttered background behind you it possible.

It's great to be able to have notes to look at, but make sure the panel can't see them. Practice the angle of the camera so you look professional.

I've done 2 in last 8 weeks.
Test your TEAMS connection works with family/friends first. That you understand the options TEAMS has, can make sure you have good enough sound & video.

Most boring background possible.

Recommend use a laptop not a phone -- your phone might ring in middle of the interview (!!)

Put camera high up like on a stack of books -- they don't want to look up your nose.

Good idea if you can make a list of essential criteria they listed to have lying to your side & then refer to it when they ask "Why do you think you'd be good at this job" -- can't do that in a real interview(!)

Short enough but not too short answers - like all interviews.

I had a zoom interview for my current job, i felt so anxious on how it would go but I actually loved it!

I prepped some sticky notes to give me reminders on what to say for key generic questions which might have come up and it really really helped me!

The first few minutes feel weird, but it quickly feels normal once you get going and break the ice

I'm all set up! Interview is in 10 minutes, wish me luck! I'll report back after if it helps anyone going for a virtual interview!

Hope it went well op. Any advice now you've done it?

Hi all, the interview went well thank you, it did feel normal after a few minutes but i don't think the actual job is for me, the hours don't suit sadly