5 Tips for Online Interviews

With the new digital era upon us, as well as the changing conditions caused by the COVID-19 virus recently, there seems to have been a shift in the process of recruitment that we all know and somewhat love.

Previously, we had all grown accustomed to arriving at the interview location, perhaps waiting in a random room for a moment or two. Then, you get ushered to enter the interview room, you shake the candidate's hand, greet them and introduce yourself, have a bit of small talk, and so the interview begins. However, today, such traditions seem to be changing.

No longer do interviewees find themselves at an office, let alone face-to-face with an interviewer. Candidates for a job position are being evaluated through digital means. Nowadays, video-conferencing platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Cisco Webex are the location of choice for most interviews. Knowing all about remote meetings is now a necessity and will help you have a positive take on this form of selection is advantageous. 

In order to succeed in maintaining fair outcomes, here are some tips or suggestions for you as the interviewer to keep in mind when conducting your next interview.

1. Turn your camera on

Having an interview online is quite hard in terms of establishing a connection. Such digital interferences can make candidates somewhat cold or even inhuman. By removing face-to-face interaction, candidates may find themselves at a bit of an unfair disadvantage. Since it may be harder for interviewees to conduct their interviews without really seeing the face of those interviewing them. Perhaps enabling your camera can help increase the humane aspect of an interview.

2. Offer a pre-recorded interview option

Digital interviews may increase the chances or likelihood of technical difficulties or issues occurring. Internet connections can be disrupted, cameras and microphones may not work well, and more.

With these new stakes, interviewees may have a strenuous time delivering the messages that they need to fully introduce themselves. Therefore, you can offer a pre-recorded interview option to try and eliminate the risks that come with these digital interviews.

3. Conduct your interviews in a quiet area

Whether this is face-to-face or online, interviews should not be disrupted. These moments are quite crucial for candidates to portray themselves in their own light, which can be hard if there is considerable noise from your side. That is why, respect the interviewee and perhaps mute yourself when needed.

4. Evaluate the platform that works best for you and those being interviewed

With so many digital platforms readily available, there can be a bit of confusion over which platform is the best one that suits you, your business, and those being interviewed. You can enjoy the benefit of combining all platforms under one virtual roof using an all-in-one meeting management software, like adam.ai. It not only allows you to integrate popular video-conferencing tools like Zoom and Teams, but also other management platforms like Slack, Office 360, and more to better coordinate your interviews.

5. Select a professional attire

You may think that since you're not meeting people in person, it's ok to dress casually, but we advise against that. It's important to dress professionally.

You can opt for a conservative, business casual style. What you wear will reflect your level of professionalism and leave an impression on your candidate.

What are the common online interview challenges?

When conducting online interviews, one needs to be considerate that there are major differences that candidates have to accommodate for. Since conducting interviews face-to-face enables interviewees to translate themselves better, some candidates may have a harder time reflecting on their experiences through digital interactions.

Other than that, there can be the added internet connection disruption, alongside other technical issues. Nevertheless, in these trying times, interviewers must be able to recognize that such circumstances require extra care and familiarize themselves with virtual meeting best practices in order to try and create more equal opportunities when interviewing others. Read more on how you can use adam.ai for your next interviews.

How can you optimize the process of online interviews?

What does a seamless online interview experience include? Having a seamless experience not only includes a reliable internet connection, a working microphone, and good camera quality, but you’ll also need a scheduling platform, an agile meeting platform that is suitable for both you and your candidate, a previously prepared interview agenda, writing private notes in real-time, having the candidate’s resume right in front of you, and creating an action item for post-interview follow-up.

At times, you may need certain people involved in hiring decisions to attend the meeting, but they may not be available. So, you should have your notes prepared for them and get them to vote on a decision.

➕ Tip. The online interview process can be much improved if the recruitment teams already have a pre-employment test with questions from different areas, depending on the role, that a candidate can answer and send before the interview. Take this Excel interview questions, from Test Gorilla, as an example.

You’ll find yourself juggling between several apps just to get the job done. To optimize the online interview process, an all-in-one meeting management software, like adam.ai, can be of help.

Jonathan Liang, a technical manager at Cisco, talks in this article about the issue of losing track of meeting outcomes and how adam.ai helped with that. 

The bottom line

To sum up, the shift to online interviews is evident and is here to stay. From improving hiring efficiency to reducing costs and keeping a safe distance during trying times, online interviews offer a plethora of benefits.

In this article, we've tackled several tips on how, as a recruiter, you can excel at virtual interviews and the common challenges. Besides applying these tips, you’ll need to find an all-in-one meeting management software that can help you have an efficient hiring process and hire the best candidates possible.

And while there may be multiple meeting management solutions available, here is why adam.ai is the all-in-one meeting management platform you can trust:

• adam.ai is one of Atlassian Ventures' portfolio companies.
• In the meeting management software category on G2, adam.ai has been ranked a leader and a high performer for successive quarters in the past years.
• adam.ai has been included in the Forrester Report in the AI-enabled meeting technology landscape.
• adam.ai is trusted and used by powerful teams and organizations worldwide for all types of critical meetings, like board, committee, project management, and business development meetings.
• And most importantly, adam.ai integrates with your existing workflow, is SOC2 compliant, provides dedicated support and success, and has a free trial option.