Interviewing for an interesting position tomorrow on Zoom. Any tips for interviewing online?

Thanks for any help.

Besides pulling a Jeffrey Toobin, I mean. That one I know.

98Ag99Grad said:

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probably goes without saying but dress like you were meeting in person. Includes wearing pants, lol.

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This! We actually asked candidates if they were wearing pants during a couple of interviews.

Make sure to set up your camera at a straight on angle that is stationary. Looking up people's noses was not pleasant. And if they were using their phones and just holding it, the constant bouncing and moving wasn't good either.

Good luck!

Change Detection said:

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Make sure you have good lighting on the zoom call,

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This.

Don't be back-lit, side-lit, or overhead-lit. If it means dragging every lamp in the place over to your set-up, do it.

And set up a good background. A plain, unadorned wall is acceptable but boring. Don't make it too busy, either. Make sure there's nothing back there that looks like it's coming out of your head. Remove anything that can be construed. Everyone has their own definition of "construed," but know your audience/industry.

Just pull a Toobin, you'll be fine.

I'd give you points for no pants, frankly. No shirt and smoking a cigarette would be boss as hell, too.

There's a Zoom setting to "touch up my appearance". It really does help, videoconferences are not friendly to first impressions.

have a clean, neutral background. Never know what books you have on your bookshelf (or other items) that could be an issue with someone you are speaking with.

To each their own. Whatever makes you feel the most comfortable during the process.

I did one a few weeks back.

Make sure you have a strong internet connection.
Make sure the kids and dogs are not going to make a peep.
If you're using a laptop camera, then set your laptop on something to elevate it.
Test your mic and speakers before the interview.
Position their screen near the camera.
Make sure your background is neat.

If there is some glitch or lag, politely ask that they repeat the question. Your internet might be great, but who knows about theirs.

Ulrich said:

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NastyNate said:

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My god. Who the heck has time to focus on books you may have on your bookshelf. Let alone ding someone for it. Just as long as the background isn't the family room where kids or a spouse are walking around you'll be fine.

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I don't think many people will ask you to zoom in on your bookshelf, but what if you get an interviewer who is very partisan and happens to notice your copy of The Art of the Deal or Dreams from my Father?

It's an easy thing to avoid, so no reason to take the chance. Whether you would actually want to work with someone who makes decisions that way is another question, but I don't think there's any doubt that there are people out there who will factor it in or at least be unable to avoid letting it cloud their judgment.

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This...

Hopefully it wouldn't matter but in today's climate...depending on your politics, it almost certainly would especially if the person you are interviewing with is a person you'd be reporting to or working with on a regular basis.

Easiest way to get natural lighting is to set up directly facing a window. Have the camera higher than you think. It should be eye level or slightly higher.

For general purpose interview tips, beforehand, have a couple good stories of your contributions lined up and ready to bring up. Think of examples in terms of SMART goals, because thats usually what your goals are going to be when you get to the job. Simple, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time bound.

Also, they're going to ask dumb interview questions like think of overcoming an obstacle, overcoming teammates personalities, etc. So have answers for those that paint you in a good light while not sounding whiny or one sided.

For technical interviews, I always try to stick to the following storyline of examples:

• discovery of problem
• finding out root cause of problem/diagnosis
• proposed range of solutions
• advantages of proposed solution in terms of improved performance, dollars saved, time saved
• execution of solution, show how you stuck to original scope and fought off scope creep
• knowledge sharing/documentation efforts

For engineers, showing how you methodically came to an solution is as important, if not more important than the answer. Because you can get lucky, and the interviewers don't really care about how that project example turned out. They are trying to see if your success stories show you can learn how to drive success on their problems.

I interviewed a guy on 9:30 on a Monday morning. Looked like he had just rolled out of bed and had on a t-shirt. He said he knows getting up early for a 9:30 interview is hard, and he thanked me for my time early on a Monday morning. He didn't get the job.

I didn't tell him I had been up since 5:30 and at the office since 7.

I interviewed a lot during COVID. I'd suggest wearing AirPods or another type of mic/headphone. Communication is tough enough without a cheap mic causing a delay, reverb, or inaudible speech.

Ulrich said:

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NastyNate said:

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My god. Who the heck has time to focus on books you may have on your bookshelf. Let alone ding someone for it. Just as long as the background isn't the family room where kids or a spouse are walking around you'll be fine.

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... but what if you get an interviewer who is very partisan and happens to notice your copy of The Art of the Deal or Dreams from my Father?

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I'd literally tell them to FO.

Lighting is important.
Sound quality should be checked.
Position the camera in front and slightly above you.
Place a target by the camera to remind you to maintain eye contact.
Listen more than you talk.
Make sure to have 6-10 questions prepared, from your research on their company, written down and handy. They will answer some during the interview, but it will leave you with a few to use.
Make sure you are familiar with the resume you submitted, that's critical when using focused resumes. Also some people that use resume writers and forget what they submitted.
Smile.
Send a Thank You Note.

Wear a tuxedo t-shirt.

Good luck. Let me know what they say!

Honestly, if the the reading material on my bookshelf negatively impacts an interviewer's decision to offer me a job then I'm going to consider myself better off not getting that job. I don't want to work with people who are so deranged that they would choose not to offer the best, or a well-qualified, candidate a position because they had a book on their bookshelf that they didn't agree with. It seems that would be a miserable place to work.

I agree when things are going well and you're already employed, but some people have been out of work for a long time and don't have the luxury of passing on job opportunities.

Squadron7 said:

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Update:

1) Interviewed
2) Got job offer
3) Met again with person hiring to further go over the job. We agreed that I would give my answer by the next day.
4) Called person who had the job previously about the job to ask about the position.
5) Next day, job offer rescinded because person hiring said calling previous occupant was "Going around her".
6) So....giant bullet dodged.

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Was this within the company you work for already? How did you know the person who held the position before?

diehard03 said:

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Quote:

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Reading this thread makes me so glad I left the corporate world.

So much silly BS.

And for any of you thinking about getting out and starting your own business, or whatever, you know it's time when you can't help but call out the BS every time you get the chance.

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There's also no such thing as "left the corporate world and started your own business".

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That's exactly what I did. Since 2006.

It can, has, and will continue to so be done.