Shownotes:

Video interview is one of the most convenient ways to get to know the person without having to meet up with them in person. Usually, people who are looking to hire freelancers are the ones who do this, but it’s also utilized by some clients who want to reach out to their network. Either way, the video interview is something that we should be 100% prepared. How do you make sure that everything goes smoothly in a video interview?

Hello and welcome to the Traveling Introvert. Today I'm going to talk about how to make a bad impression on an interview with a video. And this has come across and around because all of a video interview that I did recently for a speaking engagement. So first thing's first, try not to be late. And I say try because I know there're so many different ways to do a video interview these days that you might not have the software on your phone or your computer and you have to download it or maybe your computer restarts. I know that all of these things happen at the most inopportune times.

What I would say is if you are going to have a video interview, make sure you download the software and try and test it in advance. Test your microphone, test of the camera, make sure everything's set up the way that you would like it to be set up. Two, with your background try and make sure that it is, if it's just a plain background or maybe just some books or it's not kids running around in the background. If you can help it or it's not anything that might be distracting to the interviewer. You want them to concentrate on you and what you are saying or what you might be displaying, not what's going on behind you. And also you don't want to be distracted. So try not to have a window that you can be distracted out of.

Actually speaking of distractions. While you are being interviewed or if you are interviewing somebody, please, please, please try and look at them on the screen. Don't look off at a window. Don't play with your shoes. Don't play with your phone. Don't play with something off screen or off camera. Please at least look like you are interested in what the person is saying and what they are showing you and because they're showing up. So that's another thing. It might be hard. Put a sticker on your computer, whatever it is you have to do to make it look at least like you are paying attention.

The other thing is interviewing for something, knowing full well that it doesn't exist. I recently interviewed for something and it was a speaking engagement and I got, it was a 20 minute slot. We'd been 15 minutes into the conversation before they said, well actually we're not holding the event ever. So they had 15 and they've made the decision with enough time that they could've just canceled. Send me an email and said, hey, we won't be moving forward with this because we're not moving forward with this event. Instead they spend 15 minutes asking me sort of questions, not really giving anything, only to tell me that they weren't doing it. And it wasn't like they wanted ask me questions to see if I'd be a good fit for somebody else. They will literally just asking me random questions and ask me feedback of stuff that they obviously hadn't taken a look at what I do.

Another thing with a video interviewing is make sure you have a headset. There's nothing worse than sort of hearing the feedback came from your computer and hearing your own voice repeat and re-roll because someone doesn't have a headset. Even if it's just the headset, your ear buds that you got with your phone that is perfect so that it stops any feedback.

Now the other thing with video interviewing is be careful of what colors you wear. So if you have a white background for example, and you wear a white shirt, you might just be like this headless thing. This neck and bodyless thing, not headless. And so that can be a little discombobulating for the person who's looking. So just make sure that you were maybe playing colors and structured colors, not patterns because patterns can be also very distracting.

And then there's background noise. Make sure if possible that you have control of your environment and that you can eliminate as many background noises as possible. If you can't, I highly recommend the mute button in between whatever you're saying and listen to the other person so the other person doesn't have to hear the background noise if it's unavoidable.

And so these are things that I think are really important when you are thinking about an interview that is done via video. Make sure the person knows in advance what it is they're doing, what platform it is, where it is. There's nothing worse than sending an email five minutes in being like so ... because you haven't been able to log in because they haven't sent you the login information. Also being on time helps. And if you are late, apologize, not apologizing is rude.

All right, those are my tips for today. Thank you for listening. This is Janice from the Career Introvert. Looking forward to helping you move your business forward or your career forward in line with your introversion. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions, please email me janice@thecareerintrovert.com.