An Experiential Guide to Successful Remote Interviews
In the midst of the pandemic in May 2020, I came across an exciting role that matched my skills, and I wanted to apply for it. I was lucky to have my current team lead who shared the job posting as a LinkedIn connection, which helped me easily connect to the company's recruitment team.
My focus in this article is not on finding new roles during the pandemic, though of value, I would like to share with the reader how the interview process came about and what were some of the things that I found useful during the process. So here is my chronological guide on my successful interview experience.
Getting the interview
Getting the interview started with me reaching out to the recruitment team and asking a friend of mine from another team to recommend me. Never forget, however stellar your resume is, the hiring team does not know you and does not have enough reason to believe you are a legitimate person. So I was fortunate and got a call from HR.
The HR screening call
The HR team wants to know that you are a reasonable person and have a clear expectation of the role. Whether pandemic or post-pandemic, these rules are the same:
- It goes without saying that you have to know everything in your resume. Be ready to explain each and every experience that you have in your resume.
One good practice is to try to have a quick version of the story (30–60 sec) and a long version (3–5 min). - You should demonstrate that you have done your research about the role. I spent a good amount of time researching the company and the role. For example, look up the company in the news, understand the company values, and look up people who previously held similar roles in the organization (compare and contrast your skills with them).
- Based on the job description, jot down how you would introduce yourself. Make sure it won’t take longer than 3 min.
For example, if the job needs someone who is well versed in writing academic publications, one of the points that you should mention during your introduction is that you are experienced with writing academic papers and reviewing other graduate students theses. - The job description may require a set of experiences that you lack. You should be ready to talk about those skills. For example, if the job requires you to be familiar with a specific Python library that you have not worked with and the HR asks about it, then you should show what is relevant in your experience and how that supports the fact that you can learn working with that library very quickly.
- HR will obviously ask about your expectation about salary and other specific role-related stuff such as travel, overtime etc. So be prepared to answer those questions as well.
- At the end of the call, HR will give you some time to ask your questions.
- Why do you need to ask questions?
It shows that you have researched the role, and you are curious and excited about the role, so do not miss this opportunity. - Why do you need to prepare for this in advance?
If you do not prepare several questions, your brain will be exhausted and not ready to make up a question on the spot, so you will either mumble and ask a stupid question that will sound disingenuous, or you will say that you do not have any questions. - Example of questions you can ask:
-Questions specific to the role, e.g. certain expectations or requirements of the role; departments or people you will work within the job; how would the role progress over time.
-Questions related to company culture etc.
The virtual interview
This is it. HR felt that I am a good match for the job, so I was invited for a virtual interview with the team lead. By this point, you have proven you are a legitimate person and might have the profile that matches the job. Now it's time to impress the people you will be working with and show them why they have to choose you.
The biggest challenge for me was the fact that I had never been interviewed virtually before. I did not know how to prepare for the virtual interview and build that human connection with my interviewer(s). So I made some assumptions, and I learned some things that I will share with you as my list for the virtual interview preparation:
1. Do not stress. Well, this might sound like a cliche since it did to me for a long time, until I found peace within :D. If you feel anxious, you will not show the interviewers how personable you are. The interviewer can definitely see that you are stressed. If you try to calm yourself, try to enjoy the conversation and truly make the interview a two-way conversation, you can build that connection more strongly.
2. Make eye contact with the camera. I'm not too fond of it when people have two monitors and look away, and they say, “Sorry, I am looking at you on this monitor, but my camera is placed in an isometric angle to my face.” The least you can do is look in your main monitor's direction where the camera is placed. But to even appear more comfortable, try to make eye contact with the camera, the same way you have to make eye contact with the interviewers when things are in-person.
3. Formal attire. This is an interview; if you wear suits and tie in an interview, do that here too, it's in your own room, but it's still an interview. I even suggest wearing your formal shoes, which I did. It gives you the discipline that this is a real interview. If the wall behind you has a light color, you have more options, but if your wall is dark or something, maybe you want to look into something with a good contrast.
4. I suggest not using a virtual background. That, however, might not be possible. When you use the virtual background, sometimes the quality is not good, parts of your picture are broken, etc. which distracts the interviewer. Make sure your background wall is clean, does not have frames, pictures or anything that can distract the interviewer. If you think you can’t have that and you ultimately end up using a virtual background, do not use anything other than a solid white or light colour background. Definitely do not use any of the live backgrounds that move, do not show off your virtual background collection in the interview.
5. I suggest not using headphones. This is because I want the interview to look as natural as possible, before the pandemic you would not go to the interviewer’s office wearing a headset so if you can avoid that, please do. Please note that sometimes the sound of your computer might not be suitable and the interviewer might hear their own voice. That is the worst thing that can happen, make sure you test your sound before with a friend to make sure the sound of the interviewer does not echo back. I personally was worried so I asked my interviewer if they could hear their own voice.
6. Make sure nothing and no one distracts you, enters your room or passes by your camera. That is absolutely one of the worst in an interview, to me if your pet passes by your camera while you are talking to your friends it’s cute, but if your pet or kid passes by you in an interview, it's not acceptable. I understand that life is difficult during the pandemic and everyone is crammed at home, but if you can’t make sure for 1 hour you are not distracted by anything, then how can I count on you to do your job?
7. Make sure the interviewer finishes their sentence. Talking virtually, sometimes you feel like you want to say something but the interviewer is not done with their sentence yet. Make sure the interviewer stops completely, take 5 seconds to take that in, then ask the interviewer if you got the question by paraphrasing what they said. This assures you got the question, gives you time to think and brings everyone to one level. After they confirmed, you may start sharing your wisdom with the interviewer.
8. Take notes during the interview and be attentive and analytical. Taking note is not for you to fake your care, it is for you to collect and review the information you gather. If the interviewer tells you about a technical project, you take notes and review that for future round interviews. Your knowledge of the role and company will be with you to review and refer to in your notes. Also taking notes allows me to think about the subject. Make sure you do not go to note-taking mode without regular eye contact with the camera.
9. Anything else that you do in a regular interview you should follow here as well. Ask questions, talk engagingly, and be enthusiastic. If there will be a technical interview in the next round and you have some questions about it make sure you ask your question and clarify everything.
The virtual interview might happen multiple times and as part of different rounds and with various stakeholders. Make sure you search whoever you will be meeting in advance, try to gain as much information as possible about them. Make sure you are calm and genuinely interested in the role, and do not ask superficial questions. Remember an interview is a two-way dialogue, while the company is interviewing you for your skills they are looking for, you are interviewing the company for their culture, their benefits and the growth path it provides you to succeed in your career.
Let me know if I am missing anything, also leave me comments if you liked the article and if you want me to write on how to find a job, especially out of school during a pandemic.
