as we turn the measures of social
distancing in order to reduce the impact
of covert 19 it's quite likely that your
next job interview will be conducted
online having spent the past four years
coaching doctors online I'm uniquely
situated to give you some tips on how to
ensure they using video for your next
job interview does not impede your
success now if we had to summarize the
key things that you should be thinking
about now if you're going to be invited
to an interview for a job by a video
then they would be as follows firstly
you need to treat the interview with the
same level of seriousness and
preparation that you would any other job
interview secondly practice with the
technology ahead of time and make sure
that everything is running well
beforehand thirdly have backup plans in
place in case the technology fails or
the interview platform falls over
fourthly be aware of additional things
that you will need to consider such as
your background and your lighting so I'm
going to dive into these tips with you
in a bit more detail to make sure that
you are correctly set up but before we
do this let's just talk a little bit
about why your success in being able to
cope with a video interview might just
be the important factor that determines
whether you get the position for most
jobs these days being an adept the end
user of technology is important
employers don't want to spend lots of
time training you how to use common
technology when they can probably find
other candidates who can already do so
medicine the area that I work in is no
different so I'm going to go out on a
bit of a limb and suggest here that we
will see a couple of recruitment trends
arising out of the covert 19 crisis
firstly employers will move over to
interviewing more candidates on video
and many won't go back as they will
discover the benefits from this approach
secondly the ability for candidates to
handle the use of video will be taken as
some sort of proxy for the general
overall level of skill in information
technology wrongly or rightly so why
will employers love video interviewing
well I predict that once employers
embrace video interviewing they will
soon discover that it offers great
benefits over traditional interviewing
in-person you usually will be around
flexibility candidates will be able to
be more flexibly slotted into interview
spots in panel
we'll also be able to be more flexible
in their attendance for example some
interview systems that use video now
allow candidates to lodge their answers
to questions independent of the panel
who can then come in and review the
recordings later at their leisure so
this type of approach can be used to
make sure that all panel members have a
say in the outcome and manage compliance
issues that occur in certain industries
now while might your ability to use
video technology be important well in a
traditional face-to-face job interview
your oral communication is normally
assessed by the panel as part of your
overall performance from the assessment
implications are made about your general
ability to communicate now these
assessments will often be wrong because
communicating in a job interview is
stressful and doesn't necessarily
correlate with normal day-to-day
communication in the same vein however
you might be the most technology
literate candidate but if you're
seemingly struggling with the video
technology you'll probably be judged by
the panel in this case unfairly that
you'll have big problems using the
technology in the workplace so let's
look at how you can turn the potential
bias into an advantage for you firstly
treat the video interview the same as
any normal job interview the mantra has
always been that you should always
attend the interview in person if at all
possible
and there are good reasons for this so
much communication is missed if you're
not there live particularly body
language which can go a long way to
interpreting cues from the interview
panel for example are they liking my
answer right now or not but having
worked in online video platforms now for
the past several years let me reassure
you that the technology is definitely
catching up quickly and whilst it will
never really completely replace an
in-person interview if you use the right
technology in the right approach you can
definitely come very close even to the
point of being able to see most of the
important body language cues so this is
why my first tip has completely nothing
to do with the actual medium or
technology but a reminder that you
should be treating the video interview
just the same as any normal job
interview this of course means things
like preparing beforehand finding out
the names of the interview panel
beforehand having the appropriate outfit
on combing your hair and
arriving early to the interview now in
relation to arriving early this will
generally mean logging into the video
platform a few minutes ahead of time say
about 10 minutes depending on what
platform the interviewer is using you
will normally be placed into some form
of waiting room until the panel is ready
to see you like most interviews you can
probably safely assume that they will be
running behind
depending on how familiar they are
themselves with the technology they may
be running way behind remember this year
in particular a lot of places may be
doing this for the first time so be
patient whilst you're finding out about
the interview panel members by the way
their names asked about the platform to
be used for the interview don't rely on
them to tell you about it secondly
include the fact that you are conducting
a job interview via video in your
preparation if you know that your
interview is going to be conducted via
video it makes sense to actually
practice that way this can actually be a
big advantage for you practice answering
interview questions using video
technology you can even use something
like zoom my preferred video platform
where you can record your answers and
watch them back later or be engaging
with an interview coach or colleague
online for immediate feedback thirdly
make sure you do have a good setup now
I'm going to show you my setup here in a
second but I do recommend setting up a
room in your house or apartment as your
interview practice and actually
interview space if possible use a
desktop computer with a fixed camera and
either ensure that the inbuilt
microphone is suitable or thinking about
getting a decent USB microphone in most
cases the inbuilt webcams the speakers
of modern desktop pcs or laptops are
fine so you shouldn't need to add to
these but if you have something a bit
older you may have to upgrade and I
believe you a few suggestions in the
comments below those suggestions will be
on the basis of assumptions that you
might have be actually stuck at home
during this phase and so dropshipping is
going to be your best friend so there
will be Amazon associate links and if
you do end up purchasing something a
good thing about that is a small amount
of money will come back to me to help
support the channel so thank you I do
suggest improving your microphone and
speakers over the use of things like
headsets and ear plugs than the like
just because these can be visually
distracting and
back away from a professional look for
this reason discrete wireless earbuds
are maybe more preferred over anything
else but as I said try to go with
microphone and speaker setup instead now
make sure this desktop PC is on a desk
that allows you to sit comfortably with
easy access to the mouse keyboard and
some space to put documents down if you
don't have a desktop PC and many people
don't then your next best option is a
laptop again try to sort out an
environment week and have this sitting
in your house for practice and
particularly look at the issue of making
sure that your framing is correct a
tablet is probably the next best option
and if so you do need to be able to fix
it in a position somehow you definitely
don't want to be holding it out in
selfie style during an interview if at
all possible avoid doing the interview
our smartphone so this can take you
through my basic room setup so as you
can see up in a nice neutral wall with a
cabinet here we can store those stuff
try and keep you know courts out of the
way
look few things around the corner can
poke it away but one of the locations
that were covers and other side so
sometimes I have to just take the frame
in a little bit okay then focusing in on
my sit up now not everyone's gonna need
two screens and I'm gonna set up where
you've got you know I use these for
straining things and I'm using a second
mech there's my extra screen which is
big so so that's what I'm doing it I'm
having sort of left I think another
monitor but you can see I've got a
couple lights there these are all
gallery gaming a lot so you don't need a
flasher you can just have one light
behind me you'll notice the effect of
having lights coming at your face and
lights up your face and gets rid of our
shadows you you might want to think
about what I can get natural lights for
my window as well which is helpful pins
a little interview obviously I've got an
overhead light which ever he doesn't do
too bad a job it's not coming in
directly from behind me so that's right
on my desktop I've got the max you know
for an interview you try and keep it
close
you just off a bit of RAM left handed so
you would probably have your notes and
things over there
I'm using a Yeti blue mic which is
really good quality because it cost too
much
you won't need a straight neck but the
other thing you'll notice that I'm
utilizing here is the Logitech ham it
just gives you a slightly better picture
actually the the webcam on the the iMac
is quite good as well and I might show
you kind of the difference between both
in the video but that's my basic setup
if you're looking for some tips on your
video conference or your video meeting
profile get your framing right you
should spend some time getting the
framing of your video capture correct
test your eye level and make sure your
position correctly in the frame well
it's ideal to have your medical school
or college degrees or Awards on display
they shouldn't be the prime focus on
camera you should be you don't want to
connect to the conference call only to
find out that the other participants
can't see you properly
well that half your face is cut off on
screen in addition having your eye level
too high or too low can make it a bit
difficult for other callers to
effectively communicate with you for the
duration of the conference so it's
crucial that you double-check this
before you begin the best positioning is
to have your face firmly in the center
of the frame with your torso visible so
that your hand gestures can also be
observed as for the angle the camera
should be placed at your eye level or
maybe just above for cosmetic reasons if
you're using a laptop place something
beneath it to raise it to the same level
as the camera lens declutter your
background make sure your background is
uncluttered and professional less is
more get rid of all the family pictures
hanging on the wall the same goes for
anything that can make you look
unprofessional close piles of boxes food
and beverages cans that sort of thing
sit at your desk and take a selfie or a
screenshot of what allons can see in
your background or use the inbuilt
webcam to guide you remove objects also
on your desk that might be better ever
seen or things on your wall that might
detract now if you have windows behind
you instead of a wall make sure that the
lighting is okay generally lighting
coming from behind will make your face
look dark which is not ideal if what's
behind you is something yeah
not a world on a window then think about
whether you need to set up a screen
check your lighting and lights lights
and hangings are as important for video
calls as they are for professional photo
shoots as a general rule avoid
florescent lights which can cast
slightly unflattering shadows avoid
overhead lights - as they can create
dark under-eye shadows place your
primary light source behind your camera
this way the light and the camera point
in the same direction you could use also
two light sources behind the camera one
on the right and one on the left make
sure you have a good bandwidth now now
is the time to upgrade your bandwidth if
it's possible I recognize for some of
you it's not if that's not possible
consider other options that might be
better for you such as 4G now a good way
to test whether your bandwidth is
sufficient is to actually try testing
the actual platform that you're going to
use practice with their technology now
you may have a preferred video platform
but you will probably not be allowed to
use this and you'll be asked to use
whatever the employer prefers now some
of employers who are used to this will
probably send you some information about
how you can test the platform or even
arrange a quick time to test it with you
beforehand but don't rely on that as
mentioned earlier issue definitely try
to find out beforehand what platform the
interview will be hold on and test your
setup and practice with it have a
back-up plan if everything goes all
wrong technology can and does fail it is
important to plan to have some sort of
redundancy in particular have a back-up
plan for when the internet files you
practice setting up a 4G hotspot and be
able to switch over quickly in case you
need to also anticipate that the
technology that the interviewers are
utilizing will fall over inquires to
whether there is a backup plan for
example switching to a phone call if so
what number should you calling on
get their framing right now this might
be a little bit harder to do than
getting your own framing right but once
you log into the interview check whether
you can adequately see all members of
the interview panel now they may be in
one room or possibly also joining
remotely if someone is too far from the
distance so that you can't see their
lips move and their hands move when they
talk you can at least politely inquire
whether it's possible for them to make
some adjustments to the camera
step into the camera a really good tip
for making the video interview seem like
a real interview is to be aware of where
you're looking off when you are looking
at your screen to see who is talking to
you but this may well be then taking
your eyes away from the camera try to
bring the video frame that you're
looking into the center of your screen
so you can still be looking as directly
as possible into the camera most webcams
have a light to show that they are on if
you stare right at this light it will
ensure that you're making eye contact
with the other side finally never blame
the technology a key rule of interviews
is to keep things positive and never
make excuses or blame anyone or anything
else
this rule extends to the technology if
despite all yours
and their best efforts the technology is
just not working right then it's best to
just soldier on in a positive way so
there you go a number of tips about how
to make your next job interview via
video a real success now perhaps you
have a question or comment about a video
interview process for many of you I
recognize this might be the first time
that you have to do one so leave one in
the description below and I'd be really
happy to answer it during this time of
kovin 19 and you may notice my nose is a
bit nasally and my voice is a bit
nasally so I'm actually self isolating
myself at home at the moment I'm pretty
sure I don't have the voice but I have
been tested so I've got to wait for that
and do the right thing so during this
time of covet 19 you might be wanting to
watch more videos I'm really keen for
you to subscribe and turn on
notifications to my channel to get all
my regular content and I do try to
produce the video every week for you
however I would say that in this
uncertain time I'm not sure whether I'll
be able to be doing
or not I will try and keep you updated
with progress on the channel but it's
possible I might be called to do some
other things in medicine at this time so
in the meantime take care of yourself
heed the advice in authority please stop
hoarding toilet paper and I will see you
in the next video bye for now
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