In today’s world, the in-person face-to-face interview isn’t happening. For reasons we’re all aware of, many business owners have their employees working from home. If you are interviewing there’s always the phone, however, face-to-face interviews are generally considered more effective.
For many employers, conducting online interviews is a new concept. How do you prepare for them? What should be done to ensure they run smoothly? Here are three tips for conducting online interviews:
1. Send a pre-interview guide to the candidates describing what to expect in the online interview.
This provides a number of important benefits. Firstly, it shows there are no tricks up your sleeve. Remember the interviewer’s role is to showcase your brand as one that is welcoming and beneficial to work for. Secondly, sending a pre-interview guide to your candidates will help them to be better prepared. Finally and perhaps, most importantly, your gesture will help to reduce the nervousness and the added unease of being interviewed via zoom.
Robert Half speaks to the importance of having both parties prepared for online interviews. “As the interviewer, it’s up to you to set expectations with the candidate beforehand about the remote interview details,” they note, “Figure out who will place the call, what online meeting platform you’ll use, and give the interviewee the names and titles of any other people who may be joining the interview.”
2. Provide a telephone number to call if internet connection drops during the interview.
Technology isn’t perfect. From time to time, its highly likely the screen freezes or worse the connection drops. What does your candidate do? Does he/she wait for you to reconnect? Do you call him/her instead? Your candidate should know exactly what will happen in the event of an interruption.
In an effort to avoid interruptions, Robert Half strongly suggests you prepare your technology to avoid glitches. “Conduct a technical trial run of your video conferencing platform…a day or so beforehand, giving yourself enough time to adapt if anything isn’t working,” they advise, “If you’re using your laptop or tablet, check your Wi-Fi connection and ensure your equipment is charged and ready to go.”
3. Instruct the candidate on how video lags will be handled.
Hopefully, you won’t experience many dropped connections, if at all. There are certain times of the day where sound and video will lag. That can get a little awkward. Will candidates have to repeat their answers if you don’t hear responses fully? Will you have to repeat your questions? Letting your candidates know this is completely acceptable will make the interviews go a lot smoother. Video and sound lags are to be expected. A ruined opportunity, however, should not result.
“You need to ensure that the computer has enough RAM and computational speed to run the meeting smoothly,” insists RealMenRealStyle founder, Antonio Centeno, “If you have an older computer, be sure to close inactive programs to avoid it taking up much needed resources.”
For more expert advice on how to conduct online interviews, contact Hire Value Inc. today!
