This guide does NOT offer advice on the choice or use of different IT programs. The principal systems currently in use are Zoom and Skype for Business. Information on these programs is abundantly available.
This guide concentrates on the way in which candidates can most efficiently deploy their professional skills in communication and persuasion in the new working environment.
It aims to distill existing experience into a set of principles that we hope will enable everyone to approach a remote interview with confidence and do their job effectively.
It is, of course, acknowledged that not everyone will have multiple devices, additional IT equipment or a private home office during ‘lockdown’ and candidates may therefore need
to adapt this advice to best fit their circumstances.
1) Confirm with the interviewer which software is to be used. Confirm the scheduling, special arrangements, and interview procedures. It is essential to agree on everything in advance and check it in advance with all parties.
1) Your preparation needs to be more meticulous than it would be for a normal interview. In a remote interview, time is at a premium. Remote communication has less impact and less subtlety than face-to-face communication.
2) A lot of non-verbal communication (and aspects of “style”) are lost when working remotely. Concentrate on the substance.
3) Brevity and precision are key. In the event that either sound or video quality is interrupted during a question or answering, repetition may be required, a process far easier to complete with a prepared response.
4) Aim to present your competencies in a low-key courteous and measured way. Be careful not to have too much mental overload during an interview.
5) Be prepared for the fact that remotely-conducted interviews are more taxing than a conventional interview. Do not be shy of asking to repeat a question when you don’t catch it.
6) You may use connecting words like “Well…”, “In my opinion….”, “I would like to share my experience….”, “I consider…”.
1) In a remote interview, a brief delay typically occurs between the video image of the person speaking and their voice being heard by the HR panel. This connection delay may lead participants to believe a person has finished speaking before they have, in fact, done so and is liable to result in participants inadvertently speaking over one another.
2) Do not interrupt. Let a speaker finish before speaking. Be especially careful not to interrupt an interviewer's question.
3) When you are speaking, allow pauses do not try to speak very fast.
4) If you are speaking and become aware that someone else is trying to speak, pause to allow them to do so.
5) Do not fill pauses. Gaps between speakers (e.g. while waiting for an interviewer response) are more common with remote communication than when you are together in real-time interview.
6) If you feel compelled to interrupt and ‘get to your feet, try to be patient and explain your position on the asked topic.