Any tips for video interviews? Should I wear a suit coat on the top? Can I do it on my dining room table with a picture behind me? It is a nice picture.
How would you suggest that I answer technical questions that I haven't done before. For example, I've managed contracts with lots of vendors but not the vendors they specifically state.
Or they specifically talk about a technical process that others in our group do, but I don't personally. My thought is this is a stepped process that should be easy to learn and the software is new to me anyway.
The other one is just popping links up on a website. I know enough that the vendor provides the links, and we just pop them on the website, but I haven't personally done it.
I don't want to just answer the questions as "I haven't personally done it". I would like to instead show that I understand the process.
What do you all think?
Any other tips? This is my first interview in 12 years, so what has changed?
Also, I do 2 jobs. How do I explain that I did job 1 then added job 2 without minimizing my experience with job 2 because that is the area I am pursuing and I want to highlight job 2 more.
Post by CrazyLucky on Aug 17, 2021 20:10:41 GMT -5
I would try to have a blank background if you can. Sometimes a picture will blend with your hair or clothes and make it look weird. For how to dress, dress your whole self, not just the top half. God forbid you have to stand up for some unknown reason and you're in your underwear. For experience you have that is close, but not exact, just say what you know, and how you've adapted to things in the past. "I haven't worked with contractor x, but I have worked with over ten different contractors on things from maintenance to cleaning to engineering design work. Each time a new contractor is brought on, I am able to work closely with my counterpart in their organization to make the transition seamless. For example, when we started working with contractor y, I learned software z in about two weeks." If they ask "have you popped links on a website?" you can say, "No, I haven't done that, but I have worked closely with the vendor that provided the links and have a good understanding of how the process works."
It seems to me that most interviews now are behavioral. Tell me a time when you..... So the best advice I got for that is to have a list of your top accomplishments. A lot of times one accomplishment will meet several questions. For example, you might be able to use a story to answer a question about leadership, dealing with conflict, or prioritization. Try to use different examples for each question, but try to hit as many highlights as you can. Test your technology before if you can. Keep a bottle of water nearby. Just in case. Talking with dry mouth is hard and no one will bat an eye if you take a drink. Have some good questions for them! And hardest of all, try not to be nervous!
For your physical appearance, dress just like you would in person. Find a place to sit so you are facing a window. Natural light makes all the difference. Consider a plain virtual background if you can find a very generic backdrop with the best lighting.
As for the experience questions, consider ways that you can affirm that your group routinely did those things rather than saying “no I have not.” Rather, yes, our team is responsible for XY&Z. Then be sure to reflect in follow ups that you understand the process, goals, challenges, etc., even if you haven’t directly been responsible.
Are all the candidates internal? You know your organization so you know what kinds of questions they’re likely to ask. I doubt anyone has the exact experience they will ask about, so finding a close example is I think the best way to show you understand the process. And talk about how you developed or learned that process.
I have found I’m less nervous on a virtual interview than I am in person. It’s kind of weird.
I didn’t use a virtual backdrop, but I did make sure to tidy up my office, as it has become kind of a catch all for all the crap in our house.
As other stated, I dressed as I would have in person. I even wore dress pants to kind of remind me to sit a little taller.
I agree - don’t lead with “I can’t do that”, but it sounds like it should be easy for you to draw parallels between what you’ve done and what this job entails. I think it’s more important to hire someone that can learn a new process/system/concept than to hire someone that can only operate within fixed parameters, you know?
For Zoom interviews, I've seen a lot of folks who enable the setting where the background is blurred. I've conducted a number of video interviews - both before & during pandemic times - and I can't say I've really paid attention to anyone's background. If you can avoid an unmade bed in the background or piles of mess, then I think you're fine.
Re: responses to questions, I think it may be possible to focus in on overall process rather than specific steps you'd take with a particular vendor/product. So if they're like "How would you implement asset management in ServiceNow?" you could pivot to say "X, Y, Z are the components we'd need to get in place for asset management. We'd want xyz process in place because of this very good reason."
I was going to recommend the blurred setting vs the fake virtual backdrop. I think it helps just mask anything in your background enough and seems pretty common.