Video based interview platforms are making the TA process quicker, data driven, easier, and more convenient for employers as well as applicants. Automated video analysis on body language, voice tones and facial expressions are helping recruiters to churn candidates in a much more effective way. Adding to it is the reliability quotient that arises from validated evaluation through tech based standardized and structured interview work flows that are helping to eliminate unconscious bias in the process of hiring. In fact some platforms also has the feature of giving instantaneous AI-driven automated feedback on behavior on the basis of human ratings through technologies like video analytics, NLP, machine learning and deep learning. 

However, while we are busy in immersing ourselves in these tech tools; we tend to neglect and ignore the human preparedness of scoring high on these tech based assessment tools. And our little nervous tics ends up screwing our chances of selection during a tech based interview, especially when we are so conscious that someone is watching and recording every move of ours. Video interviews make people overly conscious. Normal twitches and distracting habits come in our way as a big challenge and ruin the assessment scores.  Even if there’s a super tech savvy person, still the chances of success may not be guaranteed as lots of preparations for online interviews are required vis-a-vis in-person interviews. Moreover, now that more and more companies are using video based interview platforms at some stage in the hiring process, it becomes all the more important to prepare in order to stand a chance to get selected for further rounds.

Here are few tips on how to successfully deliver a video based interview.

Calm your nerves

‘Will they like me? Am I fully prepared for it?’ Whether we admit or not, but almost everyone feels some nerve when preparing for a job interview. Just calm your nerves. Control your nervousness gesture like frequent touching your forehead, twirling your hair, excessively tapping your fingers or showing too much of hand movement. In fact some of your little habits that you even may not be aware of needs to be rectified, hence watch yourself on camera for practicing to break your nervous habits.

Technically set the stage

Download plug-ins and apps that you would need to get in the video based platform.  Remember to turn off email alerts, software updates and other notifications that may distract you. Do a technical trial run if possible and charge your device before you show up on the screen during the interview. And finally, set up lighting in a way that is bright and illuminates your face from the front. Also, make sure that one uses the login name that’s more professional instead of some comical ones.

Mind your pace

Be conscious of your tone and pitch. Give pauses in a subtle way to reflect on what exactly you are trying to convey. Many a time due to mysterious internet connections, your messages may not sound clear. Also, being conscious of video interview, we often forget to maintain the pace of our conversation with almost no pauses or taking excessive long pauses in between. The pace, tonality and pitch needs to be practiced before you appear for a video based interview. 

Stick to the basics

Though we all know what the basics are, however we often tend to ignore these critical preparatory skills. Dress professionally, choose something that looks neat while you are sitting down and avoid wearing too bright colors. Make sure to smile, but not too much; just have an enthusiastic, confident and a genuine smile. Maintain good eye contact, neither too aggressive nor too weak and for sure no longer than five seconds at a time.

In fact, video Interviewing is assumed to be treated as a skill; so the more you practice, the better you will score at it. Rupak Agarwal, Founder & CEO at EvueMe Selection Bot suggests candidates who use their platform to assume video interviews to be just another way of selection with added advantage of ‘time, location and convenience’. He further states that ‘one of the critical element that applicants needs focus is to organize their thoughts meticulously as most of the video interview platforms have a time limit for each question.’ 

So, next time when you have received an email for video interview, harness the latest advantages in this human-machine partnership. Don’t forget to keep in mind these tips to create your own success stories. Best of luck for your next interview!