Video interview – are you feeling confident?

Interviews are stressful - they always have been. But, when you throw in a world turned upside down by Covid-19 and video interviews becoming the new normal, its clear that interview technique and anxiety are now a significant hurdle for many careers. However, with a bit attention you can clear those hurdles with ease and deliver a confident interview that catches the eye of recruiters.
Confidence is key. To recruiters it represents self-belief, self- trust and competence. For ourselves it has a magical power to dispel the psychological drag of self-doubt. It charges our self-esteem and authority. In an interview, we want it. But, it’s common for candidates to only associate confidence with experience, concluding that if I haven’t done many interviews then there is simply no possible way of boosting my confidence. This isn’t true. You absolutely can feel confident and assured if you take control of the process.
Try not to dwell on what may or may not happen in the future and instead focus on the task at hand. Anxiety thrives in uncertain thoughts about the future so don’t go there. If you keep your thoughts on your tasks you will feed your confidence and starve your stress. We recommend breaking it down into these four tasks:
Planning, Research, Preparation & Practise
1. Planning:
Organise your time
Ideally start your interview work around one week before the interview. Any earlier and you may allow time for anxious projection to creep in – plus you want it fresh in your memory. A schedule can be a great way of breaking the tasks down and keeping focused.
Consider the day
Great video interviews require energy but communicating via a screen limits our physical appearance and demeanour. So, we want genuine energy. Consider, the time of interview and how that relates to your energy at different times of the day. How can you boost your energy for that part of the day? Remember, sleep, food, drink and exercise all impact energy dramatically.
2. Research
Do your homework
Interviewers will often throw a couple of trap questions early in an interview. They will seem fairly innocuous but a stumble here is hard to recover from. Firstly, you may be asked what you know about the organisation and secondly, what you understand about the role itself. A quick website research should provide you with some corporate into like mission statements, values, locations etc. While a more thorough examination of the job description will arm you for the second part.
3. Preparation
Anticipate the questions
One of the biggest drains on confidence is not knowing what I will be asked. Well, you can have a pretty good guess if you thoroughly study the job description. That document is trying to tell you what the most important things are to perform that role well. Any interviewer worth their salt is going to ask about those important skills and attributes so try to highlight the top five to eight skills that jump out of the job description – these are likely to be among the questions.
Prepare your stories
It's common in competency interviews to give examples. These can be hard to muster on the spot so have one prepared for each of the skills you have highlighted. Have them written out and in front of you (off screen) in the STAR format – it’s a great way of making sure you don’t waffle but also have enough to say.
Situation: Briefly set the scene
Task: Briefly explain what needed doing
Action: In detail explain what you did
Result: Briefly highlight the positive outcome of your actions
4. Practice
Be tech ready
Find out which video platform they are using and create an account. Always use your device with the best camera not the best screen – it’s more important that they see you well. If this means using a mobile phone, make sure it’s at eye level and stable. Then practise, practise, practise until you feel familiar and comfortable with how it works. Nothing breeds confidence quite like familiarity.
Framing your background
Have a neutral background with good lighting; two lamps facing you on the left and right can be helpful. Natural light is best but avoid having windows or doors directly behind you.
Rehearse your performance
Body language is our most effective way of communicating self-belief. Start off by looking directly into the camera rather than the faces on screen - this will be the closet resemblance to eye contact. Don’t be tempted to dress down - dress smart and wear a smile to make a great first impression. Finally, enthusiasm is key in a job interview but it’s not easy to get across in a video call. Go big on your energy or your enthusiasm may well be missed.
Mango Learning exist to support people at work. For more advice and training about interviews we offer group workshops and individual coaching for anyone facing the prospect of job interviewing or preparing a CV. Please visit Mango Learning to find out more.