Recruiting from home: How to nail the video interview

Face-to-face interviews are out in the age of COVID-19, so what’s the best way to help your clients through a virtual interview? We take a look.

With new social distancing rules in place to stop the spread of COVID-19, recruiters are turning to Zoom and Google Hangouts to conduct interviews in place of the traditional face-to-face set up. 

It might seem simple, but there are a few tips and tricks to make sure your candidate and client interview runs without a hitch. We sat down with Richard Green from NGO Recruitment for some advice. 

Find a comfy space 

If you were interviewing a candidate in your office, you would probably book out a meeting room or find a quiet space. The same thing applies when you are doing it from home. 

“Don’t have the interview in the middle of the living room where there are lots of traffic and distractions,” Green says. 

“If you host the meeting or interview in a space where there are kitchen cupboards open, or lots of mess, it doesn’t look very professional.” 

And if you’re prepping a candidate for a job interview, make sure you tell them to do the same. 

Get your good side

Tell your candidate to set aside some time to wipe down and adjust the webcam, and find a space with nice lighting so your candidate is looking their absolute best. 

Green says doing a test run interview with your candidate is a good way to make sure they’ve nailed the shot. 

“Make sure there’s plenty of light coming onto their face, and they’ve set up their laptop or your phone in a position where they are neatly framed on the screen,” he says. 

“The last thing you want is to be looking up someone’s nose, which happens more than you’d like.” 

Dress for success

Because you don’t actually have to leave the house for meetings and interviews, there is a definite temptation to dress more casually than you would for a face-to-face interview. 

But Green says it’s important for recruiters and candidates alike to still make an effort in the fashion department. 

“Just because I’m at home doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be in a shirt and jacket,” he says. 

“It’s all about your mindset and about creating the best impression you can by dressing well.”