Have you considered the second conversation going on in your remote meetings?

Most of us crave face to face, social interaction, missing the general hubbub of the office environment for many different reasons.

Whether you are a champion of working from home long term or not, I don't think I've spoken to anyone who is enjoying the enforced stint in the back bedroom regardless of how exceptional their Wi-Fi connection is or how many children they're home schooling or not.

However, we have all become accustomed to hopping on regular video calls with colleagues as well as with clients, new and old, remote, digital communication has become the accepted norm.

But when it comes to interviewing for a new job over video call, the blood starts to run a little colder. Time and time again, I am receiving the feedback that the process was a little uncomfortable and that performing face to face is much less challenging.

Why does this situation feel any more pressured than other forms of video meet?

The situation we find ourselves isn’t likely to change anytime soon so we have to adapt and perhaps apply a different perspective to our remote selves. 

Every communication is two conversations: the verbal one being the content, and the nonverbal one being the body language.

Most of us tend to think of the first conversation, the content, as the important one. Especially under the pressure of a first interview. We worry a lot about what to say in the same way as when giving a speech or pitching to an audience. And as such, we rarely give as much thought to the second conversation: the body language.

It may sound obvious, but the backdrop and environment of a video call tends to be very stale and samey. The scenery doesn’t change, and the view is the same throughout. Subconsciously, our brains, used to much more stimulus in everyday environments, get bored. 

A small tweak that has helped to combat the intensity of a video interview is to use more animated, deliberate body language. I’m not talking about adopting a Trump style pincer movement or cardboard box, but by becoming a bit more conscious of our own gestures and animation during a meeting, you may find yourself feeling more energised and worrying less about the verbal conversation that’s unfolding.

In the remote world we now belong to, video interviewing is likely to become more and more common place, even post pandemic, so any marginal gain in terms of preparation and performance is worth considering, especially in a crowded marketplace.