Be standard and be forgotten! Stand out and be hired!

At the end of the week, after interviewing a few job candidates on top of your regular work, it is hard to remember most of them without reviewing the abundant notes you have taken and the summary you have written down. In most cases, you do not remember the candidate not because there was something wrong with her/him, but because nothing stood out. You will only remember candidates that were bad and those that made a strong impression.

These are 5 learnings gathered when interviewing job candidates on Zoom in the first half of the year. The first 3 are 3 ways that may help you get an edge during an interview:

1.??????Master the technicalities of the virtual interview

Most candidates look at their screen when talking and listening rather than creating this connection with the interviewer by looking into the lens of the camera a good chunk of the time.

The majority of candidates use the default camera and microphone that comes with the PC. That is acceptable but not great! Only a minority have invested in superior sound quality by using an external microphone and a neat and crisp image with a better resolution camera than the default one. If you decide a small investment is worth it, pick fist a microphone over a camera as sound matters more than image to keep the attention of your interviewer.

Most candidates have decent lighting and are framed properly in the center with a bit of space between the head and the top of the screen. A few have the camera too low looking up their chin or nostrils or too high looking down their head creating an unfavorable image. Some have poor lighting or lighting behind them instead of in front of them, making it difficult and annoying to see clearly their face in the shade.

2.??????Pattern interruption

As I gave an introduction of the position and then started with specific questions unlike “tell me about yourself”, only 2 candidates politely interrupted to ask whether they could introduce themselves. They had prepared a concise talk about themselves, some of their values and interests and what lead them to apply for the position. I was favorably impressed by this surprise request and it gave me a hint of their personality and level of preparation.

3.??????Story

Very few candidates not only provided facts and/or figures on what they did but also wrapped it around a story describing the situation and problem and how they figured out and implemented a solution. The benefit of a short story is that it generates emotions with the listener, that help remember the point that was made. As human beings, from an early age, we are wired to listen to stories. Your kids ask you to read/tell a story before they go to bed. They do not ask you to go over an excel sheet or a powerpoint presentation but I am diverging now and that is a different topic…

4.??????Concern

As an interviewee, you may be nervous as a potential job is at stake. Guess what? As an interviewer, even though you may not be the final or the only decision taker, I felt that, at times, I may have been more nervous than the interviewee.

I was fearful to overlook a misfit with the organization’s culture or fail to detect a red flag in one of the answers or miss to delve deeper on some topics to gauge further the real level of knowledge.

5.??????First impression bias

Even before the candidate has uttered a word, by the way he/she looks or dresses, you have already judged him/her and made a preliminary decision. After just a few questions and answers, you may have already made up your mind to hire or not the candidate. As an interviewer, I urge you to resist being influenced by these initial impressions for the rest of the interview or even shorten abruptly the call.

While for most candidates, your initial impressions (good or bad) will be confirmed throughout the interview, do not get deterred by these initial thoughts, as, for a minority of the candidates, if you remain attentive and focused on finding out the experience and skills of the candidate rather than confirming your impressions, you will change your mind.

What have you found useful as an interviewer or interviewee to shine during an interview??

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