With the rise of social distancing rules, employers everywhere are transitioning to a completely virtual interview process.
Keeping this in mind, we’ve compiled a list of best practices below that employers should keep in mind while conducting virtual interviews.
Test Your Video Chat Capabilities
Testing your video conferencing software is critical to make sure that your virtual interview experience runs as smoothly as possible.
Even if you’ve previously used video chat software, make sure to test your setup thoroughly in the exact conditions in which you’ll be conducting the interview. Some things to double-check:
- The internet connection is stable
- The environment is consistently quiet
- Your camera works
- Your microphone works
- The lighting makes your face visible
- Sharing your screen works (assuming you plan to use this feature)
On the morning of the interview, make sure to test your software again to make sure your software doesn’t require last-minute updates and that your connection is still stable.
Do A Mock Interview
Get your team involved and conduct a mock interview with your video conferencing software.
This will not only help you test your internet connection + video hardware, but it will also help you familiarize yourself with the software. It will also help you solidify details of your virtual interview such as:
- The list of questions to ask your candidate
- The number of interviewers present at the interview
- Choosing the correct length for an interview to leave room for candidate questions
Conduct Your Interview In A Professional Setting
Your virtual interview should be every bit as professional as your regular interview. This means that you should adhere to the same dress code as usual and that you should make sure your environment is clean and quiet.
Create Documentation For Your Virtual Interview Processes
To ensure that you and your teammates are up to date on your interviewing process, create clear documentation that can be shared with everyone. Some things you should include in the documentation are:
- The responsibilities of each team member
- A guideline or rubric for scoring each applicant
- Additional resources and links
- Frequently asked questions
Inform Candidates Along The Interview Process
Your team should have standardized information that is communicated to the applicant as they go through your interview process. Since virtual interviewing is still new to many people, err on the side of over-communicating to your applicants. Information that you should share with your applicants include:
- Details about who will be the candidates’ main point of contact. The candidate should be made to feel comfortable asking this point of contact any questions they have during the interview process.
- Instructions on how to use your video conferencing tools. You should also instruct the candidate to install the tools in advance (if necessary).
- Details about each interview in the interview process. Information such as who is giving the interview, expected dress-code, and the type of questions the candidate should be prepared to answer all needs to be communicated clearly.
- A timeline of the interview process. Information should include the location, start, and end times of each interview. It should also include when they should expect to hear back about their results.
Provide Candidates An Emergency Hotline
Accidents happen: maybe your computer has a last-minute update, your candidate’s internet has suddenly become unstable, or somebody encountered an odd glitch.
It’s always a good idea to exchange email addresses and phone numbers with your candidate in case you’re unable to reach each other when the time for the interview comes.
