On-line interview how to prepare?

The candidate market, globalization, and the shortening of the hiring timeline are increasingly influencing the organization of the recruitment process. In my recruitment activities over the years, I have often not met with many candidates in person. The company I represent provides recruitment services on an international level, and I am responsible for the CEE region. I recruit candidates for specialist and managerial positions. The recruitment processes on the client side are multi-stage. Respecting the candidates' time, I make use of technology. Clients also conduct part of the recruitment interviews online. In global corporations, the recruitment process is most often multi-stage. The potential supervisor or their supervisor is located in another country. They cannot afford, time-wise, to have personal meetings at every stage of the recruitment process. Work in such companies is usually done in so-called virtual teams. Their members work in different locations and are accustomed to communicating online.

Technology in the case of a recruitment interview facilitates, accelerates, and makes the process more flexible. Importantly - a telephone or online interview is just as significant and diagnostic as a direct conversation. One should prepare for this type of interview just as thoroughly as for a traditional conversation, including taking into account technical details.

Checklist:

Preparation for a typical direct recruitment interview:

• Check who you will be speaking with. It's worth checking the online profile of your interlocutor(s). Pay attention to their career path and education. It may turn out, for example, that you have completed the same/similar course of study, have similar qualifications, or have worked in the same organization at some time. Check what content these people share, which groups they belong to. All this information can be useful during the interview.

• Prepare information about the company. Review the website, social media profile, check reviews, profiles of people working in the department you are applying to. The minimum information about the company you should prepare includes:

• When was the company founded?
• What products/services does it offer?
• How is the market in which it operates currently shaping up?
• What companies are its competition/what does it compete with?
• What is its mission, vision, values?
• Where is its headquarters located?
• Who represents the company's management?
• In how many countries is it present?
• What are the company's short and long-term goals?
• How many employees does it have?
• Who belongs to its clientele?
• What reputation does it have?
• What information did you find particularly interesting/why?

You don't need to memorize this information – it's worth printing it out and having it on your desk during the conversation. If asked what you know about the company, you can confidently say that you have prepared some information – show that you have it and cite a few key facts. The question about what you know about the company is really a hidden question about your motivation to cooperate. The person conducting the interview does not expect you to recite everything from memory. It's worth telling at this point what really attracted you to the company, what interested us after reading the information.

- Prepare information about your achievements in light of the offered position.

- Prepare answers to the most commonly asked recruitment questions. These include questions related to: motivation to take up the position, professional successes, career path – changes in career and their reasons, strengths and weaknesses, professional plans, challenges/difficult situations encountered, your values, organizational culture in which you work best, competencies you would like to acquire or develop, mistakes you have made and what you have done to avoid them in the future, ways of managing your own time, ways of coping with stress, with conflict situations, with difficult team members, clients, etc.

- Prepare your questions for the interviewers. An important element of the interview is asking questions at the end of the conversation. Your questions demonstrate your interest and motivation to take up the job. Candidates who do not ask any questions during the interview are rated lower by the recruitment process leaders. Examples of questions you can ask: What are the short/long-term goals of this position? Does the company have a training system developed? To whom will I report and where will my supervisor/supervisors be located (in the case of a matrix structure)? How will I be accountable for achieving goals? What will I report and how often? How large a team will I be working with? What does a typical week look like for this position? What challenges face the candidate employed in this position? What is the average length of service in the company? What is the career path for this position? What skills make your company's employees successful? When and how do employees give and receive feedback? Which employee behaviors are rewarded and which are criticized? What will the next steps in the recruitment process look like? When can I expect feedback?

- Prepare for the conversation about your financial expectations. The question regarding your financial expectations always comes up during the recruitment interview. I suggest giving financial expectations in a range: from – to. Take into account the entire compensation package. You can negotiate various parts of the package or just the base. Compensation packages can be standard – consisting of basic salary or more or less extended. Many international companies almost compete in various packages to attract employees. Offered are, among others: signing bonuses, annual bonuses, financing of an educational plan, relocation package, company car, fuel subsidy, parking space or reimbursement of parking fees, stock package, additional insurance, additional medical package, change of position title, change of department, additional paid leave, shorter working hours (e.g., 35 hours per week, working in another location (e.g., another location of our company, working from a co-working office located near our place of residence, "home office"), financing lunch (lunch vouchers), (co-)financing of extracurricular activities, (co-)financing/care for children, school, financing membership in professional organizations/associations, outplacement program, severance pay.

- Dress in professional, business attire.

Technical details:

• Ensure comfortable conditions for the conversation.

• Practice the conversation. Check if your equipment works – do a technical test (camera, microphone, lighting).

• Make sure who is calling you – if it turns out that the equipment did not work, you will be able to call back on their mobile phone.

• Avoid public places.

• Ensure silence. Make sure no sounds distract you - mute your phone or better yet turn it off, as well as all notifications, close internet pages.

• Use headphones.

• Prepare the room. Check what the camera is pointing at - it's important that the background is neutral and does not distract the interlocutor.

• If you have technical problems, e.g., you can't hear the question, make sure you understood correctly. If that doesn't help – suggest a phone conversation, ask if the caller can hear you well.

If it's important for the caller and you have a sound problem – suggest continuing the conversation through Zoom (video) and phone (audio).

• During the conversation: try to establish eye contact i.e., look towards the camera, try to smile, sit up straight.

After the conversation:

"Follow up" - thank you email It's good practice (borrowed from the American market, unfortunately still rarely used here) to send an email to our interlocutor(s) thanking them for the time spent on the interview. It's also worth reconfirming (if we maintain our interest) that we are motivated to take up the offered position. If, for example, we have some additional thoughts after the conversation that could positively influence our assessment, it's also worth writing about this in the email. I also recommend highlighting in such an email the competencies and added value you can bring to the organization.

Invite the interlocutors to your network of contacts (LinkedIn). Even if you do not receive a job offer this time, every recruitment interview is a chance to expand your network of contacts. Perhaps in the future, another position will appear in the given organization that we will be interested in. It's worth taking advantage of the contact already built. The labor market is dynamic – people change jobs more often, perhaps one of our interlocutors will change organizations and in the future will be looking for candidates with our professional profile for the team. In my professional life, my clients have become candidates, consultants, trainers, interim managers, and vice versa. I recommend taking every opportunity to build your professional network outside the company you work for. Our network of contacts constitutes our professional capital.

Analysis. Recall what questions were asked during the interview. If you were to participate in it again, what would you say differently? What did you forget/What will you improve next time? It's worth doing such a "self-examination". If we get very stressed during recruitment interviews and feel that we are not performing our best, then I recommend using the services of a career coach/advisor and undergoing an interview simulation. This way, you will receive detailed feedback, which no recruiter will provide you. You  will know what to improve in the future and what statements to avoid.

The most common mistakes made by candidates during the recruitment interview are:

Lack of proper preparation.

Being late.

Inappropriate attire.

Ineffective communication during the interview – e.g., lack of sensible argumentation.

Lack of enthusiasm – motivation.

Too much self-confidence (arrogance) or lack of self-confidence.

Speaking ill of former employers.

Not asking questions before or during the interview.