We often get asked “How can I best prepare for (an asynchronous) video interview?” As it is a one-way activity with no real-time interaction with the interviewer, candidates often find it uncomfortable and difficult to demonstrate their “real” self in this type of interview.
There are many companies providing the software e.g. Sonru – Modern Hire, HireVue and Montage. Interviews can vary with some giving you up to a minute reading time followed by up to 3 minutes record your answer, while others may be a combination of video, written and audio questions and answers.
When providing our Video Interview Training, we often find ourselves giving real-time feedback to a candidate who is clearly a highly competent professional with lots of personality, however, none of that personality came across when we reviewed their video.
How do you answer the questions appropriately AND allow your personality to come through? Here are our top tips for approaching and acing an asynchronous video interview.
Practice, Practice, Practice!
Before taking on your interview, you will have a chance to answer some practice questions in the Practice Interview Zone of the applicant platform, or, do some trial runs on your phone – anything that allows you to get used to hearing and seeing yourself say your answers aloud.
In the Practice Zone you can record, view and re-record your practice answers as many times as you need. Don’t worry – the employer is not going to see any of your practice answers. Stay here until you are ready to start the interview as it will give you a chance to become comfortable with answering without feedback. Do remember though, on many platforms once you start the interview, you will only have one take for each question!
Watch how you sound
People will plan for how they look at a live interview and a video interview is no different. Take note of the following during your practice:
- How fast are speaking?
- Are you allowing for a natural pause?
- What are the tone and pitch of your voice like – is it enthusiastic or metronomic; flowing or stilted.
Don’t forget to show you ate interested and engaged
If you are completing a face-to-face interview, you can demonstrate connectivity and engagement by nodding etc, this doesn’t happen in an asynchronous video. Nervousness can sometimes be interpreted as lack of interest. When you are recording your answers, use at least 70% of the time allocated and keep the enthusiasm going until the end of your answer.
Remember, As a job seeker, your goal in a video interview and an in-person interview is exactly the same – to show that you’re the right person for the job, try not to lose focus on that. As much as possible, concentrate on this and spend as little time as possible during the video interview focused on the video part!
Hilt provides Video Interview training to help candidates prepare for a Video Interview, simulating employer interview in every respect from the practice stage through to the completed interview. Click to find out more or book a Training session, or CV and Interview 101 to order a copy of our book, CV and Interview 101 – How to apply and Interview for Jobs
