You Asked About: Online Interviewing

Question: What are some tips for interviewing online?

Answer: In a November 2020 article entitled, “Interviewing online: What hasn’t changed, what to adapt and a few benefits of interviewing virtually,” I predicted that, “When this pandemic ends, we may return to interviewing in person, but we are unlikely to totally discard virtual interviews from our hiring tool kit.”

I underestimated the impact of online interviewing. What was a necessity during the pandemic has become a convenient, cost-effective alternative to traditional interviews.

A recent survey found that 82 per cent of employers use virtual interviews and 93 per cent of those plan to continue using them.

The advantages I identified in 2020 of online interviews compared to traditional interviews were primarily the travel-related savings, which can be measured in both time and money.

As online interviewing has become more common, other advantages have become apparent. Organizations can spread a wider net when recruiting because distance is less of a factor. Candidates can also look further afield when searching for suitable vacancies.

Scheduling interviews is easier now that everyone doesn’t have to be in the same physical space. All can participate from their home turf, which most will find more comfortable than being in the interview room.

Of course, as is true with in-person interviews, the spaces from which everyone participates should be quiet and free from distractions, which include cluttered bookshelves and virtual backgrounds. Cellphones and computer alerts should be switched off. All panel members should have what they need for the interview—candidates’ resumes, questions that will be asked and note-taking forms. If you’re interviewing from home, exile children and pets to another part of the house.

Spend time before the interview ensuring that the technology is working. Consider conducting a test interview using the platform, questions and procedures that will be followed during the actual interviews.

Contact candidates to propose a time for the interview. Suggest they participate from a quiet space where they are unlikely to be interrupted. 

Prepare them for the interview by advising them of the platform that will be used (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, GoToMeeting, Skype, etc.) and what to expect during the interview. Let them know if they will be interviewed by a panel and provide the job titles of its members.

Decide beforehand who will ask questions and how followup questions will be handled. Suggest that panel members mute themselves when not asking questions.

Remind panel members to treat virtual interviews as they would in-person interviews: dress professionally, resist the urge to multitask, and be aware of your body language and how it might be interpreted by the candidate.

Recognize that life happens. Family members or pets may appear unexpectedly. The technology may fail. Be prepared to quickly switch to a telephone interview by asking candidates in advance for a phone number and providing them with yours.

Follow a similar script during online interviews to what you would use if the interview was being conducted in person. Start the interview by introducing panel members and describing their role in the interview. Let the candidate know who will be asking questions. Consider using screen sharing to list the different components of the interview process: questions about the candidate’s resume, prepared questions, an opportunity for candidates to ask questions, and the wrap up.

Advise candidates that panel members will be making notes, which means that they will be unable maintain eye contact at all times during the interview.

During an in-person interview you might hand the candidate a card with the question on it as you ask it orally. During online interviews, you can use the screen-sharing function to give the candidate the opportunity to read the question as you ask it.

End virtual interviews as you would in-person interviews, by advising the candidate about the timeline for your decision making. Traditionally, this would be a time to provide information about the organization. Tell the candidate that you will email them information about the organization and briefly describe what they can expect to learn from this information before offering the opportunity for them to pose questions.

Online interviews should replicate in-person interviews as much as possible. Ask good questions and listen carefully to the candidates’ responses. Probe to learn more if necessary. Keep notes and base your decisions on what you hear during the interview and during reference checks. 

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Interview Right to Hire Right workshops are an opportunity for participants to develop practices that will serve them well, whether interviewing online or in person. Contact Nelson (nmscott@telus.net or 780-232-3828) to schedule training for members of your leadership team.

Interviewing online: What hasn’t changed, what to adapt and a few benefits of interviewing virtually

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed much about how we do business, including how we conduct hiring interviews.

Gone now, and for the foreseeable future, is the practice of inviting strangers to meet with you or with an interview panel in your office or other confined space. Interviews have gone virtual.

What does that mean for leaders with a vacancy to fill? How does interviewing need to change? And what remains the same?

The good news is that the essence of good of interviewing practice has not changed. Interviewers still write and ask questions that focus on the candidates’ past performance. They create interview experiences that are fair to all candidates and maximize the quality and quantity of information gathered. Reference checks can still be conducted during telephone conversation, as they were pre-COVID.

There are even benefits derived from the transition to online interviews using platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Team and Go To Meeting:

Virtual interviews save money and time—Neither the candidate nor the interviewers need to travel. This eliminates or significantly reduces the costs associated with interviews, both financial (gas or airfare, accommodation, meals) and in terms of the time required for travel. 

Virtual interviews make scheduling easier—Because no one has to travel, either across the country or just across town, it’s easier to find times that are convenient for both candidates and members of the interview panel.

Virtual interviews can be “blind”—Biases can influence hiring decisions, in both positive and negative ways. Visual clues related to biases, particularly race and gender, can be eliminated by turning off the candidate’s video, just as orchestras audition musicians sight unseen by asking them to perform from behind a screen, so that factors such as race and gender don’t enter into decision about who gets hired.

Related article: Name-blind recruitment meant to exclude biases from hiring process

Virtual interviews might end coffee shop interviews—The inappropriate practice of interviewing candidates in public settings, such as in coffee shops, is less common since the pandemic struck. This is a good thing. Asking candidates to talk about themselves in a public space, surrounded by distractions and by others who may inadvertently overhear the conversation is interview malpractice. Even when life “gets back to normal,” online interviews will be a superior alternative to interviewing in public.

Although the core elements of interviewing and hiring haven’t changed, we need to adapt how we prepare, conduct and follow up virtual interviews:

Preparing for Interviews

How to prepare yourself:

1. The criteria for finding the right place to interview hasn’t changed. The space should be quiet, free from interruptions and free from items that could distract you. For video interviews, consider what will appear behind you that might distract candidates or other panel members. You don’t want people to spend the interview wondering why you have “that thing” on your bookshelf. A blank wall works best. And please, avoid those virtual backgrounds. The halos they create and the way they cause arms and other body parts to disappear can be distracting.
2. Check the technology you will be using to ensure that the audio and video are working properly. Check the lighting. Too much or too little light may make it difficult for others to see you.
3. There are items that you should bring to traditional interviews that you will still require during virtual interviews—the candidate’s resumé, a list of the questions you plan to ask, and paper or a note-taking form (and at least two pens, just in case).

How to prepare the interview panel:

1. Encourage panel members to find a quiet, interruption- and distraction-free space from which to join the interview.
2. Because you are not going to be together, ensure that all panel members have what they need beforehand—resumés, questions, note-taking forms.
3. Encourage panel members to pre-check the technology they will be using.
4. Design an interview plan. Who is going to ask each question? What is the process for asking followup questions?

How to prepare the candidate:

1. Encourage the candidate to find a space that is quiet and interruption-free for the interview. At the same time, be tolerant of unexpected distractions on the candidate’s end. There may be an unexpected phone call. The dog may bark. The candidate’s partner may be working from home or the kids may be off school.
2. Ask the candidate to test the technology that will be used. You might even set up a brief test call if the candidate is unfamiliar with the platform you will be using. Provide your phone number in case something goes wrong during the interview. 
3. In a traditional interview, you would provide water for the candidate. For the virtual interview, suggest the candidate have water or something else to drink on hand. 
4. I suggest that prior to traditional interviews, the person managing the process meet briefly with candidates outside the interview room to prepare them for what they will experience: let them know how many people will be on the interview panel, who will be asking questions, where the candidate will be sitting.  Answer the candidate’s questions about the interview. In the context of a virtual interview, this information could be provided when the candidate first joins the call, or better yet, provide this information in an email or during a short virtual meeting prior to the interview.

During the interview

The candidate should remain in the waiting room until the panel is ready to begin. Emphasize the importance of all panel members being online before the candidate  arrives. When the candidate is invited into the room, begin the interview as you would begin an in-person interview—introduce the panel, explain the process. Then proceed as you would have done prior to the pandemic—ask questions and probe for additional information. For traditional interviews, I suggest printing questions on cards that you hand to the candidate as you ask each question. For virtual interviews, prepare slides and use the screen-share option.

Ending the Interview

In a traditional in-person interview, the process ends with the interviewer providing information about the organization, reviewing the decision-making timeline, offering an opportunity for the candidate to ask questions and finally, handing the candidate a business card with instructions to “contact me if you have any questions or additional information for us, prior to us letting you know our decision.” In the virtual setting, tell the candidate you will be sending information about the organization and highlight what’s included before inviting the candidate’s questions.

After the Interview

1. As occurs following traditional in-person interviews, panel members should assess the candidate, following the process agreed to prior to beginning the interview.
2. Send information to the candidate (as promised). 
3. Conduct reference checks and make sure that what you learn is one more part of the information used to hire the right person to fill your vacancy.
4. Take time to determine how to improve the virtual interview process. Ask panel members three questions: What went well? What could have been done differently? What is the key lesson we learned from these interviews? You might also ask candidates for their input, using a brief survey about their interview experience.

 When this pandemic ends, we may return to interviewing in person, but we are unlikely to totally discard virtual interviews from our hiring toolkit. What we learn now from interviewing virtually may make us better interviewers in the future, whether we are asking our questions in person or online.