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Ace Your Next Virtual Interview

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A few years ago, virtual interviews were the ‘future of recruitment.’ Today, they’re a necessity for employers who want to hire new team members. And if you’re looking for your next role, they are an asset.

Virtual interviews are those that take place using video conferencing technology. They’re not just a glorified phone interview: they allow both parties to parse the nonverbal cues you’d miss over the phone.

Are you staring into the face of yet another virtual interview? Here’s how you can ace it and win your next role.

Prepare Like It’s an In-Person Interview

Virtual interviews are in-person interviews, even if you’re not in the office. So rather than preparing for a preliminary chat like you might with a phone interview, treat it like a normal interview.

What does that mean? Think about potential questions, come up with helpful anecdotes, and write down your questions. You also need to dress the part, so make sure to come in your best business casual (at a minimum).

Test Your Technology Half an Hour Early

You wouldn’t be late for an interview on-site, and you definitely can’t be late for a virtual interview. There’s little leeway for tardiness if you don’t have to leave your house, so make sure you rule out everything that could get in your way beforehand.

The most common reason virtual interviews start late is because of a technology fail. To prevent that from happening, test out your speakers and microphone early. If you’re not familiar with the web conferencing tool, read a quick how-to before the interview starts. 

And if it’s an app, download it earlier in the day. Don’t be caught waiting for it to install when your appointment rolls around!

If you’re having any technical problems or you think there’s an issue on their end, acknowledge it. Don’t be afraid to say you can’t hear or see your interviewer well. It’s better to let them know than to try to fly blind.

Practice Your Pace and Tone

Given the role of the camera, many people focus solely on the video aspect of the interview. While your background, lighting, and appearance are very important, you shouldn’t forget to focus on the audio.

Lag, noise, accents, and other issues make virtual interviews trickier than asking a candidate into the office. To help them out, you should focus on speaking clearly and at a reasonable, natural pace. Use your pauses wisely and use your nonverbal communication to make it clear when you’re finished speaking.

Be Yourself to Ace Your Next Virtual Interview

Virtual interviews are a great way to speed up the recruiting process and save everyone time. They’re not a replacement for a final, in-person interview, but they’re a great substitute, particularly right now as companies try to hire while social distancing.

The best trick for virtual interviews is to treat them like a normal interview and prepare accordingly. Be early, know where you’re going, and above all, be yourself.

Ready to move forward?

Are you on the hunt for your next job? We can help you get there. Get in touch to learn what roles are available.

Best Practices When Working Remotely

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Remote work was once considered a perk, but it’s now becoming more than ‘desirable.’ For many businesses around the world, it’s essential. In 2019, 3.4% of U.S. workers skipped the office and worked from an off-site location. It goes without saying that the figure is much higher in 2020. Facebook and Google just extended their work-from-home policies until the end of 2020.

Working remotely is a big change, and while there are many benefits, adjustments must be made to succeed. Because so many jobs in IT and tech cater well to remote working, employers are looking for candidates who bring remote work skills to the table.

To help you out, we put together some of the best practices candidates and employees can use when making the transition to remote work.

Choose Your Working Hours Carefully

Finding the right hours requires some careful experimentation. Because whether you’re easily distracted or tend towards workaholic tendencies, working from home (or a coffee shop) requires you to know what you want to accomplish and when.

If your company doesn’t require you to track your time and has flexible hours, start by playing around with your most productive working hours. For some people, prime time starts at 7 AM. For others, nothing gets done before lunch.

Don’t try to force yourself into the typical 9-5 at home unless it’s required by your employer. By giving yourself space to find your most productive periods, you can then create a structure that allows you to be productive and consistent and say “pencils down” at the end of the day.

Find a Work Station 

The first big wave of remote workers started in March, and about two weeks in, they all realized that working on your computer from your sofa or kitchen table is fairly untenable. 

It’s important to find a space in your home where you can work that’s not only private but also not in a space where you otherwise spend your time.

One of the biggest problems remote workers have isn’t being productive but switching off at the end of the day. Working from your sofa makes that much harder.

Make finding a place to work each day a priority, and if that means getting out of the house when things reopen, don’t be afraid of that either!

Play with Task Management Methodologies

Because you’re not physically at work, it can be difficult to prioritize or manage tasks. Ideally, you’re working with a project management app or channel, but even then, it’s easy to look at the long list and not get anything done.

Consider adding other methodologies like the Pomodoro technique to help you complete tasks and refocus when you need to. Other apps and techniques you can try include:

  • Flowtime
  • Cowrkr
  • Swiff

Are You Ready for Remote Work?

Remote work was already a force to be reckoned with, but the Covid-19 pandemic has transformed it from an experiment in employee perks to a way of life. It’s very likely that even when businesses can return to work as normal, many will still seek to keep certain staff working off-site.

Learn more

Are you on the hunt for your next role? Get in touch to learn more about how we place consultants like you with projects that match your skills and work-style.

Reveal a Candidate’s EQ with These Interview Questions

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You have a shortlist of candidates who check all your boxes. They have the education, experience, and skills needed to fill the vacant role at your company.

Hiring a new employee requires you to find someone who does more than tick boxes. You want someone who will fit in, work well with other people, and even lead someday. You want someone with high levels of emotional intelligence (EQ).

You won’t find a candidates’ EQ profile in their resume. But you can figure it out before you hire them by asking the right interview questions.

What is Emotional Intelligence (EQ)?

A person’s emotional intelligence or EQ is their ability to understand and manage their own emotions both to deal with their own experience and to empathize with others.

You can spot a person with a high EQ because they usually:

  • Communicate clearly and effectively
  • Show empathy for others
  • Deal with stress using healthy mechanisms
  • Defuse conflict rather than create it

Attracting people with a high EQ to your company should be a top priority. They’re not only great workers and colleagues, but they also make great leaders. But how do you figure out whether a candidate possesses the kind of EQ that you want? You ask.

How to Use Interview Questions to Reveal a Candidates’ EQ

The best interview questions for revealing a candidate’s EQ go beyond asking about their strengths and weaknesses. It’s rare that someone will articulate their abilities simply because you ask them to spell them out.

Instead, you can learn more by asking them about specific scenarios and their response.

A few good questions include;

  • Share the worst piece of criticism you’ve ever received at work. How did you respond?
  • Talk about a time you saw a dispute between two co-workers. What did you do?
  • Tell us about a time you faced an ethical dilemma at work. What did you do?

But don’t just ask them about the scenario. Use follow-up questions to learn more about their responses to learn not only how the situation unfolded but how it shaped their experiences.

Don’t forget to pay attention to their body language and tone. Candidates who look or sound pained when answering these types of questions usually don’t respond well to stress or conflict, which also reflects their EQ.

Hire Emotionally Intelligent Teams

You know you want team members who have the skills and experience to get the job done, but their EQ is as important as their IQ. By asking the right interview questions and using follow-up questions wisely, you can choose candidates who are both good at their jobs and pleasant to work with.

Learn more

At RighStone, quality is part of our process. Get in touch to learn how we find candidates who not only fit your required skills but your corporate culture and personality.

Make Text Messaging an Effective Recruitment Tool with These 5 Tips

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Do you ever worry that your emails get lost in the shuffle? Think your lead times are longer because email is now ‘work’? Text messaging could be the answer.

Texting is a fast, inexpensive way to reach out to candidates. When your message arrives, it sits in an inbox surrounded by friends and family rather than random advertisements and emails from businesses the candidate visited once. What’s more, candidates are now more likely to apply for jobs on their phones than ever before.

We put together some simple rules to make text messaging a more effective tool for recruiters.

#1 Get Permission First

Did you know marketers can’t just text you? The law says they need to get your permission first.

While recruiting isn’t advertising per se, the rule still applies informally. You should always be getting permission when sending out the first text. Be sure to provide a reason for texting, too, and let them know how often they’ll hear from you and what kind of information you’ll send.

#2 Time It Right

It goes without saying that texting after dark is an unprofessional move. But you shouldn’t just avoid obviously anti-social hours.

Keep your texts strictly within business hours to keep it professional and avoid stressing out your candidates.

#3 Pick Up the Phone for Big News

Firing off a quick text may save you time, but candidates don’t want to hear big news via text. 

When you have interview feedback or the results of a big decision, pick up the phone and call. No one wants to hear they didn’t get the job via SMS.

#4 Make Unsubscribing Easy

Unwanted texts are effectively spam, even if you’re a real person just trying to do their job. You don’t want to be spam, so you need to make it easy to opt-out of your messages.

If you’re texting manually, add a note to their candidate profile. Using software? Make sure your unsubscribe settings are on.

#5 Proofread Your Texts Every Time

Texting candidates isn’t like texting your friends. You shouldn’t rely on their ability to interpret typos and understand what you really meant.

It’s much easier to send out a typo-ridden text because you’re working with a smaller screen and fewer spell check tools. That’s why it’s essential that you read every text — and then read it again — before sending it to your candidate.

Turn the Perfect Candidate into Your Next Team Member

Texting can be a helpful tool to turn quality prospective candidates into great hires, but only if you use it the right way. Are you looking for more ways to simplify hiring? RightStone can help you attract the right fit for your project. Get in touch to learn more about our 360 process.