Acing Video and Phone Interviews

Increasingly, phone and video interviews are used to screen applicants because they are cheaper and often more convenient for the employer to conduct than face-to-face interviews. Many of the same principles of effective interviewing apply to phone and video interviews, but some aspects are quite different.

Consider enlisting a friend or family member to conduct a mock phone or video interview with you for practice, using the actual mode you’ll use for the real interview. Be sure you’re in a quiet, secluded place, free of distractions, at the time of your interview appointment.

In the real interview, avoid any behaviors that will cause distracting sounds during the interview, such as chewing gum, coughing, snuffling, sneezing and throat-clearing. Have a glass of water handy in case your throat gets dry or ticklish. If you feel yourself going off on, for example, an unstoppable coughing jag, ask if the interviewer would like to reschedule. For video, avoid visual distractions, such as a person or pet walking into the room.

Just as you should smile in a face-to-face interview to project enthusiasm, smile as much as possible in your phone or video interview. The interviewer can’t see your smile over the phone but will hear it in your voice. On video, you’ll be seen similarly to how you’d be seen in person, so smiles and other nonverbal positive behaviors are called for.

Don’t feel you need to fill lulls in the conversation. If the interviewer doesn’t respond at the end of your answer, ask a question to deflect the conversation back to him or her. Similarly, don’t be afraid to take a good pause before answering any question that throws you for a loop. Pauses and lulls seem much longer on the phone or video, but don’t let them rattle you, and don’t feel you must blurt out an immediate response. Take a moment to think and then respond to the best of your ability.

Since phone and video interviews are often initial interviews intended to screen out candidates, expect the unexpected. Remember that afterwards, phone and video interviews require thank you notes just as face-to-face sessions do.

Take a measure approach to your job applications

Often times, you can fall into a trap of seeing a particular title, skimming a listing, and firing off an application. But you didn’t scroll all the way to the bottom to read that they’re looking for someone with a particular skill set that you don’t have, want a very specific experience or are looking for a certain degree level.

Here are a few things to look out for when applying for jobs that may be automatically excluding you:

Degree Type or Major

If a company is seeking something with a higher education degree, the job listing will clearly state it. But look out for language like “preferred”. That’s a signal that they’re open to other majors or a lower degree of education.

Hard Skills

If you’re in a technical industry, hard skills will be even more important. Pay attention to the specific software programs, coding languages, certifications, etc. that the company is seeking in their ideal candidate. If you can only code in one specific language and it’s not the one they use, then you will likely not receive a callback.

Years of Experience

This is, admittedly, a bit of a gray area, but some companies are more tied to the years of experience than others. However, applying for a job that asks for 10 years of experience when you’ve been out of college for one year is probably a long shot. So, be realistic. If you’re very close to the range they give, it’s likely worth sending over an application.

Second Language

Second languages are a more obscure requirement, but one that can live at the very end of a job description and can easily be overlooked. If a company needs someone proficient in a second language and you’re not, it should be a no-go. However, if you’ve taken a significant number of years in that language but are not proficient, it could be enough to get you an interview.

So, if you’ve learned anything, it’s to read the entire job description and then read it again before applying. Companies create these to weed out candidates, so ensure that you tick most, if not all, of their non-negotiables. Again, many are subjective, so you will still need to use your best judgment. But typically, companies make it clear what their needs are and what their nice to have’s are.

Have you standardized your interview model?

USE A STANDARDIZED INTERVIEW MODEL

Interviews are one of the most important parts of the hiring process, and are often rife with bias. The main issues we see with interviews are group interviews and unstandardized processes.

What do I mean by this? It means the interview experience varies by candidate. For example, a candidate hired through a referral is brought in for a casual chat with the hiring manager and their prospective boss, while a candidate who applied online sits through a coding test and multiple interview panels. Not only do these candidates not step into the workforce on equal footing, but the chances of one getting hired over another is high. Work with your peers, with your company leaders, and figure out a rubric or evaluation model that’s used for unilaterally for every hire. Create a plan for a standardized interview model so that all candidates are asked the same kinds of questions, put through the same kinds of tests, and offered the same starting offers.

Do your research

Research Your Top Career Choices

Once you have a tentative idea of some careers worth investigating, then you will need to research them in detail to further assess their suitability. Begin by reading about each of the fields on your brainstorm list. Look for information on our online career information resources.

Try Googling each field like this: “Career Information Sales Accountant.” You will find that professional groups provide excellent sources of career information. Review the requirements for entering the field and make sure that you are prepared to complete any training, certificate programs or educational degrees which are required.

For your remaining options, the next step should be to conduct informational interviews with professionals in those fields. Reach out to college alumni, contacts in your personal and social networks, as well as local professionals to schedule in-person or telephone consultations.

Keep notes regarding what you have learned during your research and match it up against the list of interests, skills, and values which you generated during your self-assessment phase. Make a list of options which are still worth considering.

As always consider having a conversation with the recruiter’s at CareerPaths NW, we are always available to chat with you about your career options.

Looking to hire the right candidate?

GO BEYOND HOW A CANDIDATE “LOOKS ON PAPER”

Lastly, we implore you to look beyond the resume when hiring a candidate. Especially in fast-paced, changing fields like marketing, technology, and other evolving industries. For example, if you start a technology job today, a year from now a huge portion of your role will likely be totally different.

So rather than worrying too much about whether or not a candidate checks every single box, focus instead on what they bring to the table beyond hard skills. Are they passionate, committed, and always hungry to learning? We find that hiring for attitude and aptitude is far more impactful than simply hiring to a checklist, especially when so many skills are easily learned on the job. Focus on people who mesh with your company, candidates who love to learn, and those people you believe can move your organization forward when hiring in a competitive employer market.

Final steps to setting your career goals.

Try Job Shadowing to Get an Insider Perspective

If a field still holds your interest after reading about it and speaking with professionals in that sector, try to schedule a job shadow to observe the work and sample the work environment.

Consider an Internship or Volunteering

If you are in a position to try out a field that is still of interest at this point, consider doing an internship or some related volunteer work.

Start the Decision Making Process

You should be prepared to make an informed decision at this point. List the pros and cons for each remaining option on a separate sheet of paper and weigh the choices. If you are still unsure, seek the assistance of a guidance counselor at your high school, a career counselor at your college, or a professional career counselor.

Do you know why a Recruiter is important for your job search?

The Role of a Recruiter

If you are job hunting, you need to cultivate relationships with recruiters. Recruiters are primarily tasked with filling positions for businesses, but they play an advisory role for job seekers in the process. They can work with you to make sure you are ready to face employers. For example, they might provide guidance on interview etiquette, salary negotiations, workplace culture and expectations, and proper work attire.

Types of Recruiters

Before deciding to work with recruiters, it’s important to understand these three major types:

  • Retainer-based recruiter: This recruiter serves as a third-party consultant and charges a business a retainer fee up front in order to find a candidate. Often, the candidates they seek are senior-level business people who meet specific job requirements.
  • Contingency-based recruiter: This recruiter can be a staffing or temp agency hired to conduct a specific search to fill temporary roles. Usually the roles they seek to fill pay below $100,000 per year. Contingency-based recruiters compete with other firms to present the right candidates for job openings, and are paid only if their candidate gets hired.
  • Corporate recruiter: This recruiter works internally. They are responsible for distributing the job posting, sourcing candidates, screening resumes, and shortlisting candidates to be presented to the hiring manager.

Use LinkedIn for finding recruiters

Using LinkedIn Filters to Find Industry-Specific Recruiters

When preparing to reach out to recruiters on LinkedIn, carefully select five to 10 of them. Don’t randomly send connection requests to those who might not have any openings in your industry or jobs that match your skills. Your smartphone might not offer all the options you need for this process, so use your laptop or tablet instead.

Here’s how to use LinkedIn’s filters to find recruiters:

  1. From the home page, click on “My Network.”
  2. Click on “Connections” at the top left-hand column.
  3. Click on “Search with filters”, then select the “All filters” box (highlighted in blue at top right).
  4. In the pop-up box, choose 1st, 2nd, and 3rd connections.
  5. Scroll down to the “Industry” section (a couple of sections below in the pop-up box) and click your industries of interest. You can also add industries. This is important because you want to choose a recruiter that works with people in your fields of choice.
  6. Scroll down to the “Keywords” section at the bottom of the box. Under “Title,” type in “Recruiter,” “Headhunter,” “Talent Acquisition,” or “Hiring Manager”
  7. Click “Show Results.”

Within your search results, click on the “Connect” button of each recruiter  you want to reach out to. Then, choose the option “Add a note” and send them a customized message. In addition to your first-level (1st) connections, these search results will offer the names of other people in your network who you may be familiar with. Don’t be afraid to ask your connections for an introduction.

5 great apps for increased productivity

Microsoft Office

Microsoft have always dominated desktop when it comes to productivity and their mobile version of Word, Excel and Powerpoint are exactly what you’d expect. Available on Android and iOS, the app offers exceptional file compatibility so that your work is in sync with the desktop version. Users can easily edit and view documents, plus cloud support makes it great for sharing and collaborative working. The free version allows basic functions to be carried out but the paid subscription offers more features.

WPS Office

Previously known as Kingsoft Office, the app offers an all-in-one functionality for word processing, presentations and slideshows. It works with a number of different file formats and its features enable the viewing and modifying of documents. There’s also a tab feature that makes it simple for you to work on a number of documents at the same time. Cloud support is also available for Google Drive, Dropbox and other services.

Outlook

The Outlook app from Microsoft is the full package—emails, attachments and contacts are easily accessible. The app brings important emails to your attention based on communications and it works with Exchange, Office 365, Outlook.com and many other email accounts.

Workflow

Workflow is an iOS exclusive that allows you to consolidate phone tasks and apps that monopolize your time. You can organize a ride for your next calendar appointment, save images from a webpage and upload photos to your cloud storage. Create workflows and then open them in the app or create iOS Action Extensions. It allows you to carry out over 200 actions using a number of apps and users can share their creations.

Feedly

Feedly is a news reading tool that brings together a number of interfaces allowing you to browse news stories quickly and efficiently. You can have topical updates delivered from blogs and websites or add customer subscriptions form sources such as RSS. The app also allows articles to be saved so they can be viewed offline.

Job Search Hacks for finding great jobs in Redmond

Use Google Alerts

The best way to guarantee that you are tailoring and targeting your interview information for a specific company is to make sure you’re keeping up on all their news and information.  Using a service like Google Alerts can save you precious time by doing the digging for you!  Signing up with Google Alerts is quick and easy and once you’re all done, you’ll start getting email alerts any time a news story appears for whatever specific terms you’ve set up.  With just a few clicks of your mouse and a little bit of information from you, news stories and current events related to the companies you select are automatically delivered to your email box.  This is one job interview tip that will keep you abreast of all of the important things that are affecting your industry and the company you are interviewing with.

Identify a Problem and Fix It

In many cases, a company will be hiring for a position in order to solve a problem or remedy an issue they have been facing. By studying the job description you can often tell if this is the case for the position you are interviewing for. If this is the case, take this opportunity to prepare a one-page proposal that outlines how you would solve the problem that the company is facing… and be specific! Even if they aren’t looking for you to solve the problem in the interview, they will be impressed that you took the initiative and more importantly, that as a hire, you will bring a lot of value to their organization.

Follow Up! (Before You Leave the Interview)

Make sure you follow up before you even leave the interview. At the end of your interview, make sure to reinforce the idea that you’re interested in the job. Wrap up with a phrase like “I’m really looking forward to an opportunity to be a part of such a dynamic company and I really hope you select me.”

Follow up that statement with a few questions about the next steps you should expect.

Not only are you gathering what could be valuable prep information, it’s showing them that you’re eager to continue on and do whatever it takes to get to the subsequent round. If the interviewer is vague, it’s a great opportunity to ask them what they’re vague about and help clarify any questions they might have that weren’t answered in the interview. Now is also the time to get a clear idea of the time table they have. When will selected applicants be asked back for subsequent interviews or to meet other people? Do they have a specific date in mind that they’d like to have the position filled by?

Asking questions like these reinforce the idea that you’re enthusiastic about the job…and it lets you know what their schedule is so you’re not blindly waiting.