By Sophie Hattery ’16
A rise in technology usually means that a new iPhone model has been released. In this case, technological advancements have brought about a new way of interviewing, namely Interview Stream. Instead of the traditional Skype interview, candidates for jobs now might have to record previously selected questions to be submitted to their prospective employers. Famous employers that have started to use this innovational interviewing process are Johnson and Johnson, as well as Hershey. Basically, Interview Stream asks candidates questions that they can view and respond to at their convenience. The videos can then be easily sent to hiring managers or anyone else involved in the hiring process at the company.
While this is time efficient for the employers, this can be nerve wracking for us students. In this case, we do not get the opportunity to gauge our employer’s demeanor and consequently show how your personality is a good fit for his or her company. There also is no longer the opportunity to ask the timeless stalling question, “I do not quite understand what you are asking, is there a possibility that you could please elaborate on that?” Furthermore, there is the unsettling component of having to look at yourself up close in an online video camera. I know that I for one already get unreasonable amounts of anxiety just FaceTiming, because the selfie camera can be a little too much… so I figured I would give you a few helpful hints on how to absolve yourself of the 1) awkwardness and 2) the jitters of interviewing!
First of all, the CDC offers video-taped mock interviews. If you are self-conscious about how you carry yourself on video, this is one of the better ways to see what you look like and how to improve either your verbal or non-verbal communication! While you do have an interviewer in this situation, it cannot hurt to see what you are working with.
Second, we have a bunch of interview question handouts available to you. I would personally write out an answer to all of the questions and try my best to memorize all of them by talking them out in front of a mirror. Sounds crazy, but again – not having to worry about how what you look like when you are staring in a camera for a sustained period of time can help you focus on the most important aspect of the interview – actually answering the question to your best ability despite the lack of person to person interaction.
Once you have those down, I would write short bullet points under all of them and keep a copy of that paper near your desk or wherever you choose to have the Interview Stream interview. That way, during the 20 or however many second prep time slot you are given, you can glance quickly at your little cheat sheet to ensure that you jog your memory and crush the interview!
Overall, try not to be nervous! This blog post is here to inform you, and solely having the awareness of these types of interviews is important! Just know the company’s values, awards that it has won, why you would be an awesome addition to its team, and have 5-7 questions prepared to ask at the end. Also, logistic wise, be sure to dress formally from at least the waist up, (girls) make sure that your makeup is not excessive, and take 30 minutes before the actual interview to set up everything and breathe!