Virtual Interview Tips: How to prepare for a job interview in Canada

Now that the world has been completely turned upside down since March 2020, according to stats at Miro, over 40% of people are working from home, and remote positions are on the rise (article here), which means more and more remote interviews in the future. I even believe when offices open up again, we will still have remote positions and remote interviewing. Just for reference, my last three job interviews I have done in the last three years have been remote.

1. Test Your Technology

Nothing is worse than jumping on an interview right at the start time and your technology is not working or your internet is down. If you have the luxury at home to have one or more devices. Set up a second device in case the first one doesn’t work.

Go ahead and pre-download the software on your computer, if its webX, zoom, teams, etc, get well acquainted with how the software works and any features you may want to use.

2. Dress for the Job

This one is quite straightforward. Depending on what type of job you are applying for, you want to dress for the role and if you were going into the office. I would suggest business casual, the ones that wear a suit to me or a blazer always stand out to me.

If you are going to wear sweatpants or shorts with your outfit thinking that no one will see it, ensure you don’t need to stand up for the entire interview. I have seen people’s children come in or doorbells ringing, and they stand up, and the magic of you wearing business casual is gone!

3. Make sure you are early

This goes hand in hand with testing your technology. If you were interviewing in person, you would most likely arrive at least 10 minutes early. I would suggest joining the call 8 minutes early due to the software’s loading times, and you want to make sure no one is waiting for you.

I am a big stickler for time and hate when people arrive late to any meetings.

4. Make Eye Contact

I have spoke about this in my other youtube video, is how to look good on zoom. You want to ensure you are front and centre of your camera and connecting with the interviewer as much as possible.

Its very hard to connect to someone’s side of the face or head.

Here is the video here: How to Look good on Zoom

5. Remove all Distractions

I can get easily distracted, whether it is a notification on my phone, my cat entering the office or the door bell ringing.

Ensure when you are in your interview that you keep all distractions outside of the room. If you have a smart home speaker, I would suggest muting this device or unplugging it all together. Nothing is worse than answering a question in an interview and losing your train of thought due to a distraction.

6. Have your CV near by or as your virtual background

Typically in an in-person, you would bring at least a few copies of your CV/resume. Ensure you have your CV open on your desktop, and for those super creative, you can even add it as your virtual background.

You can take this approach, you can also share your screen but most likely the hiring manager will have it open on their side as well.

7. Prepare and rehearse key questions

Pick an honest friend and schedule some time to rehearse your interview. Since we live in a remote world, it is effortless to schedule a quick 20 minutes with a friend and go over your questions.
Ask that friend for their honest opinion and get feedback from them on how it sounds.

8. Research the Company

I can’t stress this enough!!! Since we are remote, we can absolutely have notes on the side of our screen regarding the company you are applying for.

Having the hiring managers Linkedin open to understand who they are, and having some notes such as the companies objectives, results, what their mission and vision are, is so important. If you find you don’t align with the vision and mission, it also might not be a place for you to work.

9. Have a digital presence

Now, this requires you to do some pre-work. Having a digital online presence in Canada is so important. What this means is to clean up your social media profiles. In Canada, LinkedIn in business is heavily used. Ensure your latest achievements and education are updated on this tool. However you decide to use Linkedin, make it consistent. If you only post once a month, then do that. If you never post and suddenly you are looking for a job, it may take time to build a credible brand presence.

10. Break the Ice

I have some people execute this really really well. You could start with a joke, talk about coffee/tea, weather, what your day is looking like. What new hobbies you have started, etc. The point here is to pep up your energy, add different tones to your conversation because the interviewer at this point is trying to figure out who you are!

Have you participated in any job interviews remotely? How did they go?