What should my video interview background be like?

Keep the background authentic, clean, neutral, and professional with minimal distractions.

Should I use a virtual background for a video interview?

It's best to avoid virtual backgrounds as they can be distracting; use your real background if suitable.

What kind of attire is appropriate for a video interview?

Dress professionally, similar to how you would for an in-person interview, avoiding anything too distracting.

How early should I prepare my audio and video equipment before the interview?

Ensure your equipment is ready at least 30 minutes to an hour before the interview.

Why is positive body language important in a video interview?

Positive body language shows engagement and interest, making a positive impression on the interviewer.

How can I engage the interviewer during a video interview?

Use eye contact, smiles, and energetic, interested gestures and voice to show your interest.

Why is preparation important for a video interview?

Researching the company and role beforehand helps demonstrate your fit and interest in the position.

How can I present my achievements during a video interview?

List your 20 top accomplishments and practice discussing them to reflect on your value and skills.

Should I practice for my video interview?

Yes, practice with a friend over video to ensure comfortable and fluent responses.

What's the final key point in a video interview?

Remember your value and assess if the job fits your career goals; it's a two-way evaluation.

How To Ace Your Job Interview Over Zoom | Forbes

00:06:48

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si4GLeQoqLA

Summary

TLDRThe video provides ten tips to excel in video interviews, especially as remote interviews become more common. These tips include: choosing an authentic but distraction-free background, avoiding virtual backgrounds, wearing professional attire, ensuring your video and audio equipment is ready well in advance, using positive body language, engaging the interviewer with energy and eye contact, thoroughly preparing through company research, articulating your accomplishments effectively, practicing responses with a friend on video, and understanding your value and career goals during the interview. Emphasizing the importance of being yourself while bringing your best self forward is crucial for making a great impression.

Takeaways

🎥 Ensure your background is clean and distraction-free.
🔊 Check and prepare your audio and video equipment in advance.
👔 Dress professionally, even if it's a remote interview.
😊 Use positive body language to engage the interviewer.
📚 Prepare thoroughly about the company and role.
👀 Maintain eye contact and appear interested.
🗣️ Articulate your key accomplishments smoothly.
🤝 Practice your interview with a friend or coach.
💡 Understand your value and assess the job fit.
🙋‍♂️ Be confident and bring your best self to the interview.

Timeline

00:00:00 - 00:06:48
To enhance interview performance, practicing with a friend on video is recommended to simulate the setting and gain feedback, focusing on refining responses and ensuring fluency. The advice is to keep iterating until one is comfortable and fluid in their answers. Finally, the speaker reminds viewers of their value and worth, emphasizing the mutual nature of the interview process and the importance of assessing whether the job aligns with one's values and career goals. It's crucial to ask insightful questions to determine if the position is a suitable fit. Overall, being authentic, bringing one's best self, and clearly communicating one’s talents and value to the prospective employer are key takeaways.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

What should my video interview background be like?
Keep the background authentic, clean, neutral, and professional with minimal distractions.
Should I use a virtual background for a video interview?
It's best to avoid virtual backgrounds as they can be distracting; use your real background if suitable.
What kind of attire is appropriate for a video interview?
Dress professionally, similar to how you would for an in-person interview, avoiding anything too distracting.
How early should I prepare my audio and video equipment before the interview?
Ensure your equipment is ready at least 30 minutes to an hour before the interview.
Why is positive body language important in a video interview?
Positive body language shows engagement and interest, making a positive impression on the interviewer.
How can I engage the interviewer during a video interview?
Use eye contact, smiles, and energetic, interested gestures and voice to show your interest.
Why is preparation important for a video interview?
Researching the company and role beforehand helps demonstrate your fit and interest in the position.
How can I present my achievements during a video interview?
List your 20 top accomplishments and practice discussing them to reflect on your value and skills.
Should I practice for my video interview?
Yes, practice with a friend over video to ensure comfortable and fluent responses.
What's the final key point in a video interview?
Remember your value and assess if the job fits your career goals; it's a two-way evaluation.

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00:00:00
today as we all know our interviews are
00:00:03
happening from our homes or from some
00:00:06
remote place we're not going to work
00:00:08
right we're not going to the office
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for many people that's easier because
00:00:12
they're right in there at the comfort of
00:00:14
their own home for many people it's not
00:00:15
easy they're not comfortable
00:00:17
online they're not comfortable with the
00:00:19
technology
00:00:20
and it makes interviewing even a little
00:00:23
more stressful than it already was
00:00:25
so what i'd love to do here is give 10
00:00:27
tips
00:00:28
so that you can rock your video
00:00:30
interview you can feel comfortable you
00:00:32
can feel
00:00:32
authentic and be the real you but also
00:00:35
bring
00:00:36
your highest and best self forward the
00:00:37
first tip is be
00:00:39
conscious of what's in the view so what
00:00:42
you
00:00:42
want is a background that i feel
00:00:46
the best is that it's authentic it's who
00:00:48
you really are
00:00:49
but it has the least amount of
00:00:52
uh distractions you can find a corner
00:00:56
that's
00:00:56
that's white you can find the lighting
00:00:58
has to be decent so you're not being
00:01:00
blinded by
00:01:01
the light or people can see you well but
00:01:03
really you want to make sure that it's
00:01:05
you but uh as plain and neutral and
00:01:09
professional as you can make it
00:01:10
that said given the pandemic everybody's
00:01:14
getting a little more casual but it's an
00:01:16
interview so
00:01:16
as much as you can keep it distraction
00:01:18
free that's the best thing
00:01:20
the second tip is show your real
00:01:22
background
00:01:23
if it's suitable and what that means is
00:01:25
you know on zoom and a lot of other
00:01:27
platforms you can show a virtual
00:01:29
background and an image or a photo that
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you choose
00:01:32
it can even be a video what i'd
00:01:33
recommend for an interview is you don't
00:01:35
do that
00:01:36
it's distracting you know i have a
00:01:38
friend who has a rolling beach going
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you're looking at the beach in the palm
00:01:41
trees you're not looking at
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the individual so if you can do it the
00:01:46
authentic real background is best
00:01:48
we do want to select professional
00:01:51
attire now that's even changed in the
00:01:54
world of the pandemic we're all
00:01:56
a little looser a little more
00:01:57
comfortable but i would
00:01:59
recommend that you think about what you
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would be wearing if you went to the
00:02:03
office to interview
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now that doesn't mean a suit and a tie
00:02:06
make sure it's professional make
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sure that for instance as if you were
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doing a photo shoot you don't want to
00:02:12
have things distract like big jewelry
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or things that make noise you want it
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simple and professional
00:02:19
so you absolutely want to ready your
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sound and video equipment
00:02:23
first you know what it's like when
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you're supposed to be at an interview at
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11
00:02:27
and you're running late and you're
00:02:29
sweating and you're nervous well it's
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the exact same thing
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if your video and audio equipment aren't
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ready get them ready beforehand
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an hour early a half hour early show up
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click on that link beforehand
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just be fully ready so that when the
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interview starts it's all you and you're
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not distracted and nervous
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demonstrate positive body language and
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behavior
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what you want to do is make sure that
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you are engaged
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that you're using eye contact that
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you're not slumping
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think about how you would be presenting
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yourself live it's the exact same thing
00:03:05
and you also want to show with all of
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your
00:03:08
verbal and non-verbal language that you
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are curious
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that you are focused that you can pay
00:03:13
attention that you're not distracted
00:03:15
looking over here looking at your phone
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looking down
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but in general you want to be as focused
00:03:20
and present
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with your language both verbal and
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non-verbal
00:03:25
let's talk about engaging the
00:03:26
interviewer so you do that with your
00:03:29
eyes you do that with your smile
00:03:31
you do that with your energy so what you
00:03:33
don't want to do
00:03:34
is seem bored you want to
00:03:38
you know with your voice with your eyes
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show
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how interested you are in this in this
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job because if
00:03:45
if you are kind of lackadaisical and
00:03:47
sitting back
00:03:48
and not even interested in the interview
00:03:50
it's going to leave a lasting impression
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that
00:03:52
you're not the right fit as with every
00:03:54
interview you go on
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every meeting you have prepare prepare
00:03:58
prepare i can't say
00:03:59
that enough read everything you can
00:04:02
about
00:04:03
you know on glassdoor ratings of that
00:04:05
company look
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at the person you're interviewing on
00:04:08
linkedin do
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everything you can to feel like i know
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what i have to ask i know what this role
00:04:13
is looking for and i know how i can fit
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in that role
00:04:18
unbelievably most people cannot
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speak fluidly and compellingly about
00:04:24
what they do
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and why they're great and why what they
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do is important and how they've moved
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the needles
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at the organizations they've worked at
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if you don't know how to do that and i
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call that
00:04:35
knowing the 20 facts of you if you don't
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know how to do that
00:04:39
your interviews kind of lay there
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there's not a lot of juice that you're
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bringing to it
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so the tip is this this weekend go sit
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quietly somewhere
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and write down the 20 accomplishments
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you've had
00:04:51
that you are most thrilled and proud of
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write them down and then dimensionalize
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them what skills did you use
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and why were those accomplishments
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important to you into the organization
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and make sure you weave those into your
00:05:04
interview
00:05:05
it's really important you practice with
00:05:07
a friend or coaching buddy but on video
00:05:10
you know you're speaking in such an
00:05:13
almost flat way you're not
00:05:14
feeling the energy or hearing the energy
00:05:17
of the other person
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so for most people you need to practice
00:05:20
so get on zoom with your best friend the
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friend that's gonna say
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all right i'd love to give you a few
00:05:25
tips and practice the interview
00:05:28
practice how you're gonna answer the
00:05:29
tough questions and then go back and
00:05:31
watch and you're gonna see where oh i
00:05:33
faltered when i said this
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or i struggle and do it again and again
00:05:36
until it's very fluid and comfortable
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for you
00:05:40
finally remember that you're talented
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and that you are so valuable
00:05:45
we forget that it's a two-way street we
00:05:47
forget
00:05:48
that we should be interviewing them as
00:05:50
much as they are interviewing us not an
00:05:51
aggressive way
00:05:53
but you need to understand your values
00:05:56
your non-negotiables the thing you want
00:05:58
next in your career
00:06:00
and you need to ask questions that are
00:06:01
going to make sure you can vet this job
00:06:04
as much as they are vetting you so if
00:06:06
you're looking for a job today
00:06:08
uh which so many people are what you
00:06:11
want to make sure you're doing is
00:06:12
bringing
00:06:13
all of yourself to to the interview and
00:06:16
it will be video now
00:06:18
so remember there's just really simple
00:06:21
doable practical tips most importantly
00:06:24
be yourself but be your best self know
00:06:27
exactly what you want them to understand
00:06:30
about you
00:06:30
about your great talents and how you can
00:06:33
leverage those
00:06:34
and make a real difference in this great
00:06:36
new job