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Remote Interviewing Etiquette
Think twice before jumping on an interview call unprepared
I’ve given a handful of interviews recently and wanted to give advice to anyone who’s going through interviews over a Zoom call or the like, since I feel like folks aren’t putting their best foot forward.
It can seem silly, given that you’re in your own house, but it’s good to look the part. You don’t want the difference between you and the person that got the job to be “I couldn’t really hear what you were saying” or “you showed up in a pitch black room with a t-shirt on.”
The problem with my brain, as well as other interviewers’, is we get distracted by strange things. If you’re in a normal, well lit room, with a working mic and camera, then you’ll be the main thing I focus on. But if your lighting is weird, your sound keeps cutting out, or you have weird things going on in the background, my attention will start to wander.
I tend to think of myself as someone who’s aware of these biases, but I still fall prey to them. And I think your setup speaks to your level of effort at making a first impression; if you don’t care about the interview, why should the interviewer care about you?
Let’s get into some specifics on how you can put your best foot forward.
