When building your all-star team, it is important to search far and wide for the best possible candidates to add to your roster. With the ease and reliability of Google video, Facetime and Skype, video interviewing is slowly taking over as one of the go-tos for organizations interested in lowering recruitment costs and finding the best talent on the market. However while conducting or reviewing these interviews, it is important to know what red flags to look for while separating the best job candidates from the rest of the field. Here are five things every interviewer should look out for during a video interview:
- Environment
Unlike in an office, where you are unable to gain any insight into a candidates’ personal life, video interviews are a different story as they usually take place with the candidate at home. This is your first major impression of the candidate and you want to take it in. Notice the space they have chosen – is it well-prepared? Are there noises or distractions in the back-ground or is it a quiet and clear space, against a blank canvas that makes the candidate the center of focus? Avoid candidates who choose not to tidy up their environments or who choose a busy environment with multiple distractions as they are showing low levels of organization and an inability to conceptualize how small things can play into the bigger picture of hireability.
- Rehearsed answers
Although any well-prepared interviewee should have a notebook with questions and talking points they want to touch upon, there is a difference between this and scripted responses. Watch candidates’ eyes as they answer to ensure they aren’t relying on note cards or any other device that may help them avoid thinking on their feet.
Good candidates will be polished having already done their research and being prepared for different topics. Furthermore, if you ask them a question they haven’t prepared for, how they gather their thoughts and respond will be the best indication of their future performance.
- Body language
Although body language is certainly more difficult to interpret outside of an in-person interview, there are still plenty of things to look out for. Eye contact is a must, and the importance of smiling and a generally relaxed disposition remains extremely important.
- Technology issues
Connection and technological issues, although not always under our control, can be a strong indicator of how conscientious a candidate is. Any prepared candidate will have checked all connections and done test-runs of how their software is performing before the interview. Although there is always a chance of unforeseen circumstances, many of these problems could and should have been avoided ahead of time.
- Dress
Just because this is not an in-person interview does not mean it should be taken any less seriously. Although there is always a good chance your candidate is actually barefoot, what you are able to see in their attire on the screen should be appropriate and impeccable. Wrinkles, stains or a disheveled appearance of any sort is a big red flag that this candidate isn’t taking the interview seriously, therefore nor should you.