How to Prepare for (and Ace!) Your Next Virtual Job Interview
[11/22/2021] Virtual interviewing is becoming more and more common in today’s job market. While remote interviewing may be more convenient, the distance and technical difficulties can be awkward, or even jarring, to would-be applicants.
Fortunately there are tips from interviewing experts that prospective job seekers can use to get through—and even nail—a virtual job interview. We share some of their key insights and recommendations below.
The Interview Environment: Organize and Professionalize Your Space
You already know you should “dress for success” and make sure that you look your polished best for an interview. But when you’re interviewing from your home, the interview space and background could be distracting, even off-putting, to potential employers. Take the time to make your space look its best, too.
Clean and Declutter: This seems obvious, but make sure you take the time to de-clutter your surroundings, whether it is your bedroom or home office desk. Show your would-be bosses that you quite literally have it together at home, which will make a better impression of being grounded and composed.
Lighting: Proper lighting is a detail too-often overlooked. Be sure to “light yourself” from the front, and not from the back! The latter can create a rather eerie, even sinister visage. Where possible, aim for “cool light,” which is whiter in color, rather than “warm light,” which is yellower. These seemingly small details help put your best foot forward.
Interviewing Skills and Tips
There are countless tips on interviewing available online, but we share a few below that are particularly relevant to remote interviewing.
Keep Any Notes Short and (Mostly) Out of the Way
Like in any interview, try to not over-rely on notes. It is easy to get flustered and lose your place in notes, so keep them sparse and well-organized. Index cards placed outside the viewing area may be especially helpful, with key information and points printed largely and visible to you, but out of sight from the interviewers.
Keep Eye Contact—And Look Into the Camera, Not at Your “Mirrored Image”
Another common mistake is the awkward “stare” that people make when they forget to look into the camera, and instead watch their own reflected image while using the app. You will look less engaged, and even odd, at least compared to applicants that remembered to look “correctly” at the camera.
Watch Your Speaking Pace
Avoid speaking too quickly, a common giveaway of nervousness. Practice and rehearse answers to likely questions, and actually time how quickly you are speaking.
An Interview is a Conversation
Ultimately, an interview is just another conversation. A back-and-forth discussion makes for a much better interview, so be sure to have researched the job thoroughly and come prepared with questions. Look engaged when the interviewer is speaking by maintaining eye contact (see above about looking into the webcam!) and nodding your head occasionally. Don’t miss an opportunity to add something of value to what the interviewer says.
Get Internet You Can Rely On
One last tip: Make sure you have high-speed internet with fast download and upload speeds that you can rely on for a steady connection throughout your interview. (Adequate upload speeds ensure your video is clear for the interviewer on the other side of the virtual table.)
With DayStarr Fiber Internet, you can video call without fear of a dropped connection or glitchy experience, so you can tackle your interview with confidence.
Do You Need a “Digital Will?”
[11/16/2021] You’ve set up a living will, established an estate plan, divvied up the family heirlooms, and even made provision for your dog—but have you created a Digital Will?
Chances are, you haven’t even thought about what happens to all of your digital assets—your online photos, social media sites, email accounts, etc—after you’ve died. However, it’s something you probably should consider.
What is a Digital Will?
Quite simply, a Digital Will is a document of instructions to another person (the Digital Will Executor) on how to allocate and/or dispose of your digital assets. This includes granting the Digital Will Executor access to your digital assets, and setting parameters for controlling who can and cannot access them.
Do I Really Need a Digital Will?
You might—or at least you may be glad you had one (and so will your loved ones). Think about your online presence accumulated over the years—all of the digital assets you have like your online photo albums, music, documents, email accounts, social media accounts, online banking, etc—and that unlike your home and other physical property, which can be distributed “the old-fashioned way,” login credentials, tech company privacy policies, and the law can often slow-down or even prevent easy access and reallocation.
Ask yourself if is it “okay” for tech companies to just delete your digital assets for all time after a several years (and often just months) of non-use. Alternatively, ask yourself if you want your online presence to remain online, and even public, forever? Or would you prefer that decisions about these assets will be controlled by someone you trust?
A Digital Will can help resolve these issues in a way you are comfortable with, and facilitate a smooth transition.
What Should I Include in My Digital Will?
Unlike normal wills, you probably don’t need a formal Digital Will drafted by an attorney (although people with more extensive digital presences may want to consider consulting an experienced lawyer).
Below are the basic components and steps of creating a Digital Will:
Write a list of every online account you have, from email accounts, to social media sites, to photo-sharing sites. Think broadly, and go back to sites you haven’t used in a while, like, for example, that online blog you created that summer. And don’t forget about sites that have your credit card or bank account information—especially those that utilize the auto-pay feature!
It goes without saying, but you should pick someone you trust and who will be discreet—and someone that others are likely to trust after you’re gone, too. Choosing an alternative executor is also a good idea. Be sure to name the person in the Digital Will itself and provide contact information.
This is where you need to think hard about who-gets-to-see-what. Perhaps you only want your photo albums from your Facebook page to be accessible—but perhaps viewable only to friends. Perhaps you’ve decided that your Youtube videos from decades ago should never see the light of day. Set your boundaries and write them as specifically as possible.
Gather all of your login credentials and passwords so your Digital Will Executor can access and control them. Consider a password locker to better secure them in one place.
Once completed, choose a safe place to keep your Digital Will. Perhaps it can be kept with your will and other important documents. You may even want to keep it in a safe deposit box at a bank.