Hi Anonymous,

eye contact is definitely an important aspect in terms of building a rapport with your interviewer, showing that you are attentive, etc. However,I would say it is not a dealbreaker unless you are super awkward. 
 

To your first question, one mistake I see people make is looking at themselves on their screen, or looking at the interviewer - but not at the camera! Please keep this in mind. You can either position the window showing you the camera images below your webcam, so you can look at them, or just decide to focus on the webcam when you are speaking or listening. It may feel odd and you might miss some facial clues, but the impression will be better than fixing your gaze on the screen (vs the webcam).

Agree with the points others have made - angle and lighting are key as well - you may also want to consider a professional background picture in case your actual background is not ideal.

Good luck

Stephan

Hello! 

That is a great question, speacially nowadays that in various countries the interviews are happening using video conferencing tools.

Regarding the video and eye contact question is important to always try to look at the camera lens and not to the person image on you computer, in that way it will seem like you are looking into the person eyes. Also, if you have a webcam available it is usually better than using your own computer camera (they don't have a good resolution).

My suggestion is to face the interview as a conversation with a work colleague, don't take it too formal or too lightly. When providing answers picture that you are solving the case together and explain your thoughts in a structured way without being too serious or putting yourself down. 

About your notes, it is not needed to show any of that to your interviewer and in fact it can get in the way of your toughts or you can loose some time trying to make pretty and organized notes to share with the interviewer. What is important about your notes is that they are clear to you and they help you structure your thought, so your spoken communication is clear, concise and structured. 

Hope this was helpful, I am also available for a session if you need further tips. 

Good luck!

Interviews have become more challenging ever since they have been done remotely. This is due to the two reasons you mentioned (see below). Good news is that interviewers are more forgiving because they are aware!

• Eye contact: Generally, you should be making eye contact as you would in a normal interview. However, during the case in particular, you will have to take down notes and also refer to them as you progress. Hence, it's totally OK to take your eyes down from time to time. If you need more than a couple of seconds e.g. 1 min of uninterrupted thinking & note taking for developing a framework, ask the interviewer up front.
• Note taking: It is absolutely essential to use paper to organize your approach to a case. In an in-person interview, you would be able to use a well organized piece of paper to communicate your approach verbally & visually to the interviewer. You do not have that possibility in a remote interview and it's all verbal. Please do not hold the paper in the camera because it just doesn't work. Instead, be as organized and top down as possible in your communication and overcommunicate if needed.

Best of luck and please let me know if there's anything else you'd like to know. Happy to help!

Hi,

The reality is that video interviews are a sub par experience for everyone. There is limited interpersonal awareness and it is very hard to pick up on important non verbal cues etc.

To make the video interview process better, focus on the basics.

1. Ensure you have the right equipment - often I find candidates have very poor headphones or use their laptop mics which are of poor quality and it affects the entire vibe of the interview. Buy a good webcam and light ring if your current setup isn't great. It goes a long way towards establishing rapport
2. To maintain ‘eye contact’ look towards your camera (or in the direction of it) AND make sure you are communicating non verbally as well. For example, nod if you agree with a statement, smile if something is light hearted etc. All of these help build trust and show that you are listening to the interviewer
3. Repeat things often to ensure you are both on the same page. Many times, it is hard to understand each other in a video call due to all the distractions. Make sure you consistently repeat important information and are on the same page with your interviewer
4. Always communicate what you are going to do clearly. For example, be clear you need a few mins to structure, say you would like the interviewer to repeat some information etc. DO NOT ASSUME they will pick up on things like is common in an in person interview.

All the best with your interviews,

Udayan

Hi there, 

I did an online interview as a candidate as well and I just did my notes like attending in person (at the beginning of the case), asked for a minute to structure the case, write down the answers, etc. and then start the interview using my notes. 

Wishing you all the best and good luck,

Lucie

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Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on being so thorough in your preparation for the (presumedly) upcoming video interviews!

This is indeed an interesting question which is probably relevant for quite a lot of users, so I am happy to provide my perspective on it:

• Generally speaking, it is absolutely fine to focus on your analysis when solving the case which you would equally do in an in-person interview. I would solely advise you to look at the camera (litlerally the little black dot on top of the screen) whenever you are in a discussion with the interviewer. Alternatively, I would advise you to position the screen with the interviewer's video in the top middle of the screen since it occasionally seems odd if people always look to the right (e.g. in Zoom) since there are the little screens.
• Secondly, and contradictory to what other coaches said, I would highly advise you not to try and present your structure by holding a sheet of paper into the camera for the simple reason: Unless you have an absolutely decent camera, nobody will see what is written there, and questions about this might be highly distractive. I would still advise you to always use a sheet of paper for laying out your initial structure or your ideas in a brainstorming yet it solely matters what you present verbally either way.

In case you want a more detailed discussion on to what extent video interviews differ from in-person interviews, please feel free to contact me directly.

I hope this helps,

Hagen

Its very difficult to demonstrate eye contact in a video setup. So please dont create this pressure on yourself. As long as you raise your head every now and then, look into the camera and acknowledge the interview, this is fine. I am sure most interviewers are not really expecting you to make eye contact via camera! In an in-person setting this is different. As long as you are not keeping your head down throughout the interview, you should be okay.

Use clean A4 sheets of paper and a thick bold black/blue pens. Write neatly, make good notes. If these are presentable, show them on camera, otherwise dont. There is no strict expectation for you to show your workings on camera. But if you do, am sure it will land well, provided its neatly written and easy to understand.

Hi there,

First, in terms of eye contact, all you need to do it look towards your camera! I personally put the other person's image/video at the top middle of my screen. That way, when I look at them, I'm also looking towards the camera. You don't have to stare at them the whole time, but can rather look down and up according to where you are in your articulation.

In terms of paper, yes, please please use paper. I use it even when brainstorming (i.e. to write down a few key words to keep me grounded).

In terms of a full case, you need to be very organized. There is a good way and a bad way to organize your (multiple) papers. Feel free to reach out for my casing template sheet + video walkthrough!

Just make sure that you look into the camera once in a while. Being a video interview, it is normal to have much less eye contact (also because people's faces are not where the camera is). It only becomes awkward when there's never any eye contact. So just be mindful to make it happen here and there.

Regarding using paper… you use paper to take notes and record your structures. But you need to be able to communicate them verbally. You shouldn't need to show your people for the other person to follow you. In this regard, is it like a phone interview.