Zoom Etiquettes & Tips for Interviews
It has been almost a year since the pandemic started. Most of us have accustomed to virtual meetings using various tools such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
In 2020, I have done over 50 mock interviews and gathered some lessons on how to better present yourself through virtual interviews. If you’d like to take your interview to the next level, read on.
I’ll start off with some general etiquettes that can be applied to all virtual meetings and not just interviews.
- Don’t be late This is probably obvious but I’ve had so many occasions when I had to wait for my partner to show up. Often time, technology can have its corky moments, especially when you are using a new platform (E.g. Microsoft Teams). This is not only disrespectful to the people who are on time but also shows your lack of time management. This can come off extremely negative if it is an interview.
- Sit still Too much movement can distract people from listening to your talk. You’d want to have some hand gestures to accentuate your talk but not too much.
- Close (and even lock) the doors I think most of us still remember the hilarious moment when children crashed a live BBC interview (if not, check it out here). This is probably something you would want to avoid when attending a serious meeting, so keep those doors locked if possible.
- Eliminate distractions (turn off notifications) Sometimes the vibration or sound from cellphone and computer notifications can go off at the worst moment. If you are doing a presentation or sharing your screen, it is best to temporarily turn those off.
- No eating You may think if you don’t open your mouth, people won’t see, trust me they will.
- Wear pants You never know when you forget or when the camera is unexpectedly on, so it’s better to be safe than sorry, wear pants.
Now to take your interview to the next level, try the following adjustments
- Make sure the camera is eye level Close to 80% of the people I have mocked with had the problem of not having the camera at their eye level. This is something small but has a major impact when it comes to virtual interviews. You look at people’s eyes when speaking in-person, so why shouldn’t you do the same when communicating online? It’s worth the time to test with a friend to make sure you are looking directly at the person.
- No virtual background (clean background if possible) I know we don’t keep our home pristine all the time but when it comes to interviews, it is best to not use a virtual background. This is because a virtual background triggers unnecessary curiosity in the interviewer’s head about what your home actually looks like. This can may make you come across as unorganized and dishonest.
Further, when you are using a real background, the cleaner the background the better. You’d want to minimize distractions during an interview. However, one exception to that is if you have something that can show off your talents such as paintings, photographs, or certificates. - Move back from the camera! The best position to sit in front of a camera is to have a squared shoulder and show your body down to the elbow. This way the interviewer can see your complete hand gesture and you are not too close to the camera, leaving just enough personal space to feel comfortable.
- Do not look at notes During an interview, if you frequently peek at your notes, it is very obvious to the interviewer. Your eyes will shift back and forth and your story will become stiff.
By noticing these details, you can present yourself more professionally to interviewers. I hope these tips can help score you an offer in 2021!
In the next article, I will write about my framework for some of the most common behavioral questions. Follow me so you don’t miss it!
About the Author
Oliver Xu recently graduated with MS in Product Management from Carnegie Mellon University and is now a PM at Microsoft. He has worked at both startups and established corporations with eight years of experience leading software teams building enterprise solutions.
