Acing Your Next Virtual Interview

Arriving early, having a firm handshake, and maintaining eye contact are some of the key factors to making a great first impression during an interview. However, what happens when companies switch to virtual interviews? Suddenly, those tips are impossible to use and must be replaced to ace that interview. With these tips, you’ll be ready for your upcoming virtual interview:

  1. Practice.

Record yourself while you are answering questions to later review and analyze how your voice and body language. Do you seem confident? Nervous? Unprepared? However, you think you sound, the interviewer will think too.

  1. Dress for the role.

Although the interviewer will only see you from the shoulders up, wearing a full business outfit will help you get into the professional mindset.

  1. Print out a copy of your resume and write down any information you want to cover with the interviewer.

The bonus to interviewing by video is that you can have notes prepared and available during the interview. Be sure not to stare or read directly off the page but use the notes to make sure you do not miss out on key points, questions and qualifications for the position.

  1. Find a quiet, distraction-free area.

While the company interviewing you will more than likely forgive distractions, these minor sounds can be harmful to your concentration. Instead of focusing on your next answer, you may still be thinking about the distraction after the moment passes.

  1. Test your device(s) before the interview.

There is nothing worse than spending the first eight minutes of the interview troubleshooting your technology issues and having the interviewer think you are running late.

  1. Maintain eye contact with the camera.

It may seem odd at first but looking at the camera instead of the screen will look as though you are speaking directly to the interviewer and give the same effect as real eye contact.

Have any tips you use? Comment them below, we would love to hear from you!

A Demand For Soft Skills

Technology will always be a shifting current—what’s relevant today likely won’t be 10-20 years from now. This predicament is part of the reason that some employers find themselves consistently looking for new and fresh talent but very recently, some have come to understand that one thing will withstand the test of time: soft skills.

Universally lauded (I’m exaggerating but bear with me) and “future-proof”, as penned by harver.com, soft skills refer to things like empathy, communication, and critical thinking. These are things that “are personality-driven and… are what makes the difference between a good and a great candidate. After all, hard (tangible and technical) skills usually can be taught, while teaching someone how to show empathy is almost impossible…”

“As developments in technology are changing many industries rapidly, the demand for people with transferable, future-proof (as much as possible) and soft skills will rise.”

If you were on the fence about hiring a candidate for reasons like these, take a chance! You might be pleasantly surprised.

Welcome Our Summer Intern, Dominique

Dominique Duncan is our newest Summer Information Technology Intern!

Dominique recently moved to Richmond from the Metro Chicago area. She is a full-time student at Auburn University earning her Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science.

Her interests include front-end web design and development, photograhy and graphic design.

She is excited to learn and be on the Astyra team!