By: Marissa Humayun
As we move into Post-Spring ICE season, students are beginning the interview process for many companies. True to the age of innovating the world of business through technology, many firms, like EY and J.P. Morgan, are beginning to conduct pre-recorded interviews.
As a tool for cost efficiency, firms are now prompting applicants a series of questions, and applicants must record themselves answering the questions. From here, you are given a certain amount of time to give and upload answers. While you may be thinking, “Oh sweet! I can wear my pajama pants and do this interview!”, pre-recorded interviews are a lot harder than what meets the eye. You are tasked with remaining personable through a camera lens, not having someone else’s energy in the room to play off of, and on top of that, you must answer some tough questions with poise.
Here are some tips when trying to have the most successful pre-recorded interview:
1. Dress for success
While a pair of flannel pajama pants and your high school track hoodie sounds like the epitome of comfort, you should dress for the job you want! Wear a suit and look the same as if someone was right in front of you asking you the questions. It will show the interviewer that you take the interview seriously, and it will give you a boost confidence knowing you look your best!
2. Practice!
Practice makes perfect as they say. When given your questions to answer, take a minute and write down some key points and practice moving through each point, and how it connects to your question. Some good things to remember are to give specific examples to an interview question, and the CAR (context, action, result) response structure to interview questions. Another thing to keep in mind is to if possible, practice with your given software beforehand, giving you the best opportunity possible for being prepared. EY, J.P. Morgan, and many other firms in financial services are using Yello as their platform.
3. Be a person, not a robot
Do not read off of a script. Make your answers genuine and fresh. While it may be tempting to write out a detailed response to a tough question, that is definitely not how an in-person interview would go. Show your personality through the way you answer the questions (just be yourself! Something to be e aware of is your web cam/camera angles and lighting as well. Lights, Camera, Action!
4. Speak at a normal pace
As you would in an in-person interview, take pauses, speak loudly and at a normal pace. The cadence of your speech is an indicator of your personality and make you unique, do not lose that because you are behind a screen. If you are given the interview questions beforehand, practice with another person asking you the questions. Looking at another human asking you the questions will help you realize the importance of maintaining your personality.
5. Look on the bright side
The opportunity to do a pre-recorded interview can be a positive thing! You can prepare as much as you’d like, you will not have to deal with in-person interview nerves, and you can conduct it in the comfort of your home.
Overall, we hope this guide will help you if you are asked to do a pre-recorded interview!
[photo: Goldman Sachs]
[content: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-tips-help-you-tackle-pre-recorded-job-interview-amy-edwards/]