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Online job interview, tips?

I'm going to assume you actually want the job and are super serious about interviewing well.

Lots of good info here. While the funny shit is funny, professionalism rules.

Prepare a list of your best qualities. Literally write these down on a pad of paper. Oh yeah, get a legal pad and write all this down
1. Greatest professional achievements. I have 5 in here. Figure out what you will say and prepare a 30-45 second response.
2. Weaknesses. This is bullshit but they might ask you. Think about it. I have "can concentrate too much on small projects". "Put off paperwork". "Too honest with customers". "Too down-to-business". "Organization"
3. Describe current position. Your title and like, 4-5 key tasks you do
4. Try to figure out their "culture" and how you'd fit. My current employee really focuses on being a family company and customer service. So I played into that. My last company was all sales. Once again, played into that.

When answering a question, your responses should not be longer than 1 minute. Beyond that, you sound like you are rambling. If you are explaining something complicated, at the end ask, "Does that answer your question"? About one out of every five interviews I've done, that has expanded the conversation.

I write down WHEN my interview is and with who. Also I do research on the company. When they started. Where they started. What they do. All high level shit. Have that written out.

Have a hard copy of your resume and mark it up with any talking points you need. Also go ahead and write down WHY you left a company. If it was a temp job, say it was a "1099 position".

Have a list of questions for them. Asking them about the organizational structure, what the company will look like in 18 months. Any expansions. Current employee longevity (aka turnover).

Whatever salary you are making now, add $10k onto that (assuming you are making less than $100k). They *should* at least counter you with 10% on top of that. Now you've made some money easy. My first job I was making $40k/yr. Next interview, I said I was making $50k. They offered me $62k. Boom just got a +50% pay jump. Don't forget to include your vacation days. Add a few in there also on that. I screwed myself at my new company not negotiating in my old vacation days (went from like, 24 down to 10, whomp whomp but I was super hurting for a job and I got a pay bump so its all good).

Expect a 1 hour conversation. So settle in. Go walk/play with the animals beforehand and get them all tired out so they aren't interrupting. Look professional. Get a hair cut if needed. Shave. Nice shirt, tie, jacket. YES PANTS.

If they ask you a question and you are stumped. Its ok to take a few moments to think. If you are super stumped, try to ask them a follow up question asking for details. I had that happen once and I literally asked follow up questions for like, 45 minutes. The guy was one of those "I'm a straight shooter gonna ask you super specific questions about something you know nothing about and its a super difficult situation and its the first question I ask". Also if you have those guys, they are usually pretty damn worthless so that is an issue.

Pay cuts = no-go. Every company that I've talked to who wanted me to take a pay cut had some bullshit "well we have this". No I don't care your grandchildren come to the office to hang out. I'm not taking a $15k pay cut for that.

All this prep work sucks ass and takes a few hours. But keep it all and next time it'll be easy to update.

Oh so if you give a damn, see attached an interview prep sheet. This is actually super helpful.
 

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Kurtuleas said:
Believe what you want. But people make snap judgements all the time based on body language.

If you have a field of candidates for a position, all with similar qualifications, I would wager that you are going with the one that you just have the best "gut" feeling with.

And if you disagree that having a genuine smile does not win people over and make them more open to you, you are clueless.
Click to expand...

I can't say I disagree with this. When I was interviewing if someone had a "resting bitch attitude" I would find a way to drop them to the bottom of the list. Think of it this way, would you want to work with the perky blonde that is happy and everyone likes or the cranky old librarian?
 
Dress for the occasion. Team work!

stepbrothers-job-interview-scene-1.jpg
 
Kurtuleas said:
Believe what you want. But people make snap judgements all the time based on body language.

If you have a field of candidates for a position, all with similar qualifications, I would wager that you are going with the one that you just have the best "gut" feeling with.

And if you disagree that having a genuine smile does not win people over and make them more open to you, you are clueless.
Click to expand...


You're not wrong. It *is* a factor, however, it goes BOTH ways. I've terminated a hire after their 3 month probation and called in the second candidate.

Got lucky the second one was still available. He wasn't desperate, and slid right in and produced.
 
I hire people a good bit. Most important for me:
  • They have a general understanding of what we do, where we work etc. General shit you find on our website, linkedin, etc.
  • They have a reason why they want to work for us other than just needing a job. Like I saw you guys built x project, that looks cool as hell.
  • That they will fit in and not be an issue, not bitching about other employers, not being a know it all, being humble but still confident. I call this the beer test. Would this person be alright to grab a beer with after work? If the answer is no, then spending 8 to 12 hours a day around them might not be the best. The way I see it is, I can teach them what I need them to do but I can’t teach them to be someone that will fit in with the crew.
  • I always want them to have some questions about the position and company to show me they have thought about it. These questions should be about the work and position, not $$, hours, benefits, etc. If the interview goes right, I always talk this stuff at the end.
  • Accountability is big for me. I always want the know what your biggest fuckup was and how you handled it.
 
rockdog57 said:
I gotta say..laugh. I got one job because I laughed and was at ease during the interview. They literally told me that after getting the job. If you are at ease it shows.
Also, you might want to let them know that you expect half the year in vacation time to spend at sand hollow like you do now!:flipoff2:
Click to expand...
Well they are definitely going to know about my hobby (it has good traits like self motivation, work ethic, and problem solving) and my travel habits for sure.
 
DirtDrill said:
I hire people a good bit. Most important for me:
  • They have a general understanding of what we do, where we work etc. General shit you find on our website, linkedin, etc.
  • They have a reason why they want to work for us other than just needing a job. Like I saw you guys built x project, that looks cool as hell.
  • That they will fit in and not be an issue, not bitching about other employers, not being a know it all, being humble but still confident. I call this the beer test. Would this person be alright to grab a beer with after work? If the answer is no, then spending 8 to 12 hours a day around them might not be the best. The way I see it is, I can teach them what I need them to do but I can’t teach them to be someone that will fit in with the crew.
  • I always want them to have some questions about the position and company to show me they have thought about it. These questions should be about the work and position, not $$, hours, benefits, etc. If the interview goes right, I always talk this stuff at the end.
  • Accountability is big for me. I always want the know what your biggest fuckup was and how you handled it.
Click to expand...

100% solid.

Depends on the industry, fits 99% of them.
 
Show your true self.

I interviewed a person who his Zoom back ground was the bridge from Star trek, it made me laugh and him memorable.
Honestly, when I pick people, I pick people who I think will be a good fit to work with my team.
 
LR Max said:
I'm going to assume you actually want the job and are super serious about interviewing well.

Lots of good info here. While the funny shit is funny, professionalism rules.

Prepare a list of your best qualities. Literally write these down on a pad of paper. Oh yeah, get a legal pad and write all this down
1. Greatest professional achievements. I have 5 in here. Figure out what you will say and prepare a 30-45 second response.
2. Weaknesses. This is bullshit but they might ask you. Think about it. I have "can concentrate too much on small projects". "Put off paperwork". "Too honest with customers". "Too down-to-business". "Organization"
3. Describe current position. Your title and like, 4-5 key tasks you do
4. Try to figure out their "culture" and how you'd fit. My current employee really focuses on being a family company and customer service. So I played into that. My last company was all sales. Once again, played into that.

When answering a question, your responses should not be longer than 1 minute. Beyond that, you sound like you are rambling. If you are explaining something complicated, at the end ask, "Does that answer your question"? About one out of every five interviews I've done, that has expanded the conversation.

I write down WHEN my interview is and with who. Also I do research on the company. When they started. Where they started. What they do. All high level shit. Have that written out.

Have a hard copy of your resume and mark it up with any talking points you need. Also go ahead and write down WHY you left a company. If it was a temp job, say it was a "1099 position".

Have a list of questions for them. Asking them about the organizational structure, what the company will look like in 18 months. Any expansions. Current employee longevity (aka turnover).

Whatever salary you are making now, add $10k onto that (assuming you are making less than $100k). They *should* at least counter you with 10% on top of that. Now you've made some money easy. My first job I was making $40k/yr. Next interview, I said I was making $50k. They offered me $62k. Boom just got a +50% pay jump. Don't forget to include your vacation days. Add a few in there also on that. I screwed myself at my new company not negotiating in my old vacation days (went from like, 24 down to 10, whomp whomp but I was super hurting for a job and I got a pay bump so its all good).

Expect a 1 hour conversation. So settle in. Go walk/play with the animals beforehand and get them all tired out so they aren't interrupting. Look professional. Get a hair cut if needed. Shave. Nice shirt, tie, jacket. YES PANTS.

If they ask you a question and you are stumped. Its ok to take a few moments to think. If you are super stumped, try to ask them a follow up question asking for details. I had that happen once and I literally asked follow up questions for like, 45 minutes. The guy was one of those "I'm a straight shooter gonna ask you super specific questions about something you know nothing about and its a super difficult situation and its the first question I ask". Also if you have those guys, they are usually pretty damn worthless so that is an issue.

Pay cuts = no-go. Every company that I've talked to who wanted me to take a pay cut had some bullshit "well we have this". No I don't care your grandchildren come to the office to hang out. I'm not taking a $15k pay cut for that.

All this prep work sucks ass and takes a few hours. But keep it all and next time it'll be easy to update.

Oh so if you give a damn, see attached an interview prep sheet. This is actually super helpful.
Click to expand...

I'm, I'm SUPER impressed, like, like, PANTS!

:flipoff2:
 
welndmn said:
Show your true self.

I interviewed a person who his Zoom back ground was the bridge from Star trek, it made me laugh and him memorable.
Honestly, when I pick people, I pick people who I think will be a good fit to work with my team.
Click to expand...

BUT did it get him hired? I do agree in that making yourself memorable is important. That guy had some guts, LOL
 
Good advise from @ Kurtuleas Yota Up and rugger and a couple other small things. Get your wife and kids out of the house for a few hours. Silence your phone, turn off the house phone ringer.
 
Sounds like I will be using “Teams” for this interview.

I have a “Teams” meeting with the Talent Acquisition person tomorrow, for what I believe to be a trial run.
 
Mr Stubs said:
Sounds like I will be using “Teams” for this interview.

I have a “Teams” meeting with the Talent Acquisition person tomorrow, for what I believe to be a trial run.
Click to expand...

Is the headhunter part of the organization you're interviewing with or separate? If separate they should be the one preparing you for the interview.
 
The last two places I have worked (big corporate names) have been heavy on the STAR format for interviewing - it is how we are trained to interview candidates and if not answered correctly using this format, the candidates do not proceed in the process. When interviewing, I repeat a few times the format of the answer we're looking for, STAR, that way you get a complete answer on the situation.

Give specific examples/scenarios (not generic examples) - explain the:

Situation - general backstory of the issue
Task - what you were wanting to achieve/needing to accomplish
Action - action that YOU took and reasoning/justification behind this
Result - what you were able to achieve based on the task/action and what you learned from it

I typically will have a copy of my most current resume and make notes on it. Metrics that I achieved, tangible numbers I am able to speak to, difficult situations that I overcame, etc. and then just think through them in order to answer generic interviewing questions using this format. Not saying that EVERYBODY uses this format, but sticking to it will generally provide the interviewer with a complete story.
 
RusM said:
Is the headhunter part of the organization you're interviewing with or separate? If separate they should be the one preparing you for the interview.
Click to expand...
Both.

Two people inside the department made mention of the opening well before it was ever made public. I talk with one of those two at least three times a week about the job and what I can do to make myself a better candidate. Not sure if either will be on the interview panel.

The department manager reached out to me via email the day of the opening, letting me know of its availability. He will definitely be part of the interview panel.

This department has had multiple interactions with me before as a contractor, and supposedly I have a positive reputation inside the department. I am quite sure that I have met most if not all of the interviewers before.

But I don’t like “sure things”. I still need to be prepared on how to deal with a online interview in my opinion.
 
Ted_Kaczynski said:
Have a copy of your resume and a copy of the job description printed out in front of you. Read both several times just before the interview.

Have a few questions ready, something organizational and something positional.

Put on pants.

Test your mic sensitivity camera angle/view prior so you know where the sweet spots are.
Click to expand...

All of this. Use their link to test it earlier and make sure it all looks good. Def keep a cheat sheet in front of you.... i used a highlighted resume and a few words to remind me a good story for boxed questions (tell me a time when....)

Theyre actually way easier if you set yourself up well.... the awkwardness is on both sides so asking to repeat a question, etc is no big deal. One of my interviewers mike only worked half the time.... no biggie
 
I have had to go to virtual interviews lately. Things I have noted is that laptops or phones in cradles are beterrer than a hand held phone. silence/remove all distractions. If you don't have reliable data in place, get to where you do. review your resume before the interview, you wouldn't believe how many people don't even know what is on their own resume. Familiarize yourself with the company you are interviewing for and who their competitors are in the market place. It's best if you can identify differences if appropriate for the level of position you are interviewing for. Ask why the position is open and how many people share that position. You would be surprised at how flowery descriptions for the grunt labor can be. Ask how many people your direct supervisor supervises. Anything else that is important to you about the job. Control over your schedule, amount of time documenting work, requirements to schedule vacation. The exception to this is conflict resolution questions. That's something you are better off letting them cover or rolling the dice on if you want the job. It can make you look like a problem employee if you aren't careful. If you are really concerned, if they ask you one of those stupid questions about how you handle conflict, you may be able to wordsmith on your feet well enough to work in the question, but it's dangerous ground unless it's going really well.
 
Mr Stubs said:
Both.

Two people inside the department made mention of the opening well before it was ever made public. I talk with one of those two at least three times a week about the job and what I can do to make myself a better candidate. Not sure if either will be on the interview panel.

The department manager reached out to me via email the day of the opening, letting me know of its availability. He will definitely be part of the interview panel.

This department has had multiple interactions with me before as a contractor, and supposedly I have a positive reputation inside the department. I am quite sure that I have met most if not all of the interviewers before.

But I don’t like “sure things”. I still need to be prepared on how to deal with a online interview in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Sounds like it's a PUD or other public agency? Good luck and don't fuck it up! I'll ask my old lady for some general remote interview tips when I see her today and post up. :flipoff2:
 
Most of it was already covered, she did say to trial run the meeting software a day ahead of time, aim your camera at a medium distance from your head. Your head should take up 30% of the screen. Treat it like an in person interview, wear pants! Secure all pets and children and try to not have any outside interference.
A big one was listening more than you talk, people tend to talk over each other on zoom meetings anyway and you don't want to do that in a interview. Also ask clarifying questions about any open ended questions so you're sure you're getting them the answer they actually want. :flipoff2:
 
Lot of good info. Three things to add after doing some zoom interviews.
1) Have a glass of water to sip on, not coffee. Talking for a while with only coffee to wet the whistle can get annoying for everyone.
2) If you are asked to "give an example of a time/project/etc." and you want to use an example from a previous job that had some sensitive IP, don't overplay it like it's supposed to make you sound important. Use the example if it's good, just skip the details that you can't share. This happened with few candidates and it was annoying AF and they never actually got to the point of how that example related. It would be good to have a few examples written down of possible questions like this if you aren't great at thinking on your feet.
3) Get the camera as close to where you'll be looking on the screen as possible so it looks like you are looking everyone right in the eye instead of off to the side, and do a dry run with a friend to make sure the camera, mic, and software work. If you don't, it wont.
 
Once you get the job report back, every job I get after working there a few months, I wonder how half the people there got hired and it took me so long to get in the door.

My best interviews are the ones that ones I don't give a shit and wing it, guess Im more relaxed.
 
Mr Stubs said:
Sounds like I will be using “Teams” for this interview.

I have a “Teams” meeting with the Talent Acquisition person tomorrow, for what I believe to be a trial run.
Click to expand...

Practice with teams. It works pretty well but there are some issues with it on getting the settings for speaker and mic. Recently did quite a few team interviews. Half the time the people had difficulties with the app, some where on their phone and had a poor connection, couldn't find the chat, etc.

Answer the questions, alot of people run around the question and the others would just lob something up. And I hate the "I don't know, never done that" answer. Well walk me through how you might figure it out. I guess for alot of our positions I want to understand your thought process and how you approach issues. "I don't know" is a pretty much a no go.
 
So I had a pre-interview with a talent acquisition person who works for this company. It was scheduled for 1/2 a hour, it was over a hour once we got done. She spoke with me about Utah crawling, it really helped remove the formalities of the conversation for sure.

I was pleasantly surprised that this person was not just a interview planner. I felt like I had a interview coach.

She asked a few interview related questions, like the dreaded Team Conflict How You Deal With. I of course asked lots of questions. My lighting, sound, backdrop was all acceptable. My camera angle was a bit off but I was unaware. I plan on asking the interviewers that question right out the gate, on if I need to adjust for them.

She told me that interview questions are more about getting a idea on my thought process, not so much on right or wrong answers. She also suggested to make it more of a conversation with them, not just a straight forward answer questions for them type of interaction.

She liked that I took notes with her, and suggested that I also do the same in the interview. It shows that I’m interacting, not just present.

My interview is later today and I am working on revising my bullet point notes now.
 
trampas said:
Nice. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Thanks.

I just received a insider call telling me to prepare for multiple “Discrimination” type questions.... Well fuck, that’s a spin I wasn’t prepared for.

Diversity, Inclusion, and Equality are all key words in the company’s about us page...


Any insight on what type of interview questions pertain to that subject?
 
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