Are there any important differences to note between your virtual interview and a face-to-face interview (and even vs your telephone interview)?
The team that interviews you and the questions they will ask will be exactly the same in a virtual situation as in a face-to-face setting. The only difference being that you won’t need to travel to one of our offices- giving you more opportunity to get prepared.
What advice would you give to students on how to prepare for the virtual interview?
Your preparation should be the same for any interview. Make sure you know as much about the business, the role, and the team you have applied to as possible. Don’t forget any work experience can be linked to a new job, just think about the soft skills, team working or leadership skills you may have learnt from these. It’s great to have a different example for each competency question you are asked, so don’t forget to think about examples based on; university studies, paid and unpaid work, extracurricular activities such as societies, charitable work etc. Finally, ask questions and make the most of the session- the interviewer may be your future colleagues/line manager.
Do you have any tips for performing well and managing nerves during the virtual interview?
Make sure you have the right setting, a clean and simple background free of distractions is best. Use headphones, if possible, as this helps reduce echoing and ensures you can hear the interviewers clearly. Opt to use a personal Wi-Fi connection as some public ones will have firewall settings that prevent you logging in. If your Wi-Fi isn’t great, try plugging the internet cable into your computer/laptop. If you can test run using the Microsoft Teams platform in advance you will know exactly what you are doing. Finally, be prepared, enthusiastic and dress for success. Most importantly be yourself!
