30: How to succeed in your remote job interview - Gaelle Blake, Hays UK & Ireland

In these difficult times, most interviews are being conducted remotely either over the phone or by video call. So, in this podcast episode, we're joined by Gaelle Blake, Director of Permanent Appointments at Hays UK and Ireland. Gaelle shares her expert advice for those who are worried about interviewing remotely, to help them overcome their fears and secure their next job.

You can read the full transcript at: https://social.hays.com/2020/05/11/podcast-30-how-to-succeed-in-your-remote-job-interview/

Timestamps:
(01:03 ) Please could introduce yourself to our listeners.
(01:37 ) For those who have never done interviews remotely and are feeling especially nervous about doing so, could you provide a brief overview of what they could expect?
(04:37 ) I think we’ve touched on that due to the current circumstances anxieties are high at the moment and could be adding to pre-interview nerves. You even said yourself there that feeling nervous before an interview is only natural and it is very common. So, would you say that a degree of nerves before an interview is actually beneficial to performance?
(06:02 ) Do you have any advice to help our listeners manage their current anxieties and get into the right frame of mind to limit their nerves prior to the telephone or video interview?
(08:48 ) Fantastic, thank you for those insights. They’re really helpful and when you were talking there I was just thinking about how I’d usually prepare for an interview. Part of that process is obviously deciding what you’re going to wear, for me for instance, it might be a suit. But how do we go about that if it’s, I mean a telephone interview is one thing, but a video interview, presumably you go through the same process of planning down to that level as well.
(11:18 ) If we are nervous the day before an interview, then understandably getting a good night’s sleep might be difficult. According to Forbes, disturbed sleeping patterns as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic are impacting the health and quality of life for around 45% of the population globally at the moment. Do you have any advice for our listeners to help them perhaps get a good night’s sleep? You’ve spoken about tips on how to deal with anxiety, but is there anything else that you can provide us with?
(13:38 ) So, on the day of the remote interview itself, some listeners might be feeling understandably worried that it’s going to be difficult to build up a rapport with the interviewer, if the interview is taking place remotely. Do you have any advice to share with them around that point?
(14:35 ) I suppose with video interviews, if there’s a bit of a lag, there’s always the risk of talking over your interviewer, which is something that you don’t want to happen. Is there any way that you can avoid doing that? Personally, I can’t think of how you would, so how would you handle that I guess?
(15:43 ) Now just jumping back a few questions, you mentioned that in preparation for this particular podcast recording that you made sure you were the only one on the Wi-Fi. Do you have any other technical considerations that people should keep in mind to make sure that the interview starts well and in turn will calm their nerves potentially?
(17:37 ) One thing that I’ve thought about, and I suppose this question can apply to normal interviews as well as video interviews once we get back to that point, the prospect of being faced with a panel interview is quite daunting. So, is there any advice that you’ve got for our listeners that could help them give a strong performance when being interviewed by multiple people?
(20:02 ) How can listeners leave a strong lasting impression with an interviewer?
(21:43 ) And now for our last question, if there’s one piece of advice to help our listeners navigate their careers during this crisis, what would that be?