Preparation

• Familiarise yourself with the application before your interview and see whether it works on your computer, tablet or smartphone.
  
• Set your camera at eye level to create a natural conversational setting.
  
• Make sure the lighting is just right. Avoid backlight. Don’t sit in front of a bright window or a reflecting background.
  
• Make sure you have sufficient peace and privacy for the duration of your video interview. Close any windows to the street and if you don’t live alone, put a “do not disturb” sign on your door.
  
• Before the interview, make sure you have a glass of water at hand, as well as your documents (CV, certificates), notes and anything else you might need.
  
• Choose an outfit that you would wear if you were coming to us for an interview.
  

During the interview

• Make sure your camera is on for the entire video interview.
  
• Try to maintain normal eye contact by looking at your monitor. Avoid looking directly into the camera or at your own camera image on the monitor.
  
• If possible, use a headset or the earphones of your smartphone with an integrated microphone.
  
• To avoid unnecessary noise, mute your microphone when the person you are talking to is speaking.
  
• Audio is often delayed, so let the other person finish speaking to avoid talking over each other.
  

 And what if something goes wrong?

• Don’t panic! Whether it’s a bad internet connection, the front doorbell rings or you get muddled: glitches like that are perfectly normal and nothing that can’t be dealt with.
  
• If the internet connection is poor or gets cut off, reconnect and let the others know with a quick message or a call.
  
• If there’s any noise or disturbance, just ignore and carry on.

Quick tip

Add an up-to-date photo, a telephone number and possibly a personal message to your Teams profile. This brief information can always be seen by each participant and makes you quicker to reach if a technical problem occurs.