There are many kinds of interviews and today I would like to talk to you about remote interviews. These types of interviews are ones where each interview member is located in a different location. I believe that these types of interviews can be the hardest because you are competing against local talent and the interviews are done over video conference.
How can I shine through a remote interview?
While there are many different strategies that I can discuss, today, I want to focus on two. Transferable skills and ramp-up time. While I believe these two skills are very important, it’s still important to remember the interview basics; dress appropriately, great eye contact, and proper interview preparation.
Transferable Skills:
These are any talents that you have learned through a job, hobby, or educational class that can be easily applied to a future opportunity. In our case, we are looking for specific skills from previous jobs and how they relate to the job you are applying for.
First, it is important to review the job description sentence by sentence. For every sentence (job requirement), write next to it how you have completed this task in the past or at least have exposure to it (demonstrating a working knowledge). When employers are looking to hire people, they want to know that you can bring past experiences with you to solve their current problems. This is typically done through a PBI interview (Past Behavioral Interview). These types of questions will begin with, “Describe a time…” or “Tell me a situation in which…”. Answering these types of questions simply rely on your ability to be a great story teller. Maya Angelou once said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Being a good story teller is not what words you use or even the actions that you took, it’s the passion you have in your storytelling. You can read a recent article that I wrote about how, It’s Your Passion, Not Your Skills, That Get You The Job.
The takeaway? Take inventory of the skills you have learned in your professional career. This requires a lot of self-reflection on your part, but I know you can do it!
Ramp-up Time:
Ramp-up time can be defined as the amount of time it takes from when you start your new job to when you are fully trained. For some people this can take as long as 6 months. From that perspective, it means that the company is spending resources on you and getting nothing in return. In order to be profitable for a company, you will want to minimize that time. This goes back to your ability to highlight your transferable skills. Part of your explanation of your transferable skills is how it will minimize your ramp-up time. This is where your understanding of the job requirement is critical. By understanding the job description and asking the right questions in the interview, you will be able to have a firm grasp on the role thus be able to extrapolate how you would be a great fit for the job and company.
I hope that you can use these two skills in your next interview.
