The world of work has changed drastically in the last couple of years. Remote and hybrid employment is on the rise, with around 5.6 million people in the U.K. alone switching to flexible work since the pandemic of 2020.
For professionals in the Salesforce landscape, remote and hybrid work opportunities are particularly common. As a tech-focused professional, you’ll already spend most of your time interacting with cloud-based software behind a computer keyboard. Your future employers will be looking for evidence you can work productively from anywhere to decrease their in-office overheads.
Learning how to master your Zoom, Teams successfully, and video conferencing interviews ensures you can outshine the competition and earn the trust of your potential employer. So, how do you get the interview right in the age of flexible work?
Step 1: Practice Makes Perfect
As a Salesforce professional, you’re probably already pretty comfortable using various forms of technology for communication and collaboration. This might mean you feel you don’t have to worry as much about the online interview and onboarding process.
The important thing to remember here is that you’re still fighting for the position you want against a wide selection of other tech-savvy Salesforce professionals. The competition could be higher than ever, as your would-be employer can effectively hire talent from anywhere in the world.
To ensure you stand out for all the right reasons, don’t rest on your laurels. Get to know the technology you’re going to be using in advance (such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams) and figure out which features you can leverage to make the meeting more engaging. Can you use a virtual background to make yourself look more professional or create a digital presentation to showcase your skills?
Consider practising the interview with a friend or family member to double-check how you’re coming across and get useful feedback. This will help you to go into the real interview feeling confident.
Step 2: Prepare for Your Interview
In a standard Salesforce job interview, you’d prepare in a range of ways. Before travelling to the interview location, you’d choose an outfit that makes you look professional, plan your route to ensure you get there on time, and even collect any documents that will help “sell” you to your employer. The same rules apply for video interviews.
- Prepare information to share: Demonstrate your digital skills and impress your employer with presentations and information. You might gather information about the positions you’ve worked in before and share graphs or charts showing how you helped that business grow using your Salesforce skills.
- Get the interview area ready: Find a quiet place to have the interview free from distractions. A spare room in your home might be a good choice. You can use virtual backgrounds to get rid of anything behind you that may distract the interviewer. Check the lighting in the room is good enough to ensure clarity and prep any information you’re going to need so you don’t have to rush off to find it mid-interview.
- Dress for success: Dress smartly. Don’t be tempted to dress casually because you’re at home. The person considering you for your new Salesforce job will expect you to take the position seriously. Wearing a professional outfit helps to make the right first impression.
Remember to check the internet connection wherever you’re going to be having the meeting, and ensure your webcam and microphone are working as they should be. The last thing you want is for technical difficulties to ruin your chances of getting the job.
Step 3: Remember the Fundamentals of Interviewing
Many people get flustered in Zoom and Microsoft Teams interviews because they feel so different from the meetings they’re used to. It can feel awkward to be looking at a small video stream of a person rather than sitting and discussing a job face-to-face. However, as work styles continue to change and digital transformation accelerates, the video interview is quickly becoming the new norm.
With this in mind, try to forget you’re at home when you’re in the midst of the interview. Focus on presenting the same kind of professional image you’d demonstrate in a face-to-face discussion. This means making sure you:
- Consider your body language: You should still be looking at the camera in a video interview and positioning yourself so your interviewer can at least see your head and torso. This will help to build a rapport between yourself and the interviewer.
- Listen and make notes: Pay attention to the questions the interviewer asks you, and try to answer them fully. Make notes about anything you might want to ask about later and let the interviewer know you’re doing this, so they don’t just assume you’re distracted.
- Show engagement: Demonstrate how engaged you are in the conversation by smiling and nodding when you’re listening to the speaker. Ask follow-up questions based on what they say, and avoid looking away or dealing with other things (like emails) mid-interview.
Showing a potential hiring manager how comfortable you are with the digital world and virtual meetings should make it easier for them to envision you in their future remote working team.
Video Interviews Are Here to Stay
Video interviews present their own unique set of challenges for people to be aware of. You need to know how to set up your devices and ensure you’re confident with the software you’re using in advance. There are concerns like poor sound quality to address and dropped internet. However, if you prepare properly, the experience isn’t too different from a standard meeting.
Just like any interview, preparation is the key to success.