Question:

What is a digital interview? Is it different from a Zoom interview?

Answer:

Digital interviews and Zoom interviews have some common elements, but are different in some important ways too.

A Zoom interview (or Microsoft Teams, etc.) is held live but remotely, with you and the interviewer(s) in different locations. You can see them; they can see you; you interact sort of the way you would if you were all in the same room.

A digital interview, however, is all you. There is no interviewer to talk to. You’ll get a list of questions, and you’ll record your responses into a computerized program that relays them to the employer. You’ll have a minute or two to read each question and think about how you want to answer it before recording. You may or may not be able to re-record your answer if you aren’t satisfied with it.

The questions will tend to be the basic, commonly-asked ones you’ve probably heard a dozen times at other interviews:

Tell me about yourself.
What do you know about our company?
Why do you think you’re a good fit for this position?
What’s your greatest strength and weakness?

You may also get behavioral questions, asking you to describe the way you’ve handled various situations that come up in your industry.

As always, you should dress appropriately for the job and the company. Do your research; you may or may not need a jacket and tie. (You will want to wear pants, though, and not your favorite pajamas or workout ones.) Avoid shirts with stripes; they tend to shimmer on camera in a distracting way.

Take notice of your background, and clean it up if necessary. (Zoom provides virtual backgrounds, but sometimes they are less than helpful.) Put the pets out of the room; sure, they’re cute, but may also be less than helpful. Check your lighting too; have the main light source in front of you, not too bright, not too dark. As best you can, look at the camera, not the monitor.

Be sure to practice ahead of time. Get a friend or FCWS staff member to do a practice interview, and focus on the length of your answers. Use a timer until you’re able to consistently identify the amount of information you can get into a two-minute answer.

First impressions last, even more with digital interviews than other kinds. Be clear and concise; the clock is running. Show yourself to be pleasant and adaptable. Show them that you are just the person they are looking for. Make them want to meet you face to face, and you’ll have the opportunity to wow them in person.

Digital Interview vs. Zoom Interview?