By Zoe Kaplan, Forage
Congrats! You’ve landed a Zoom interview. While Zoom interviews aren’t entirely different from
in-person interviews, knowing your way around a virtual interview can help you feel more
confident and wow the hiring manager. Before hopping into the Zoom room, follow this virtual
interview checklist.
1. Know Your Story
It’s likely that the interviewer will ask you to tell them about yourself, which means you should
come to the interview with your elevator pitch ready. An elevator pitch is a short summary
(usually a few sentences) of your experience and what you’re looking for. For example:
I’m a communications major at Penn State University graduating next year. My strength is using
data to drive results on paid and unpaid social media campaigns. I’m interested in both the
creative and analytical side of social media, and that’s why I’m excited to speak with you about
the social media coordinator position.
While you shouldn’t read your pitch verbatim from your computer, the beauty of a virtual
interview is that you can leave yourself quick notes or bullet points to help jog your memory.
2. Practice Your Set Up
The unique challenge of Zoom interviews is your interview set up. Ideally, you want to find a
quiet place, clean background, and well-lit area. Then, join a practice Zoom meeting (not the
real interview invite!) and look at your video to see how your lighting and background look. Ask
a friend or family member to join the Zoom meeting from their computer so they can hear how
you sound.
3. Dress the Part
To know how professional your Zoom attire should be, check out the company website or ask
their HR representative to see if you can gather any clues about their dress code. It’s better to
be more professional than unprofessional — and remember to check how your outfit looks on
camera before you join the real interview.
4. Connect With the Interviewer
Even if you’re not physically next to someone, you can still use nonverbal communication to
show you’re listening and connect with them. Set your Zoom to “speaker mode” so you can
focus on the hiring manager. Make eye contact by looking at your camera, and nod and give
affirmative responses to show you’re actively listening to them.
Practice your interviewing skills with Forage’s Comcast Unspoken Interview Fundamentals
Virtual Experience Program.
5. Don’t Stress About Tech
It happens — your Wi-Fi cuts out, you freeze for a moment, or you just forget to press the
unmute button. You’re not going to lose out on a job opportunity if you have a technical issue,
but you might make a bad impression if you don’t handle it with calm and grace. Don’t make a
scene, and quickly and politely resolve the issue.
6. Follow Up
Like any other interview, you should follow up with a short thank you note within 24 hours of the
interview. Thank the interviewer for their time, and restate your interest in the role. Stuck with a
blank email? Here’s your guide for how to write a thank you email after a Zoom interview.
Even as more people return to offices, virtual interviews aren’t going away — so knowing how to
ace a Zoom interview is a necessary skill for you job search process. You got this!
Looking for more Zoom interview tips? Check out 12 more tips for your next Zoom interview on
the Forage blog.
Zoe Kaplan is a Senior Writer at Forage. Prior to joining Forage, she wrote and edited
career and workplace content for Fairygodboss, the largest career community for women. Her
work has been featured in Ivy Exec, The Female Quotient, The Ladders, and more.
Learn more about Forage: theforage.com
