GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) —GVSU's Julia Naranjo is a current student who is set to graduate in 2022.
During a scheduled interview with SpartanNash in Grand Rapids Julia was ready to make eye-contact and give a firm handshake for her internship meeting in March, then suddenly the state shut down due to COVID-19.
At that point, the hiring manager with whom she was supposed to meet changed the plan and set up a phone interview instead.
Naranjo said, “They asked me the normal questions, but it was more of a challenge because you had to prove to them how you would be a good employee without actually speaking to them or meeting them face-to-face."
SpartanNash has also conducted interviews, like many other companies, via video meeting apps like Zoom.
Talent Acquisition Consultant Jamie Belt works for SpartanNash. She talked with Naranjo for that phone interview, and said she did very well, despite the sudden change of plan.
The reality is that hiring managers say just like preparing for an in-person interiew, a virtual interview requires research.
Talent manager Angie Wittkowski is with Amway and she says they have been able to fill jobs more quickly using the virtual interview process. She says the virtual medium can also give job candidates more flexibility.
Wittkowski had several suggestions on how to make sure a virtual interview goes well.
- Get familiar with the technology ahead of time.“The minute you agree to that interview, make sure you’re set up for success and you’re not going to get stressed out the first few minutes of the interview because things aren’t working,” Wittkowski said.
- Practice, but don’t memorize.“You don’t want to show up as robotic. Monitor your body language because the enthusiasm someone might get in a face-to-face interaction is a little bit harder in a two-dimensional situation.”
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