5 Tips for Surviving the Academic Zoom Interview

Zoom interview — fails and wins

Like it or not, the academic Zoom interview is here to stay. Even pre-pandemic, it had become common for at least part of interviews to be conducted online. Interview committees use the online interview to whittle down a long list of candidates to a shorter list of people to bring to campus. The pandemic brought a new format with entire interviews being conducted online; job offers being made with no campus visit. I have participated in all sides of this experiment. As an administrator I have interviewed many people by zoom, but I have also been the interviewee and have been offered jobs from interviews that occurred entirely online during COVID lockdowns.

There are pros to the online interview. Institutions can save thousands of dollars, less travel means fewer carbon emissions, and there are fewer logistics for both the interviewing institution and candidate. Candidates can skip out on noisy hotels and plumbing that fails when you are trying to get to an early morning breakfast. Online formats also offer the chance to plaster your work space with sticky notes reminders and to wear comfortable shoes (or no shoes!).

But, online interviews also have downsides. Online formats have been shown to disadvantage diverse candidates. The online interview, particularly when used for generating a short list, is all about getting “an impression”. Language and cultural barriers and poor internet connections are just some of the factors that can negatively impact perceptions. Online interviews can also feel impersonal and the artificial and awkward interactions can make people uncomfortable. But, given that the online interview format is likely here to stay, let’s talk about how to survive the experience.

1. Zoom etiquette — At this stage most of us are up to speed on zoom etiquette. Don’t have the camera pointing to the bathroom door, don’t zoom from bed, don’t eat carrots, and please wear pants. By now, most of this seems like common sense. There are plenty of tips for the perfect background and lighting, but don’t spend too much time worrying about finding your exact background and setting up professional lighting. Being too distracted with these elements of the interview can quickly put off the committee. For an online interview the most important aspect of the zoom technology is the sound. Straining to hear someone makes it really hard to stay focused on what they are saying, so make sure that your audio setup is reliable. It’s helpful to have a zoom set up where you are comfortable with and confident in your technology, but your technology only matters to a point. If you do have a technology fail, resolve it as quickly as you can but don’t keep referencing it. Just move on and get the focus back on your accomplishments and future contributions. Use technology fails to show you are professional under pressure.
2. Embrace the void — For a job interview I gave a job talk by Zoom that was conducted in a completely remote format. It was webinar style, so I could not see anyone. It was so disorienting. With everyone’s camera off, there was no way to read the room. At the end the moderator asked me questions that people typed in the chat. After 75 minutes of what felt like a monologue to the abyss, there was literally no way to know how it went. No smiles or nods to get energy from, no blank stares to indicate that I needed to rephrase a point. With a curt “thank you” from the host, everyone left the room. I sat at my desk for about 15 seconds before I burst into tears. If I felt this tired and empty after my talk, I could only imagine the audience had suffered too! As an interviewee you will likely pour your mind and heart into all aspects of an interview, and when the interview is conducted over Zoom you do not get nearly enough reward for your effort. No energy is generated. People join and leave conversations via zoom without even social niceties. Later, when I was offered the job, I was told that my talk had been well received. I am not sure there is much to be done to improve how talking to a black box feels. But, knowing what you are in for is good preparation. If you can practice your presentations for supportive friends and colleagues beforehand, you can draw energy from their feedback to bring to the interview. It is a good idea to also have someone that is not part of the interview on stand-by to debrief with, especially if you have multiple meetings in the same day. It will help you at least process how you feel about each step and will make the process less lonely.
3. Embrace the awkward– Online interviews are very impersonal and they just feel awkward. If the interviews are part of the process to create a short list, the committee will typically have a set of scripted questions. It is a horribly artificial way of having a conversation! Take heart knowing everyone is getting the same awkward experience. The consistency in questions creates a fairer playing field and in efforts to reduce unconscious and systemic bias in hiring, consistent questions and rubrics are helpful for keeping the committee focused on criteria rather than leaning on impressions. Such practices are good and right because we need to continue to minimize bias in interviews. However, it will feel weird and the more you can embrace that the weirdness is fine, the better. Try and roll with it. Also, the awkwardness of it all can make some people rush. Try to get comfortable in the discomfort of it all and remember to elaborate. Give examples, add anecdotes, tell them about the things you want them to know, even if they don’t ask. I have noticed that when online interviews end quickly, the committee’s impressions of the candidate tend to be less favorable.
4. Aim for connection — There are plenty of personal details that have no business in an interview. However, it is still important to remember that your interviewers are talking with you to learn about your work and how you operate in a professional setting. There is no need to overshare, but especially when committees are interviewing 6–10 people on the longlist, it is important to stand out. It can be surprisingly hard to recall Zoom conversations when you are debriefing as a committee. To stand out, do your homework. Showing you have researched the job, department, and institution is a great way to stand out. Everyone likes to be asked questions and asking thoughtful questions is a sure way to get noticed. Include examples and stories in your answers to give life and narrative to your professional work. And always, definitely, please… have a good answer for why you want the job. Ideally, it will include a desire to work with the people interviewing you. If you don’t authentically want to work with these folks then perhaps it is the wrong job for you.
5. Sticky notes are your friend — When I do on-campus interviews I thoroughly prepare. I memorize names, research areas, and faculty content. I have a list of key points I want to be sure I get across. I write and rewrite these notes until I am prepared to focus on the people I am talking with. One major advantage of online interviewss is that you can post all this information on notes around your workspace. Take advantage of the privacy that the digital experience provides to organize thoughts with sticky notes!

While these tips are primarily for the interviewee, I have wondered about lack of innovation on the formats used for doing online interviews. Best practice in online teaching is to use different formats and methods. Ideally, we don’t just teach the same way we do in-person but over Zoom. Yet with interviews, we have yet to adapt. The standard interview approach is to ask everyone the same scripted questions. In addition to this being awkward, it can be difficult to separate the responses, even with a rubric. Are there alternate formats that might work better? What if candidates gave short job talks? It would be less awkward and, in my view, would “cut to the chase” focusing on candidate work and communications skills. Given all the innovation in technology, the innovation in format has definitely lagged.

Regardless of if you are interviewing in-person or online, the academic job interview is almost always grueling. Remember to be kind to yourself. The goal isn’t perfection. The goal is to put your best foot forward. How committees make their decisions are complicated and depend on the pool of candidates, and nuanced direction and needs of the department. Sometimes it is all about fit. Control what you can, but let go of the rest.