Video Interviewing for Legal Jobs - It's a Reality Now

Here at Kinney Recruiting we want to provide associates tips on making the best impression via video. With COVID-19 interrupting our daily lives, we need to change our habits slightly. If you need to change jobs you still can, but you’re going to do your first interview via video.  So get ready, here are our tips.

At Kinney, we’ve had years of experience with hundreds of international moves, and those often involve initial interviews via video. So, we have seen a few things. Some of this is not the most obvious stuff, but it’s well tested.

First, use your phone, not a computer camera.  Most phones have much better cameras than laptops these days. The video interview software, or Skype, invariably comes with a phone app option. Use it.

Second, putting the phone arm’s-length away is best. 

Third, you must have a flawless internet connection. If your router is acting weird, go to a friend’s house who has things set up better. It’s never good when the quality sucks and there is a lag in communication or a break in the video stream; your performance could be flawless and you won’t get credit for it. See No. 6.

Fourth, focus on the lighting. It doesn’t need to be crazy, but don’t just allow overhead lamps to illuminate your face. If you do, you will have the shadow of your nose, long or short, crossing your lips. It’s ugly.  We have dealt with this in various ways, but just having a few candles around your phone to give nicer light can help. That said, don’t set a fire accidentally. This is not the time to learn how to use candles. Other options are to have your laptop open with a white screen up. Or, better yet, use two laptops, one to the left and one to the right of your phone.  Just make sure they don’t sleep in the middle of the interview. Having half your face go dark in the middle can be a nightmare.

Fifth, don’t put the phone on a table and sit with your face two feet above the table.  Your counterpart will be looking up your nose. Instead, find a shorter chair, or a taller perch for the phone. You want to look eye to eye with people you are meeting for a video interview.

Sixth, pay attention to the connection and roll with technical difficulties. If there is video lag, don’t try to jump in and make a clever comment. Wait until the other person stops talking.  Similarly, if you are the sort of person who tends to talk a lot – and a lot of lawyers are – then you need to remember that if you are doing most of the talking in an interview, you are not doing a good job. So, pay attention to the flow of the conversation and try to pass the ball back to your counterpart. Engage them on something they like and let them get rolling on it. Are they talking about the size and quality of their deals? Then, say how you are amazed with the quality of their practice; interject briefly that you saw the XYZ deal on their bio and you had a connection to that deal through whatever angle. It does not take a lot of words to demonstrate competence.. Is your counterpart quick to mention that their kids are playing football this year?  You (or your brother/sister) were serious sportsmen in high school and it led to you think it was a very important part of your development. Don’t belabor the point, just roll with it.

Seventh, if you are taking notes, tell the counterpart that’s what you are doing so you don’t look distracted. But don’t take notes in an interview. The interview is where they decide whether they want to hang around you all day. No need to play the gunner.

Eighth, dress the part, even for the video. Don’t wear sweatpants with your suit jacket either. Should you need to get up for some reason, you’ll make a fool of yourself. And you’ll always know you’re wearing sweatpants.

Ninth, if you have the most modern phone, you might not need this tip, but use airpods or some sort of tested solution so that the audio is the best it can be. Speakerphone echo is a lost opportunity to sound like you have control of things. Likewise, if there is background noise a lot, because fire trucks come by your window often, find another place to go.

Finally, ignore any of the above problems that appear to be happening on the other end. We can’t fix our clients’ issues as well as we can our candidates’.

If you are working with us, we will do our best to help you fix any issues. We have a lot of experience at this. Get in touch and we’ll let you know if we think you can pull it off!