Hi, my name is Kelsey Santorosa. Welcome back to another edition of Taking Your Job Search Online. This time we're going to talk about something that we're likely all going through. Something that I'm doing right now, video conferencing, except most of the time we don't do it with ourselves. So you have a virtual job interview coming up. How do you prepare? First, let's talk about our room that we're in. So right now, like many of us who have been working from home or using our computers, I'm in my room. So I've made sure that what is behind me is nice and clear and free from any distractions from the person on the opposite side of the screen. Near me, I do have my cell phone, but it's on mute so that I don't have any dings going through for any notifications. I also have a notebook next to me so that I can write down any questions or I can refer to my notes if I know that there's something that I want to bring up at the end of the interview. Perhaps some questions that I have for the employer. Number two, let's talk about how I look as a candidate. So today I have for myself a little bit of makeup on. That's what makes me feel a little bit better. My hair is done. I'm dressed in something clean and something that isn't very distracting or won't show up too pixelated if my connection is poor. And if I wanted to get a little bit fancier, I'd maybe even just throw on a nice jacket. I'm still dressing for the job that I want, even though you can only see me from the waist up. Number three, let's talk about lighting. A big part of what's happening in the space right now is you can see me clearly. I'm not tilted like this where you can only see the top of my head or the bottom of my mouth. You can see my full face nice and clear. And I'm facing a window so that everything is really nice and bright. If this was a little bit later in the day, I might actually turn a lamp on so that you'd be able to see me a little bit clearer as well. These are just some of the tips for how to set your space up to make sure that you're confident and ready to go for a virtual job interview. We also want to talk about internet connection. This one is really important. Whether you have a strong connection in the city or in the county, if you have the opportunity to plug yourself directly into the ethernet cable, making sure that you're getting as close to the source as possible, that's really, really important. We have all experienced delays, frozen faces, people that have forgotten to unmute themselves in the middle of interviews or discussions and video calls. But making sure that your internet connection is as stable as you can possibly get it is one of the things that can help avoid a little bit of stress or some anxiety as you're going through a virtual job fair or a virtual interview. The world patient, it's just one less thing to worry about. Now, what about timing? Is being on time for a 10 o'clock interview or a 10 o'clock call, and joining rate at 10 a.m. appropriate? Not quite. Just like we would do in the real world, it's appropriate to sign in or try to access the meeting five minutes before the initial start time. Now, the meeting room may not be open yet, but that means that as soon as the host joins or they see that you're trying to log in, they'll let you in. It means that you're speaking to your commitment to be on time and on time usually means about five minutes early. Remember, just because your online doesn't mean this isn't an interview. So treat it as you would if you were in person, practice good posture, stay engaged, look directly through the camera or through the screen, and make sure that you're engaged in answering questions. Don't fidget too much, swivel back and forth on your chair, look at your phone, because we can all see those little things in that distraction through the other side of the screen. And just be patient. Sometimes there are technical difficulties. It's totally fine and appropriate to remind someone politely that they may have forgotten to unmute themselves if they're about to ask a question. Now, what you might want to do at the end and after your interview is make sure that if you have your notepad handy here, that you've written down some questions for the employer about the position or the company you're interviewing for. Then after the interview, send them a little thank you note to thank them for taking the time to meet with you. We have all of this and more available for tips on our website at workforcewinsoressics.com. Be sure to check it out and I'll see you next time on a new edition of Taking Your Job Search online.