That Online Interviewing Life

Being interviewed online was definitely a different experience than being interviewed in person. Mastering online interviews is an important skill to master now because if you want a job far from where you are living now, you can not always make it to an in-person interview. I want to live anywhere other than Utah, so this skill is something to nail down now, so I can land a job somewhere else. When comparing it to an in-person interview, there were both better and worse parts to it because it was a different environment and experience.

There were benefits of doing an interview online. Because it is online, you can essentially do the interview anywhere you have internet access. So for me, I chose somewhere I felt at ease and at home. I conducted the interview from my apartment. It was so convenient and such a relaxed environment. For in-person interviews, that experience was more intimidating for me. Being able to be in a comfortable setting that I was used to was nice to be able to make my nerves at ease.

However, these positives came with their own drawbacks. The benefit of being at ease, making me feel less intimidated, also made it harder to stay formal and remain professional. Being in a more comfortable setting, such as my room, provided more relaxed setting for the interview but almost to a point of being too relaxed. In addition, although doing the interview from my apartment was convenient, it was hard because it is not a controlled environment. Right before the interview, my roommates started to doing their laundry, which is right across from my room, so it was very loud. People were coming and going, slamming the door, so there was a lot of noise distractions. Having proper eye contact is hard over webcam as well because it is easy to just look at the screen instead, but that can make it look like you are looking down. Finally, my volume was not the best, factoring in all the noises in the background, and I could not always hear the questions I was being asked. Technical difficulties arise from doing interviews online, which would not happen in a real life interview, so that can be an added stress to make sure everything works correctly. On the whole although there were benefits of having an online interview from the comfort of your home, there are many drawbacks as well.

Although being interviewed in person or online may contain the same questions and have the same end result, the different situations and circumstances may elicit different responses and actions from the interviewer and yourself. It just comes down to personal preferences on which type of interview is considered better, but as a person searching for a job, you must be able to navigate both types of interviews successfully.