How to spot initial fit over Zoom job interviews, as candidate

October 31, 2023 1:06 PM

I've had a couple Zoom job interviews lately and I've found it impossible to judge whether the managers seem like kind, competent people I can envision myself working well with. How do people assess first impressions as job candidates over Zoom?

Over the past couple months I've applied and interviewed for a couple jobs of interest. In this brave new world, the initial interviews have been about 60 minutes over Zoom with 2-3 person panels. With the combination of people generally being terrible at interviewing, plus wildcard of Zoom etiquette, these hiring managers do not come across very well! I'm note sure if I'm getting scared off of opportunities too quickly though. One place I interviewed for had me follow up with an in-person round, and they seemed so much more normal/people I'd like working with compared with the Zoom interview. I withdrew from another recruitment process mostly since the tone and Zoom etiquette was so bizarre (half of hiring manager's face was cut off and they never looked toward the camera; and their roster of questions was very stiff). Should I *not* be turned off by this sort of thing? I don't want to waste time on multiple interviews if an office culture would be weird, but maybe most people are still bad at Zoom after 3.5 years of experience?

posted by eunique to Work & Money (7 answers total)

I tend to think that interviewing is an odd process that is related to office culture but not the same thing, and zoom interviewing even moreso. Because of that, I hesitate to draw broad conclusions from how a person behaves in an interview setting. (Within reasonable limits; I'm happy to forgive some awkwardness or stilted conversation, but not outright jerk behavior.) I therefore try to ask questions about office culture and judge the responses rather than trying to extrapolate too much from in-call behavior. I typically ask what they value most in their culture and what values they try to hold, as the ways people talk about those things can be very telling, and the values a manager/culture prizes mean a lot. If the flub the answer or don't really have guiding principles, that is important information too.
posted by lhputtgrass at 1:22 PM on October 31, 2023 [3 favorites]

Will there be a significant virtual component to the work? If yes, perhaps this Zoom awkwardness is relevant. However, if the collaborative work is largely in-person and the Zoom interviews are just a first-date kind of convenience for candidates, I think it’s probably a distraction. You might consider asking about current meeting practices when it’s your turn to ask questions — even though most of my coworkers have hybrid or in-person jobs, most of our meetings are still virtual, so the location of the job itself may not answer this for you.
posted by eirias at 1:39 PM on October 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: You're interviewing with someone in the middle of their work day, most likely. They probably just got off another meeting, and will have another meeting after talking to you. Interviewing is something hiring managers do while also doing their day jobs.

So: how do they seem to you? Rushed? Stressed? Late? Are they in a good mood like they just had a productive call, or were at least in a meeting with someone they liked, or are they stiff and formal like they just have to check this off the list? How are they dressed? Just threw a blazer on over their pajamas, or does it look like they're having a normal day?

A 30 minute interview isn't enough time to get an overall culture vibe, but you can infer a lot about how your manager might set expectations for you by how they set expectations for themselves.
posted by phunniemee at 3:21 PM on October 31, 2023 [7 favorites]

I have hired and been hired via zoom. It's a mixed bag, but so is any interview where you don't get a chance to be onsite and walk around the office. Pre-Zoom I was once hired for a cross-country move job on only a one hour phone interview. I took it because I wanted to move there, but at this point in my life I probably would be pickier.

To your specific concerns, you may still be looking for different things than I am, but interviews are often stiff, especially at large or government affiliated employers, because they need to avoid the appearance of preference for or against any number of things. Adding the distance of zoom means even a final round interview can be fairly awkward. Even in my most rote interviews we allowed a Q&A section. Does the interviewer respond candidly, do they seem to know the job role?

Also, it's totally fine to ask questions-what percentage of the role will be spent in meetings? Or online? How do they onboard new candidates? What skills will a successful candidate have? What is their favorite/least favorite part about the company culture?
posted by Narrow Harbor at 5:46 PM on October 31, 2023

You should line up your own questions. Problem number one is if they give you no time to ask them, which if nothing else you should highlight before hanging up, and judge them on your answer. But hiring is socially awkward for all involved, and always bound up in hiring processes that people may not feel terribly comfortable with.

Don't just ask about the position (but do ask about the position!), ask about their own experiences, how long they've worked for the company, what support they get from their own management, their management style (for hiring managers particularly), how intra-company relationships work and how the company is structured, and so on.

I'm sure there are some lists online about this but your priorities are your own. You may be limited to five minutes so don't have a list you work down, adapt as you go.

I don't see multiple interviews as necessarily bad, it's pretty normal and sometimes quite excessive in my industry.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 11:51 PM on October 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

People being unwilling or (still) unable to conduct a virtual meeting with reasonable camera set-up suggests they don't rely on virtual presence with cameras much. That may not mean much in and of itself.

When Covid started my organisation was big on camera on virtual meetings to 'maintain connections'. So I have mine on as default. But one of my clients has theirs off as default and won't turn it on even if mine is on...the projects with them are entirely remote. It feels a bit strange to talk to them but we work well together regardless.
 
People being stiff with questions could just mean that HR forces them to go down a specific list that they are not allowed to deviate from.

It is also true that especially large organisations can be really bad at organising interviews. That results in people being pressed into action who are already working at capacity...that means the process at an organisation level may have room for improvement, not that we're all bad people to work with.

If the process doesn't allow you to ask questions and learn what is important to you to assess fit that would be problematic. If you rely on e.g. virtual meetings and a culture of 'camera on' is important for you that may indicate a less than perfect fit in your example. But context is everything.
posted by koahiatamadl at 1:04 AM on November 1, 2023

At a former workplace, the hiring manager was a total jackass with horribly problematic beliefs (made several comments that were racist or homophobic within the first couple hours I had to talk to them) and all-around made a terrible impression. The other people I interviewed with made a much better impression, so I took the job. But it turned out that the other people at the company were also super problematic in their views, they just hid the jackassery better for longer. But it sure came out within 2 years. I think if a panellist is rushed and unprepared, that isn't too bad (people are busy), but if you get a whiff of a mean or sneaky or dishonest person, take it seriously; that kind of behaviour trickles all through the culture.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 12:13 PM on November 1, 2023