Prior to Covid, being able to effectively present yourself on a WebEx or Zoom virtual interview was not an essential pre-med skill. Now, it is. Here are 14 high yield tips to take your virtual video interview skills to the next level. These tips will work for any virtual interview, including post-baccalaureate, med school, and residency interviews. If you haven’t checked out our post with in-person interview tips, be sure to check that out as well.

Before the Post-Baccalaureate/Med School Virtual Interview

Setting up your interview environment:

1. Ensure you have a strong internet connection. Having your internet cut out in the middle of an interview is bad. Obviously, this is quite distracting and takes away from the interview’s purpose, which is to learn if you are a good candidate. However, even having slow internet is a problem. When your interviewer has to watch you freeze up / slow down / speed up / pixelate out, it is incredibly frustrating. Unfortunately, that feeling of frustration will be associated with you. Here’s the abstract from a study evaluating the audio-visual quality bias in job interviews:

Participants in both experiments rated job candidates from fluent videos [high video quality] as more hirable, even after being explicitly told to disregard AV quality…. Our findings suggest that video interviews may favor job candidates with better internet connections and that being aware of this bias does not make it go away

Try to avoid poor internet if at all possible! This may mean getting your roommates to not watch Netflix during the interview. It could also mean finding a more suitable location to set up your interview station. Whatever the case may be, do not let poor internet quality interfere with an interview. 

2. Mind your background. There is a fair amount of debate over what type of background is appropriate to use for virtual interviews. There are people who insist that the Zoom blurred virtual background is ideal for interviewers. Others believe that you should place objects in your background to spark conversational threads. (“Oh, is that a guitar you have conveniently hung up on the wall behind you?”) In our experience advising pre-med post-bacc and pre-med applicants, a neutral background without clutter is ideal. This is less distracting for the interviewer and focuses more attention on you. Because the Zoom virtual background blur effect doesn’t always align perfectly with your face and will occasionally cut out part of your face, we recommend you avoid this. It is acceptable to have plants or some inoffensive books/paintings/decorations behind you as long as it’s visually appealing.
3. Improve your audio. This may be the highest yield tip here. Surprisingly, people judge the quality of a video interview more from audio quality than from the video quality. If it’s difficult to hear you or if your audio quality is bad, you will obviously come off more poorly during the interview. All YouTubers and Podcasters know this, which is why they buy nice microphones early in their careers. Because of Amazon, it’s not even that expensive to get yourself a reasonable quality microphone. Consider purchasing a $15-20 microphone from Amazon. (Note: This is not an affiliate link. We don’t get any money from this purchase so we don’t care if you buy this one or a different one.) This is a cheap fix and will make you sound better and come off better in an interview. 
4. Fix your lighting. This is a bit of a bonus. Having good lighting does make a positive visual impression. You can purchase a ring light, but often this isn’t necessary. Consider placing a light in front of you, another slightly to the side of you, and a small light behind you. (This is 3 point lighting.) Watch out for glare if you wear glasses and be careful about having too much backlighting. If you’re completely confused as to how to set this up, do a practice zoom session with a friend—preferably a friend who has a film/theater background—and ask them to critique the lighting set up. 

5. Remove all distractions. Make sure your cell phone is on silent (not vibrate!) or better yet turn it off completely. Any noise or buzzing from your phone or any other device in the room will distract you and thus will distract your interviewer. Turning everything off will ensure you and your interviewer aren’t distracted. Remember: distraction during an interview will likely detract from your overall performance.

Preparing yourself for the virtual interview

6. Wear a professional outfit. Be sure to look “professional”—whatever the heck that means. If you have long hair, either tie your hair back/up or ensure it looks neat for the interview. If you’re unsure how formal to be dressed, err on the side of being more formal. For men, this means a button down shirt, suit, and tie. And yes, you should wear formal pants even if they aren’t visible on camera. When you feel like you’re dressed professionally, you’ll act more professional. For women, wear what you would have worn at the actual interview. If you’re confused as to what this might mean, ask your most socially conservative friend what outfit they would wear to church and wear that.

7. Research the program. Know the program you are applying to well enough to be able to articulate exactly what you like about the program. This is not difficult. Before the interview, simply read everything that is written about the program on their website. This is also a good way to know what traits they want you to accentuate in the interview. If the program says they are interested in students who want to serve diverse populations, make sure to highlight your experiences with underserved populations during the interview.

8. Research who is interviewing you. This is a pro tip. If possible, google your interviewer beforehand. If the name of the interviewer is not easily accessible, at the very least look up the program director and assistant director since it is likely you will be interviewing with at least one of them. Spend 10-15 minutes googling them. A bit of inside information about who they are may give you insight into what aspects of your resume you should consider highlighting. For instance, if you find out that your interviewer loves painting and you do some form of visual arts in your free time, consider mentioning this as a hobby. Note: This should be done casually in conversation! Do not force any particular topic to come up. However, if the opportunity presents itself, you can use the info you have gathered online to help you do well in the interview.

During the Virtual Interview

9. Maintain good eye contact. One of the stranger things about interviewing virtually is that direct eye contact with your interviewer involves staring into your camera rather than staring at your screen. This is awkward. However, it does trigger the this-person-is-paying-attention-to-me mode during your interviewer. You will come off better by staring at your camera rather than looking down at the screen. To ensure that you are eye-level with the interviewer, you may have to prop up your laptop with some books.

10. Remember to ask good questions and follow up questions. During the interview day, you may have the opportunity to meet students at the program. Remember to get their opinions. You will learn from them and they will like you more if you ask them questions! Some easy ones: Why did you choose this program? What do they like most about the program? Has anything surprised you? What are some things that could be improved? 

11. Be nice! If they are interviewing you, you already look good enough on paper to get into their program. That’s the reason they granted you an interview. Remember that the tone of what you say matters just as much as the content. You want to come across as a nice, collaborative person who the post-bacc/med school program would want their other students to be around. Don’t be a robot. Just be a normal, nice human being.

12. Have at least 3 questions. A lot of interviews will end with “do you have questions?”. Personal Premed’s strong recommendation is that you have at least three prepared questions that demonstrate your knowledge of the program. They should not be questions that could be easily answered by a quick browse of the program’s website. Here are good examples of reasonable questions: “I’m really excited to see that the curriculum is structured around students doing clinical volunteering one afternoon a week. I have been a hospice volunteer with XYZ organization for the last 6 months and have really enjoyed supporting patients in the final weeks of their lives. I didn’t see any hospices on the clinical volunteering list. Are there any hospices in the area that I could volunteer at?” Another good example is: “What is something the program is trying to improve?” Or “what are you most proud of about the program?”

After the Virtual Interview

13. Send a thank you email. Within 24-48 hours of the interview, send a thank you email to your interviewer/ the program director/ the admissions officer. The email should be polite and brief. Make sure to reiterate your excitement and enthusiasm for the specific program and what you bring to that program. Be sure to mention at least one or two topics that you discussed with your interviewer, as this will remind them of who you are. 

If you would like more personalized help preparing for your interview, feel free to email us at [email protected].