Interviews and videos

The primary goal of your CV and application letter is to get you to the interview. Job interviews in Finland are typically conducted in a relaxed, yet professional manner.

PREPARATIONS

It is crucial to prepare yourself for the interview: get to know as much as possible about the organization and the field. What services and products do they provide? Who are their customers?  What size is the organization? Who are they partnered with?

Remember also to check where the interview will take place so you won’t have to stress about it on the day of the interview. Dress well (depending on the field/organization, try to find out about this looking on the organizations web page/LinkedIn, asking people who might know etc.)

Prepare for some of the more common interview questions, e.g.

  • Who are you? Tell us about yourself.
  • Why are you applying for this position?
  • Describe a challenge that you have faced in your previous (work) experience?
  • Tell us about your strengths. What are your weaknesses?
  • What do you know about our organization?
  • What would you add to our work team?
  • How do you deal with stressful situations?
  • Do you have any questions for us? (You should have 🙂 )

Depending on the person/s interviewing, there might also be silly questions (like what your totem animal would be). Employers are not allowed to ask you questions e.g. about your family situation, gender or ethnicity. However, if you feel these are things you want to mention, it is completely fine.

THE INTERVIEW

Arriving to the interview: be punctual (up to 5 minutes early) and present yourself and what you have come for / who you are looking for when you arrive to the place of the interview. Shake hands with the person/s interviewing you. The first impression, a genuine smile and eye-contact, often play a big role in how the interview starts. However, don’t panic if you get nervous, forget a name or freeze for a moment. Just tell the interviewer that you are a bit nervous.

See the interview as a conversation where it is possible for you to offer some of your ideas. The interview is a great place to gather more information about the job tasks, the co-workers and other important aspects. When asked a questions, answer that with more than one or two words, and feel free to elaborate your answers. However, if you know you have a tendency to “ramble on”, try to be concise and straight to the point. It is also a good idea to try to incorporate your skills and previous experience in your answers as examples.

VIDEO INTERVIEWS

Employers might use videos in the recruiting process. In the recent years we have become familiar with meetings online, and job interviews online are increasingly common. The employer might also ask you to record and submit answers to specific questions as a step in the recruiting process. Using a video is also a way to boost your job searching that has been growing in the recent years.

Below are some points to focus on in order to make any video related to recruiting work for you and the employer.

Plan carefully

Think carefully about what you want to say in the video. If you target a video to a specific job, take that into account in your video content. You can also make a general job search or resume video for jobs in a specific field.

Make a script for the video and practice through the presentation a few times so you can evaluate the duration of the video. A good job search video is no longer than 1-2 minutes long. Making a job search video requires the ability to condense.

Recording environment

Ordinary smartphones can usually record video wirh a good enough quality. With the phone’s rear camera, you are able to capture better quality video than the front camera, but you won’t see what you’re shooting. You can place the phone on a stand or support it at a suitable level. You can also ask a friend to shoot a video so you only have to focus on talking.

If you’re shooting a video inside, choose a shooting environment that’s as neat and calm as possible. Check that the place and your face are well lit. For example, the front of a window is a good place to shoot, as long as the sun doesn’t shine in directly from the window. Dress up the video as you would a job interview.

If you’re already familiar with filming videos, you can pay more attention to video quality and take it as a working sample of your video and editing skills.

Shoot and edit

Speak towards your camera in your job search video. Do not read directly from the paper. Remember an open and positive attitude!

Small mistakes or interruptions in speech do not bother, as long as the overall impression is professional and cheerful. It is not worth demanding too much of yourself. Performing on video is a skill that develops with practice. If the interesting employer is not looking for a top performer, it is enough that you know how to tell about yourself naturally.

The video can be shot in a single shot, or you can combine the video from a few different shots. For example, you can use free applications or web-based editing programs for editing. Avoid special effects in editing. Be sure to complete your contact information and link to your LinkedIn profile or portfolio, for example.

Share the video

You can share the video publicly on Youtube, for example, or on job search video sites. You can also upload a video to Youtube so that the recruitor can only watch the video with the link. In this case, the video will not be found by Google, and outsiders will not be able to watch the video. Share the link with the employer in connection with the job application documents.