How to Practice a Virtual Interview

A candidate's performance in an interview decides his future in the company. Ample preparation assures performance. Preparation is required for people who are not used to interview stress. Interview stress is the main reason for most failures. Stress comes into existence during interviews by two ways. One is the candidate developing a fear of inability to answer and the other is stress related questions asked by the interviewer.

To overcome these two types of interview stresses, a simulation of the actual interview would help to a great extent. Interview simulations are generally performed within a group of people and are called mock interviews. This type of interview is beneficial in overcoming stress only. The questions practiced are also limited to the expertise of the group of candidates.

A virtual interview is a combination of a mock interview and an online interview. It succeeds in creating a near-perfect emulation of the questions asked in an interview. Interviews are mostly personal, on phone or online. A virtual interview simulates the required environment and prepares the candidate for the interview with confidence personified.

Packages :
Virtual interviews are online or offline packages offered by experts in the internet. To execute these packages, you need to have a personal computer and an internet connection. Packages maintained online are more interactive and have more questions than the offline ones.

Questions :
The main aim of the virtual interview is to create a near-perfect interview environment by introducing the perfect questions. The questionnaire maintained by online packages are interactive. For every question, four or less choices are provided. The candidate has to click on the correct answer and the computer moves on to the nest question.

Most questionnaires consist of static questions. Some contain a question tree, where the present question depends on the previous answer. Question trees are more advantageous. Questions present in the test are divided into a few categories.

Introduction questions
Education and experience
Behavioral questions
Stress and case related questions
Subject related questions.

Feedback :
As the virtual interview package is based on knowledge from experts, feedback is superior. This is the point where it scores better than a mock interview. The candidate uses the feedback as a measure of his /her performance. The feedback sheet contains every question, the candidate's answer and the ideal answer. These help the candidate in performing well in the actual interview.

Virtual interviews are only a near-perfect emulation of the actual interviews. So they come with a set of advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages :

Increases confidence in the candidate by the use of stress related questions and ideal answers. Also gives ideas on situation related behavior
Gives tips on what to and how to improve
Excellent feedback. The automated system is designed to provide proper feedback, which in turn helps the candidate in improving up to a considerable extent

Disadvantages :

Animated version does not render the actual seriousness of the interview environment
Provides multiple choices to answer the question, which is not the case in the actual interview
Lack of look and voice related assessment. Virtual interviews do not analyze the candidate's looks and voice but can only give suggestions.