Prepping For A Virtual Interview

Virtual interviews have become the New Normal since The Dawn of the Rona. Like a brand new kitten, they’ve made themselves at home and they are (hopefully) here to stay. And, honestly, why shouldn’t they?! Aside from being a more accessible option for neurodivergent candidates, they are convenient and flexible for everyone involved. As neurodivergent job seekers, a virtual interview can help ease the fear of anticipating the environment that you’re walking into and what sources of overstimulation will be lurking.

Plus, during a virtual interview the interviewer probably won’t notice the comically large pit stains I’ve developed after being asked about my entire employment history beginning from my very first job in high school until now. Why is that even relevant?!

I digress…

Let’s go through some things you can do to prepare for your virtual interview!

Seven Days Before

Oh, you thought we were going to skip all of that prep, huh? We’re gonna take you on a little stroll down CF Memory Lane where you can take a look at one of our past blog posts for general interview prep tips. Mayhaps you’ll find something useful to add to your whole kit and caboodle?

To snowball off of that, about one week before your virtual interview, it’s time to start practicing! No, we aren’t doing the ol’ Wing It Technique of “I’ll just think about it in my head once and call it a day” practicing…though that is tempting. This is the time to get real awkward with it. We touched on this a little bit in our general interview prep tips blog but let’s get into more detail.

Let’s begin with ✨ The Behavioral Interview Practice ✨ →

Grab a friend and have them run through some common interview questions with you. Yes, it will feel a little weird at first. Yes, it is still worth doing. Practicing out loud helps you get used to explaining your experiences clearly instead of trying to assemble a coherent answer in real time. At the very least, make sure you can nail the whole “Tell Me About Yourself” spiel in 2 minutes or less.

If you’re going through a ✨Technical Interview✨, make sure to include that in your prep. We have a resource for surviving technical interviews that focuses more dealing with the pressure-cooker-like environment that these types of interviews churn up.

If you have a friend who understands the technical concepts that are relevant to your career, ask them to buddy up and run through those concepts with you. If you don’t know anyone with that background, there are services online that offer technical interview practice that can feel pretty close to the real thing. I hate to admit this - but I have used an LLM to generate practice questions based on the role I’m interviewing for and then handed those questions to a friend to run through them with me.

Is it perfect? Absotootely not.

Does it get you thinking through possible questions? Absotootley yes.

Five Days Before

I’ll scream it from the damn rooftops!

😱 MAKE A CHEAT SHEET! 😱

One of the biggest perks of a virtual interview is that you can have notes nearby, and if you’re neurodivergent, this can be a lifesaver. A lot of us experience a freeze response under pressure where it honestly feels like our brains stop working. You can know your experience inside and out, but the moment someone asks you a question your mind goes completely blank. It’s not that you don’t know the answer — your nervous system just hit the emergency brakes.

This is where the cheat sheet comes in. You can include things like:

• Past projects you want to talk about

• Tools, technologies, or methods you used

• Short reminders of stories that demonstrate skills

• Strengths you want to make sure you highlight

• Questions you want to ask the interviewer at the end

• The company’s mission or key values so you can reference them naturally

Place the notes around your screen or just outside your camera’s field of view. A quick look can be enough to jog your memory and get you back on track.

Three Days Before

As the interview gets closer, I’d like to gently remind you that you can and should set timers for your prep time.

If you’re anything like me, “I’ll just practice a few questions real quick” can very easily turn into the black hole of hyperfocus. Five hours later you’re still in the same chair, you’ve become a California Raisin, and you’ve somehow read the entire company website including the press releases from 2014. Hyperfocus is a powerful thing. Unfortunately, it does not come with built-in hydration reminders.

Preparing for an interview is good. Great, even! But there is such a thing as over-preparing. At some point the practice stops helping and you start sounding like a weird (but cute, obvs) little robot reciting preprogrammed answers instead of a human having a conversation.

Virtual interviews may be remote, but they’re still interviews. The impression you make on the people on the other side of that screen matters. And, sadly, it’s a little harder to dazzle people through a webcam than it is in person.

Prepare enough to feel confident… and then drink some damn water. Your brain will work better for it.

The Day Of

I’ll tell it to ya straight (or gay): you might not sleep great the night before your interview.

Make peace with it. Bury the hatchet. Let go and let Gopher.

Interviews can crank anxiety up to a solid eleven - especially in this economy. Your brain might decide that 2:47 a.m. is the perfect time to replay every moment of your life since 2009. It happens. If you wake up a little groggy, that’s okay. One slightly chaotic night of sleep will not ruin your interview.

If you can, try to do something active beforehand. Go for a walk, stretch, pace around your apartment like Mr. Burns. Whatever works.

And finally: go to the bathroom. Yes, I’m serious. I see you. Some of you will absolutely wait until the last possible second and then regret it halfway through the interview. Set a reminder if you have to. When you’re neurodivergent, your internal “body signals” can be a little… unreliable. Sometimes you don’t realize you’re hungry, thirsty, or need the bathroom until it’s suddenly an emergency. Take care of those things ahead of time so they’re not competing for your attention while you’re trying to talk about your professional accomplishments.

Go West, Young Magpie 🧭

Well, there you have it! I hope we’ve helped to give your brain enough support so it doesn’t panic and unplug itself the second someone says, “So… tell me about yourself.”

Practice a little. Make your cheat sheet. Drink something wet. Move your meatsuit. Go to the bathroom like the responsible adult you technically are.

It’s not going to be perfect. Most interviewers understand that interviews are weird and stressful for everyone involved. Give ‘em the Old Razzle Dazzle as best you can from the comfort of your own cave and show the interviewer that you know your s***. Because you do! Sometimes your brain just forgets.

Take a breath, glance at your notes, and keep going!