Q & A: Ty Abernethy on How to Ace a Non-Traditional Interview

As hiring managers, recruiters and companies leverage new technology to find candidates or opening, they are also exploring new technologies to interview candidates — from video interviews and phone-in responses to open-ended essays.

We asked Ty Abernethy, the Founder and CEO of ZuzuHire, to share his tips on the best way to ace a non-traditional interview. ZuzuHire offers employers a candidate screening tool that makes it easy to create customizable multimedia interview questionnaires.

Ty has a background in executive recruiting, and currently manages the finance/accounting recruiting division of Chase Professionals.

What type of employers use these alternative formats for interviewing and why?

Here are three groups that benefit from using alternative screening tools. 

1. Recruiters who screen and interview a large volume of candidates. 

2. Small business owners with little to no HR department since they don’t have the time to go through resumes or the manpower to screen applicants.

3. Large companies with an extremely high volume of job openings and a tremendous number of candidates applying. 

Do job seekers have any hidden advantages preparing for a phone in response, video or written interview? What are the positive aspects of this type of interview?

 If job seekers are prepared, they have a huge advantage when a company uses alternative interviewing questionnaires.

When an organization asks screening questions upfront that incorporate video, essay, and audio recorded answers, it gives you the ability to stand out among the pack by showing your skills in diverse settings:

Video skills provide the employer with a glimpse of your presentation skills,

Essays demonstrate the ability to write well, and

Audio recordings showcase public speaking ability – as well as phone manner.   

Companies can interview more candidates this way, and job seekers get their chance to get in front of the company when they otherwise couldn’t.

But you must think through your potential answers in advance. Know the key themes and messages you want to drive home in response to your questions. A questionnaire will provide you with less time and space to answer an interview question than you have otherwise.   Answer each question directly, provide an example, and that’s all the time you have.   

Any common mistakes job seekers often make in preparing for these types of interviews?

Job seekers make a few common mistakes when completing multimedia interview questionnaires.  Oftentimes, job seekers choose poor environments when answering video questions.  Poor lighting and distracting backgrounds can take away from an interview.  Sometimes candidates try to fly through the interview process and it really shows when companies view the results. Typos in written answers and rambling audio answers can result. 

How can job seekers make their response memorable — and leaving the employer ready to call them back?

By preparing before answering the interview questions, job seekers will really stand out.  Research the company and thoroughly review the job description.  Create a brief summary highlighting all the relevant skills that relate to the job at hand.  Selecting a good location to answer video questions is also important. 

Are there any questions I haven’t asked that I should be asking? What’s the question, and what’s your answer?

It can be difficult to get a recruiter’s attention.  Has social media and technology improved or hindered candidates in their ability to connect and stand out among the crowd? 

Social media and new technologies allow for more distractions for recruiters, so in that way it hurts candidates.  But if candidates know how to use these tools to their benefit, they can be powerful. 

The best way to engage a recruiter is to start off with a phone call. Make it professional, but to the point. Be respectful of the recruiter’s time and then follow up with an email. But then begin to incorporate other channels like social media.  Wait a week and then connect on LinkedIn.  Then wait another week and follow them on Twitter.  If they post jobs via social media, then share them with your follows/friends/contacts. Use these channels to ping the recruiter in a unique way every week or so. 

You will definitely start to stand out in a positive way before too long.  And if all else fails, kindly tell the recruiter you know where they live! 

Use it now—actionable—advice for job seekers (preferably in 140 characters or less)

When interviewing via video, pick a background that is well lit and has a neutral background. Be detailed but concise with answers. And smile!