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Leveraging virtual "on-campus" interviews

Expert tips on using Handshake's "on-campus" interview feature in a virtual setting

On-campus interviews enable you to set up rooms that employers can book. With the shift to virtual, the feature now also supports Zoom and Team links. Virtual interview rooms offer a level of flexibility in designing schedules that the virtual career fair feature doesn’t currently offer.

Quick Start Guide to Virtual Interviews in Handshake

  • Start with our On-Campus Interviews System Setup and Workflow Guide.
  • Then, learn how to create virtual interview rooms here!
  • Go to Buildings in School Settings and create a “Virtual” building
  • Use the bulk edit functionality to quickly title and edit interview slots
    • Consider temporarily titling slots something like “virtual interview room #” until you know which recruiters will be associated a specific slot
  • When hosting mock-interviews:
    • Save yourself time by creating clear communications to employers—request that they post a job with a title that indicates which slot the posting is associated with so that it is easy to locate listings and connect them to sessions. Something like “Event title - date - position”
  • Submit product feedback when you would like to see something improved:

Tips from Dordt University on Setting Up Virtual Interviews

Amy Westra, Associate Director of Career Development, successfully held a mock interview session for 40 engineering students. Here’s how she did it:

  • Six different virtual interview rooms were created, and a single Zoom link was associated with each room
  • Prospective interviewers were identified and invited beforehand so that a schedule could be created
  • Students signed up for slots with employers
  • Interview packets were shared with employers prior to the interviews so that recruiters knew who they were meeting with
  • Day of, Amy facilitated the connections by placing students and employers in the appropriate breakout rooms. You also have the ability to associate each room with unique Zoom/Team links for each employer so that there is no need to breakout room administration.

Novel Use Cases for Virtual Interviews:

  • Flipped Interviews – students interview employers
  • Virtual Job Shadowing – students meet with employers to learn more about their work (similar to Flipped interviews)
  • Virtual Fair Followup — after virtual career fairs, employers can provide career services with a list of students they would like to meet with again for a longer, more intimate interview

Level the playing field for your students