Employers are looking for candidates who can work independently from home and remain productive and motivated. One of the biggest challenges faced by employers today is the shift to the remote working environment putting upward pressure on them to measure workforce productivity. Students should emphasize their ability to manage time, work independently, know how to problem solve, be a self starter and be outcome driven. This will significantly improve your ranking as a candidate.

Employers are shifting competency-based screening. You need to emphasize your competencies in all career tools and in your interview responses. Not sure what competencies are? Learn more about competencies and what employers are looking for in the World Economic Job skills report. With automated scoring on the rise, your effective use of language in the interview is critical to make it to the next stage.

The use of video interviews is expanding beyond the live interview to video questionnaires and on-demand video interviews. Have you practiced with a one-way video interview format? It is an entirely different type of video interview where you are talking to a webcam, not a person. And the interview reviews your responses at a later time. Learn more about video interview formats as this is an important skill to learn.

Almost two years into the pandemic, employer expectations are high for performance in video interviews. We commonly hear from our employer customers that students are not prepared for video interviews. They are not coming across as articulate, polished and confident. A video interview is just another format for an interview, but like anything, you need to practice to improve and master your skills. Take the time to practice a wide range of interview questions and be sure to practice on the technology employers are using.

Employers are shifting to new candidate assessment and profiling methods that are augmenting and replacing the resume. These include psychometric tests, video assessments, skills assessments and fit questionnaires. Employers are embedding video questions in first stage applications so be prepared to do more than just submit a resume next time you apply for a job.