I’ve been interviewing folks for an internship position lately. These have been remote interviews. Six things that have made candidates stand out to me.

• Get your camera angle straight. Don’t slouch in the corner. I need professionals so I need you to look like one.
• Hide the weird shit in your backgrounds, unless it’s something you want to talk about
• Have presence / wow factor. I’m interviewing for a position that will sometimes talk to customers. I’m your customer at the moment and I really do want to buy what you’re selling, and will absolutely do so if you wow me.
• Read the job description, I put a lot of effort into that thing (I know, not every company does). Get to know the JD and company website. I had a marketing guy apply and he got through the resume review because he had an lot experience in my industry. Turns out he didn’t and I read right through it. Don’t waste my and your time, neither of us have enough of it on this planet as is.
• Have hobbies, extracurriculars. I get tired of asking the same boring questions to everyone so I may ask you about them. I’m in no way religious but surprisingly, I’ve now had two candidates talk to me about how they’re a leader in their church and that they’re leading groups or projects there. It got them both to the next round. I want to hire a colleague not a robot.
• Have writing and presentation samples prepared. I want to see how you document things I want to see the work you’re proud of. I need dynamism and a diverse team, not all of us need to be customer facing rockstars. A beautiful presentation absolutely can and has won me over on candidates that did not have the interview presence.