Today I had a first round video interview with a company that I really want to work for this summer. I nervously sat in front of my laptop with my professional business clothes and my list of information about the company and prepared for the interview. Surprisingly, I found that the first round was not with a person and instead I was being interviewed by an automated video system.

This was very disconcerting to me because I had never done this type of interview and was not prepared for how to interact with a computer system instead of a person. However, I had no choice but to go along with it and continued answering the computer’s questions for half an hour until the interview was over. The system promptly let me know that my replies would be sent to a representative who would then contact me for further interviews if I passed this round.

With that section finished, I am now in the most dreaded stage of the interview process: the waiting game. From now until sometime in the next two weeks, I am going to have to sit tight and wait for a reply from a company that I really want to hear back from. There is nothing I can do and there is no way I can control the situation, so naturally I am nervous.

Whenever I am in this stage, I have the bad habit of continuously refreshing my email and even waking up in the middle of the night to see if I have been contacted. From my experience, I have learned a few to dos and not to dos in this stage to keep you from becoming a nervous wreck.

To Do:

• Remind yourself that you are qualified for the position and that everything is out of your control at this point
• Take your mind off of this topic and do something fun!
• Learn as much about the next stage of the process so that you are prepared if there is a quick turnaround for the next interview.

Not to do

• Do not over analyze your answers after the interview. This never helps and there is no way you can change what you said.
• Continually check your email (like I have the bad habit of doing)
• Incessantly email the recruiter asking how you did or when they will get back to you. You can probably send a polite email in a few weeks if you have not heard back.

I know that this is a stressful time in the job-hunting process, but it is important to remember that you are awesome and that it will all work out in the end!