Virtual Recruitment

Virtual Job Talk

Decide who will be the moderator for the job talk. Consider developing a script with a clear outline of roles and responsibilities.

Decide who will be the host during the virtual job talk and have a plan in place for assigning an alternative host (external link) or changing the host (external link) if due to unforeseen circumstances, the original host is not able to start or continue with the meeting.

Bearing in mind the diversity of the participants that will be in attendance, prepare a brief script/overview of interesting things to discuss in the event of a delay in getting the job talk started.

Ensure that all members of the committee have invites in their calendars. The day/night before the job talk, the moderator could send out a reminder with links to the meeting invite.

Dedicate one person who will monitor and manage the chat box and participant box.

In preparation for the job talk, provide your candidate with the following information:

Date and time of the job talk. Remember to include Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and the candidate’s time on the interview schedule/itinerary to limit confusion. See World Clock meeting planner (external link) .
Details on who has been invited.
Expected length and format of the job talk.
Technology requirements.
When and from whom to expect the meeting invite (so that it doesn’t end up in their junk folder).
Emergency contact information (should there be technical difficulties).
Invite the candidate to send you any of their presentation material in advance.
Invite them to send you their updated contact information in case there are technical difficulties.
If the job talk needs to be recorded, inform the candidate at this point, seek their consent, and explain to them the particulars with respect to storage, access, eventual deletion of the recording, etc.
Include details of how the candidate can practice signing in prior to the job talk.
Consider sending the candidate a reminder of the job talk with the link to the meeting invite, the day/night before the event.

Give your candidate co-host access so that the candidate is able to screen share when presenting. Remember to avoid any private chats during this time!
Welcome the candidate and make introductions giving names and titles where possible.
Acknowledge the challenges of not being face to face at the beginning of the job talk and troubleshoot any potential issues such as background noise, etc. Cover any ground rules regarding technology [e.g. how and when attendees can ask questions, the expectation for all to be on mute, etc.].
Clarify the process for everyone in terms of how long the presentation will be, how long the Q&A period will be and the opportunity to provide (google doc) feedback (external link) afterwards.

Encourage your candidate and the participants to be in gallery mode (external link)
Ensure that you address the questions in the order that they have come in so that participants have assurance that their questions will be answered.
Encourage questions through the chat box as opposed to hands being raised so that there is a more systematic and fair management of the questions.

Thank the candidate for their presentation and the attendees for their participation.
Invite the attendees to provide (google doc) feedback (external link) .
Ensure that you have completely disconnected from your candidate and the participants before engaging in any discussions.