Virtual Interview Tips for Calgary Job Seekers (What the Research Actually Says)
October 28, 2026
Calgary’s unemployment rate was 6.3% in September, according to Statistics Canada figures reported by Canadian Press. With that many people competing for openings, a video interview is not a formality. Here is what the research says about winning one.
A video interview is scored differently
A study in the Journal of Business and Psychology put 114 students through the same structured interview, either face to face or over video. Interviewers rating live gave lower scores on video (3.78 average) than in person (3.96). The gap was partly explained by three things: how much eye contact interviewers perceived, how present the candidate seemed, and how well they managed their impression. When raters scored recordings later, the gap was smaller and not statistically significant.
This was a student lab study, so treat it as a signal, not a law. It points to what you can control.
Our read on what to do:
Look at the camera when you speak. Perceived eye contact was lower on video, and looking at the lens is how you create it.
Put the video window right under your camera, so glancing at the interviewer’s face doesn’t look like looking away.
Say a little more than you would in person. Video strips out body language, so spoken signposts (“the short version is...”, “one example is...”) help the interviewer follow you.
Employers notice the edges
A Harris Poll for Express Employment Professionals surveyed 510 Canadian hiring decision-makers (fieldwork late 2021, published May 2022, so it’s dated, but it’s the most useful Canadian data we found). Among its findings:
39% said they are tougher on candidates in remote interviews than in person.
45% would not hire a candidate who dresses unprofessionally, such as in loungewear.
Backgrounds count too: 35% cited a TV on, 33% a visible mess, and 23% other people in view.
The employers quoted in the same release advise doing a practice run of the technology and logging in 10 minutes early.
Treat the phone screen as the interview
Calgary Career Hub notes that pre-screening calls usually run 15 to 30 minutes and ask questions much like a job interview. Its advice is to keep your resume, the job posting and your notes within reach as “a safety net, not a script,” and to act as if it were in person.
The new wrinkle: recorded and AI interviews
Some first-round interviews now have no live person. A 2026 Greenhouse survey of 2,950 job seekers (the headline figures are U.S.-only) found that:
63% had faced an AI interview.
70% were not clearly told upfront that AI would evaluate them.
Among those who finished one, 28% moved to the next round, 13% were rejected, and 51% never heard back.
Kelly Services advises treating these as high stakes, since recruiters may watch the full recording or read an AI summary. Answers are typically timed at one to three minutes each. Its practice tip is to pull about 10 likely questions from the job posting, record yourself answering three, and review the playback.
You are allowed to ask the recruiter whether the interview will be live or recorded, and whether AI is involved. In the Greenhouse survey, 44% of candidates wanted upfront disclosure and 46% wanted the option to request a human interview.
Checklist
Test your camera, microphone and the meeting app the day before.
Log in 10 minutes early.
Camera at eye level, light in front of you, a tidy background, TV off.
Close other windows and silence your phone.
Know the format: live, recorded, or AI-scored.
Practise aloud, on camera, with answers built from the job posting.
Looking for a role to practise for? Browse current Calgary jobs on YYC Jobs.
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