Video interviews for senior roles: the bar is higher, not lower
A remote first round is not a casual chat with a camera. Treat it as a boardroom that happens to be on a screen.
Singapore and Dubai searches in particular now run first and second rounds on video, even for CXO seats. Candidates still treat these calls as lower-stakes than in-person meetings. Search consultants and hiring panels do not.
Technical basics are table stakes
Camera at eye level, light on your face, clean background, stable connection, phone silenced. In 2026 none of this is impressive, but failing any of it is noted. A candidate who cannot run a video call smoothly is quietly flagged as a client-facing risk.
Energy transfers worse on video - compensate
In person, presence carries. On a screen, you lose roughly a third of your energy. Sit slightly forward, speak ten percent slower, and use shorter sentences. Long, meandering answers are harder to follow on video, and panels interrupt less - so you get less feedback that you have lost them.
The notes question
Having notes is fine; reading them is fatal. Keep three or four keyword prompts at the edge of the screen. If your eyes track text, the panel sees it instantly and everything you say afterwards is discounted as scripted.
- Eye-level camera, face lit, phone off
- Slower, shorter, more structured than in person
- Keyword prompts yes, scripts no