For job seekers, it means that first impressions really are key to standing out among the crowd. 

And although many offices are open (at least in a hybrid capacity), employers are still largely conducting interviews remotely to save time and hassle.

In principle, apart from the dreaded hand-shake debate on how hard you should grip a prospective employers hand, this shouldnt be too different from pre-pandemic interviews; You flip open your laptop in uncomfortably smart attire to answer questions about your CV.

In reality, a poor connection or inability to join the call will offer a poor first impression, and its much harder to convey your personality through a screen. 

Candidates have to work much harder to convey their personalities and energy without the benefit of the multitude of non-verbal clues that help us to build rapport in a real-life setting, cautions Saira Demmer, CEO of SF Recruitment.

There are also typically fewer opportunities for small talk so meetings can feel more functional, making it all the more important to break the ice early on. And thats all if the technology actually works!  

With that being said there are still ways to make a great first impression and nail your interview from the comfort of your home. 

Dont rush

Without the need to commute to a job interview, its easy to be relaxed about time-keeping. Plus, there are so many distractions at home that theres a real risk of losing track of time by getting caught up in tasks like doing laundry. 

So as soon as youre given a time for your interview, block some time off in your calendar before it. 

A job interview requires you to be mentally ready, says Jill Cotton, career trends expert at Glassdoor. Set aside at least 30 minutes before the interview time to clear your mind of everything else and read through your notes.  

Not only does this give you a bit of breathing space, it also saves you from being scheduled into another meeting with your current employer just before the interview.

Technology is temperamental, so James Barrett, managing director of recruitment firm Michael Page Technology suggests using that spare time for a quick tech check. 

Check which platform youre going to be using, be it Teams or Zoom, and ensure your feed is clear and audio is working. A cursory check of the Wi-Fi before kick-off will also help you keep your cool and focus on your skills and abilities rather than your connection, he adds.

Dont forget the basics

Although were almost three years into remote working, job hunters shouldnt relax and forget the basics when interviewing remotely.  Position yourself in a well-lit, quiet space that wont be interrupted, and if your laptop isnt plugged in, be sure it is charged, stresses Demmer.

Over time, many have become more relaxed about showing off their homes on video calls. However, whether you like it or not, even your backdrop creates a first impression.

While this isnt necessarily all bad, you might not want your prospective employer to see your collection of cat toys, magnets or unwashed clothing. 

Keep the camera lens focused primarily on yourself rather than panning out to show your whole living room, no matter how tidy it is, as this creates distractions. You want the interviewer fully focused on you and your sparkling personality, says Demmer. 

Be engaging

While you may be rearing to go and full of adrenaline ahead of your interview, its likely that the person on the other side of the camera isnt feeling quite as perky. Remember, you could be the fifth candidate they interviewed that day. 

Be ready to tell your story in an engaging and positive way that cuts through the monotony of an otherwise two-dimensional media, suggests Demmer. 

Other ways of engaging with the interviewer include maintaining eye contact, using your hands to express yourself (for which you will need to conduct the interview on a computer, not a tablet), and speaking clearly.

Online interviews give you more time to gather your thoughts and make your answers more engaging thanks to slight delays in audio.

Think of these less like awkward silences and more like opportunities to show off your knowledge of the role and company, and, most importantly, your confidence and personality, says Barrett.

Be authentic, but only as authentic as you want your employer to see

With a virtual world between you, it can be easier to be the candidate you think the hiring manager wants rather than your authentic self, says Cotton.

But really, authenticity is important both for businesses and for the long-term happiness of workers. So if you pretend to be someone you arent online, you risk not liking the role in the future, she cautions.

Although employers will want to see you have the skills to do the job youre applying for, they also want to know if youre culturally a good fit. Opening up and giving insight into who you are as a person is crucial. Interviewers want to see if you are the right person for the role, Cotton adds. 

But treat authenticity with caution.

Just because you live for all things Disney, that doesnt need to be reflected in what youre wearing. 

Choose smart clothing that you would be comfortable wearing at a real-life interview, Demmer says.

Even though your prospective employer can only see you from the waist up, dressing smarter can help put you in the right mindset for an interview when youre otherwise in the comforts of your home.

And when its done, remember to disconnect fully and ensure your camera is turned off before showing off your genuine reaction to how the interview went. You need to make sure your sigh of relief at the end of the interview isnt overheard, Cotton adds.

The head of the company that controls well-known brands such as Ben & Jerrys, Dove, Hellmanns and Vaseline, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said that while he believes inflation might have peaked, prices have not.

We might be, at the moment, around peak inflation, but probably not peak prices, he said. Theres further pricing to come through, but the rate of price increases is probably peaking around now.

That forecast is at odds with the thoughts of Conagra CEO Sean Connolly, who told Reuters last week that the company behind Healthy Choice, Chef Boyardee and Birds Eye vegetables has no plans to increases prices beyond the current quarter.

Food inflation has been one of the most concerning elements of rising prices. The pandemic, supply chain problems and Russias invasion of Ukraine have all contributed to the issue, which saw the price of home groceries increase 11-12% last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. (Restaurant prices were only up 7-8%.) And the national average price for a dozen eggs hit $3.59 in November, up from $1.72 a year earlier, according to the latest government data.

Despite that, people are eating at home more often, in part because of the number of hybrid workers in the modern workforce.

Unilevers Jope said cost pressures have forced the company to accelerate its pace of price increases in the market. Consumers, though, havent dramatically changed their habits, but he did note that could change as household savings levels decrease due to higher winter energy costs.

Jope also said Unilever has more experience in dealing with inflationary pressures than its competitors.

Nobody running a business at the moment has really lived through global inflation, its a long time since weve had global inflation, he said. But were used to high levels of inflation from doing business in places like Argentina, or Turkey, or parts of Southeast Asia. So we do have a playbook, and the playbook is that its important to protect the shape of the P&L by landing price.

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It was a horrifying year for Credit Suisse, Lehmann said in an interview with Bloomberg TV at the World Economic Forum in Davos. So I think people will have realistic expectations that it will not look great for bonuses.

Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Credit Suisse is considering cutting the bonus pool for 2022 by about half, as the bank is likely to report another quarterly loss amid billions in dollars of client outflows.

Lehmann is seeking to appease shareholders by showing moderation on bonuses, while still keeping onside valuable personnel, such as investment bankers who will form part of the First Boston business it plans to spin out, and private bankers in growth regions such as the Middle East and Asia. The bank has been struggling to stem an exodus of talent amid speculation about its future.

On one hand, you have the topic of retention and then we also have plenty of parts of the group that are doing very well, he said on Tuesday. So you need to compensate somewhat fairly, but you also need to look at it from the shareholders perspective. When you suffered huge losses, it is clear that the budget gets cut also on bonuses.

Credit Suisse isnt alone in signaling lower variable pay, though reductions at the Swiss lender are likely to be steeper than at Wall Street peers. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. are all weighing plans to cut bonus pools for their investment bankers by as much as 30%, according to people with knowledge of the internal deliberations.

A reduction by half would leave Credit Suisses 2022 bonus pool at about 1 billion francs ($1.1 billion), compared with 2.9 billion francs two years earlier. The Swiss lender already slashed variable compensation by more than 30% for 2021.

At the same time, Credit Suisse has shown a willingness to make extra payments outside the regular bonus round to retain top staff. The bank handed out more than $300 million in a single month last year to retain some bankers. For the 2021 bonus round, it gave its senior staff an additional long-term award to try to cushion the blow of cuts.

Retaining top talent is key as Credit Suisse seeks to rebuild client and investor confidence. Lehmann on Tuesday reiterated that the asset outflows that spooked the firm and its backers in the early days of October had stopped and started to reverse, with clients seeking to put money to work again.

Client money has now stopped dripping out, its slightly coming back, he said. So that is very positive to see and Im rather optimistic for the remainder of the year. It is still early days, so it will depend on how the global economy is going.

Credit Suisse is in the early stages of a costly restructuring that includes cutting 9,000 jobs and carving out large parts of the investment bank under the revived First Boston brand. It raised 4 billion francs from investors late last year in a two-pronged capital increase to help finance the steps.

Lehmann said the bank will update investors on progress with the investment bank spinout and other changes when it publishes first-quarter results next month.

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