When preparing for a face-to-face interview, what’s the first thing that pops into your head? Most likely it’s the first impression. Dress well. Behave yourself. Answer in polite, complete sentences everything the interviewer asks of you. Elementary stuff, right?

Phone interviews still expect pretty much the same. You may not be seen, but the way you carry yourself with your voice says a lot. You don’t use slang. You don’t lose your temper. You keep yourself at an even, pleasant keel throughout the course of the interview.

But what about a virtual interview?

In an age where video games, MMOs and MUVEs still aren’t seen as 100% serious applications, they are nevertheless used as recruiting and interviewing tools by many companies.

So how should you act in a virtual interview?

You may be sitting at the computer in your underwear, but you’re still expected to put your best foot forward. Some good rules of thumb are: be yourself, no chatspeak and don’t count on wikipedia at the last minute to do your homework on the company you’re interviewing for.

Over at The University Blog, a top 10 list was put together on some must-have virtual interview behavior. Check it out and find out what you should do before your next virtual interview.

Want the one tip we enjoyed?

Don’t try and show off - You might know some impressive tricks in the virtual world. They won’t be impressive halfway through an interview. Leave the tricks for your friends unless it’s part of the interview process.