10 Steps to a Successful Video Chat Interview
- Test your webcam and microphone prior to your interview: Making sure your settings are adjusted so the other party can hear and see you well will prevent any delays to a start time due to technical issues.
- Be on time: When the ring comes through, be sure you are prepared to answer it. The last thing you want is your interviewer(s) waiting on you to answer the call. This holds true for any interaction with a potential employer.
- Dress professionally: Dress as though you are actually going to an in-person interview, one step above what is common at the workplace you are interviewing for. If they wear business casual, wear a tie. Believe me, this will be noticed and you will not make a good impression if you’re wearing your old college t-shirt.
- Be aware of your background: Make sure you are in a clean environment. You don’t want a potential employers first impression of you to be a messy one.
- Take the call in an environment that is free of distractions: Barking dogs, cats sitting on your keyboard, screaming children and customers at a Starbucks are all distractions. Not only will they distract you, but they will also distract your interviewer as well as potentially cause a good deal of background noise.
- Pay attention to lighting: Adjust the blinds, turn on or off the overhead lights appropriate for the time of day. You want your interviewer to be able to see you, not a poorly lit cave-like version of you.
- Be aware of latency: If your family is streaming movies on your network or you have a big file downloading, cancel it. Latency can disrupt the ease of communication and cause audible/visual hiccups in the stream. The last thing you want is to add communication challenges to the mix.
- Stay focused: Act as though you are attending an in-person meeting. Feel free to take notes, but don’t deviate from the interview and start taking on additional tasks. This is not the time to load up a game of minesweeper or start cleaning your desk!
- Avoid typing: This is a follow-up to #8 above. You want your interviewer to know that they have your complete attention. You want them to know that you don’t have the Skype (or other Video Chat program) window minimized while you look up answers to the technical question they just asked you regarding C#.
- Adjust your video window to be close to where your webcam is: Full screen the window or adjust it so that the interviewer’s webcam display is close to your webcam. This will ease communications and make it easier for you to look at them, while giving the illusion that you are looking directly at the camera (eye contact) at all times.
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