Are In-Person Interviews Old School?

Preparing for a Video-Chat Interview

It's 2010, can you believe all that Y2K hoop-la was 10 years ago? Things are changing, including interviews. With tighter budgets, going green and more advanced media technologies interviews are not always being done face to face. Most businesses are familiar with video conferencing, and some use it for interviewing, but the latest tools being used include Skype and web-cam. With video-chat software becoming very inexpensive many people are also using it at home.
If you are called upon for a video-chat interview here are several important tips to keep in mind. These are good for both the interviewer and the interviewee.
• Lighting is crucial, whether you are doing it at home, in an office or in the library make certain there are no bright lights behind you, this includes not sitting in front of a window. Bright lights will darken your face, making it harder for the interviewer to read your facial expressions.
• Clean up the area behind you that will appear on camera. You want to present a clean, uncluttered picture on screen.
• Be aware of your surroundings. Keep pets and small children out of the room during your video-chat. Turn off cell phones, the radio and tv. Any distraction can pull focus away from what you are saying.
• Do not sit too close to the camera, a good rule of thumb is to have at least the first three buttons of your shirt showing. Also, do not lean in, this gives the viewer an exaggerated view of your nose, which may not be your best feature.
• Avoid wearing white. A viewer will notice white on a screen first and you want the interviewer to concentrate on your eyes and not get blinded by the white reflecting from your shirt. In addition, wearing busy patterns is highly discouraged.
• Dress professionally, as if you were meeting in person.
• This is web-cam, we all know each person is sitting in front of a camera, it is ok to look at the interviewers image when they are talking, but when you are talking look into the camera.
• Practice. Do a dry run with a friend to make certain you know how everything works.
• Do not move around a lot, try to stay seated and centered in the frame.
• Finally, relax, be natural and try to enjoy the experience.
For a video demonstration of the above go to www.time.com/skype_interview. If you have any additional questions please give Kunin Associates a call at 954-467-9575 and one of our Professional Recruiters would be happy to speak to you.