Specialty BLOG

News and advice for job seekers and hiring managers.

Skype / Facetime Video Interview Tips

In our COVID world, Facetime and Skype have become very popular tools to help social distancing during the interviewing process.

Q. What advice do we give to prepare for a Skype/ Facetime Interview?

A. You should treat it the same way as an in-person interview. Some people think of a Skype or FaceTime interview as being more casual, but it is still your first and only chance you have to make a great impression. As obvious as it may seem, make sure you are in a quiet space where you won’t be interrupted with loud TVs, people or kids running around in the background. Make sure you are dressed professionally, and you are in a non-distracting environment with a blank wall behind you. You do not want your interviewer to be distracted with a bunch of clutter on your kitchen counter or a pile of dirty laundry sitting on your bed. First impressions only come one time.

Q. What are your top tips for successfully nailing an interview over Skype and FaceTime?

A. Maintain your professionalism and think everything out beforehand. We recommend you test your video set-up of choice (Skype/Facetime) with someone prior to your interview, so that you can make sure everything is working the way it should and that the connection is reliable. Also, when interviewing, remember to close out other windows on your computer that you aren’t using so you can keep focused on the person you are speaking to during the interview without any distraction.

Q: What should people AVOID doing during the interview?

A: Don’t do anything that is going to be distracting. This means don’t reply to other emails, avoid checking in to any of your social media sites. If you want to take notes, use a pen and paper rather than typing notes out on your computer, as the sound of typing can be disrupting. You also shouldn’t walk around if you are using your phone. Stay in one room, preferably one with a blank wall and no distracting posters or wall art in the background. Lasty, try and have as much eye contact as possible-this depicts you are interested in the interview and the position you are interviewing for.

Some items we inform our healthcare professionals to keep in mind when setting up for a Skype/Facetime interview, are as follows.

1. Lighting. Extremely important. Wherever you decide to hold this interview, BE PICKY! Be as picky with the lighting and the way you look on camera as you would for a selfie 😊 you’re posting to Instagram. Avoid dark areas and any avoidable glare marks that might be on your forehead. Those can be distracting for the person interviewing me. Don’t brush minor things like a glare off, take everything into consideration

2. Headphones. Be mindful on what you use for headphones -some could be considered a distraction, but I beg to differ. I feel like they tone down some of the outside noise that can will occur. Also, with headphones you can hear the person much more clearly than without them on. A huge benefit to hearing your interviewer clearly, is minimizing your chances of annoying your interviewer to continuously asking them to repeat themselves. We recommend to sticking with the simple wired headphones that might have come with your Iphone, and avoid those enormous “BEATS” or “BOSE” style headsets – No distractions!!!

3, Keep Leveled. No matter if you’re using a desktop, laptop, cellphone, etc. make sure it’s leveled. Adjust it to where you’ll be eye to eye with them and it’s not an uncomfortable call. I.e. don’t have them at an angle where they’re seeing more of your chin than your face. If you’re using a cell phone, having a tripod would help a lot. Be mindful of all the potential movements when holding a phone with your hand. The last thing you want is to start moving the phone around and creating a what? Distraction, you got it! No Distractions.

 

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