If you thought that just because you use Skype or conduct Google video chats regularly you are ready for a web-based video job interview, blogger and career coach Megan Broussard suggests you think again. It’s one thing to hang out in your jammies and video chat with friends. It’s another to be grilled on a webcam by a prospective employer who may or may not let you see them while they watch you.
The practice is increasing in popularity – in the U.S. six out of ten HR managers said in a survey last year that they use web video to screen applicants.
Some do’s and don’ts:
· Don’t look at yourself in the little box at the edge of the computer screen, or look at the image of your interviewer. Find the camera in or on your computer, and look straight into it, in effect straight at the interviewer – whether you see him/her or not – as if you were making eye contact.
· Make sure you are well lit from the front, and do not appear as a shadow on the screen due to lights behind you.
· If you are being interviewed from home, make the room backdrop look professional, like an office, and as plain as possible. No dog or cat or pile of clothes in the picture.
· Conduct a test interview with a friend who can critique how you come across so you can make adjustments.
At CommCore we increasingly offer a Skype interview practice module as part of our presentation and media training programs. In a global economy the job you want may be half way around the world, and the recruiter’s only impression of you may be how you come across on their computer screen.