Interview Tips: Mastering a video interview
With the price of airline tickets skyrocketing, many companies are choosing to utilize video conferencing and Skype to interview potential new hires. There are many pro’s 
to this method but there are also just as many pitfalls to avoid.
A few things to keep in mind:
- Make sure the lighting is good in the room that you will be sitting- bad lighting can make you look like a shadowy sinister figure
- Make sure you look directly into the camera on your laptop or desktop and not the person’s face on your monitor- this gives a shifty impression. It takes a little practice so I always do a practice Skype run with my candidates to make sure they see the difference. Call someone you know on Skype and do a practice run
- Your backdrop is very important as well- sit in an area of your house or office with no distracting objects or pictures in the background- you want them focusing on you and not the funky wall hanging you’ve had since college over your shoulder
- Make sure there is no background noise such as children playing or dogs barking
- If you have a wireless router that handles your internet, reset your router and modem so that it is running smoothly before the “call”
- Dress appropriately- if this is with a professional organization, men wear a dress shirt and tie and women wear a plain blouse with a jacket- (think “headshot” photograph)
- If you are inclined to wear only your boxers or underwear around your house it isn’t a problem unless you decide to stand up during the interview
Video interviewing is going to become much more common than telephone interviews and many people do better “in person” than on a telephone so you could also suggest a Skype interview to the person you are interviewing with. If you don’t have a video camera on your laptop, Logitech makes a great inexpensive video camera that plugs into your computer with a USB cord. Once you get over the pain of seeing yourself on camera, they can actually be fun!
smithgroupIT 
Reblogged this on WalkerSearchGroup Blog and commented:
Skype interviews are becoming more and more common these days. Here are some excellent tips for “Mastering A Video Interview” I found in a blog posting.