This week, I am sharing resources that will help you with your resumes, cover letters, and other job application materials, based on a request included in the midterm evaluations you submitted.
It’s possible that at some point in your career, you will be interviewed online, using something like Skype, Google Hangouts, or Facetime. While you may be prepared for face-to-face interviews, these online interviews are a little different. Today’s #WeekendWatch shares Tips for Skype Interviewing from Curry College Center for Career Development.
Note: This video has closed captioning, so it does not need a transcript.
5 Comments
This video was extremely helpful and kept me interested the entire time. I have never had an interview over skype or video-chat so I have not thought about any of the aspect of an online interview except the code of dress. The point about looking at the camera the entire time is somewhat unusual because in a face to face conversation, it is better to break eye contact every 15-20 seconds. My favorite tip was placing sticky notes with pointers on the edges of the screen so that you do not have to noticeably turn your head or eyes away. An aspect of interviewing that I really pay attention to is when you are answering a question or trying to organize thoughts, it is much better to place a pause in your speech instead of saying “um” or “like”.
I agree. I know sometimes it can be hard to answer questions without looking at your notes, so whenever I’ve had Skype interviews I’ve posted notes on m laptop. I do break eye contact though because I think it’s the normal to not be staring at the screen and not moving. Also, being posted up in room that has a good background and no distractions is essential to being prepared for an interview.
I found this video super helpful at preparing someone for an online interview. When I applied for VDOT last year, they sort of had an online interview. However, the interviewing process for them during that stage was so that questions showed up on my computer and I then had to record a video of me answering all the questions. How that interview worked, I never had communication with another person, it was all me recording myself. I feel like the tips from this video overall could have applied for my VDOT interview. I agree with Aaron that I really liked the tip of using sticky notes to help you answer questions. Some of the tips from the video can also apply to in person interviews such as making eye contact and not wearing any flashy jewelry.
As someone who has never had an online interview, this video was very helpful to out things to watch out for for whenever I do have one. Aside from the dress attire and noise, I never really took into consideration of clearing the background from any distracting items. The most helpful tip was deffinitely the posted notes around your computer screen. My biggest problem is that as I prepare for interviews, i’ll remind myself of all these things to make sure I do. But then nerves take over during the interview process and some of it slips my mind. These posted notes would be a great remedy to that problem.
I like that the video mentioned having a proper Skype name, because we hear about that all the time with emails. In regards to the cheat sheet, I would have dual screens open on your computer so it doesn’t look like you are looking at a paper – I think it would be easy to tell if you were looking down and reading something. I also support the nail polish because I just had an interview and I was wearing white nail polish. Although some might think that is “neutral” it was actually distracting against my black blazer (so make sure your nails dont contrast your outfit) I thought it was funny she said nothing too distracting because her hot pink shirt is a little bright.