video job interview

A Little Help with Video Job Interviews

March 29, 2016 By Marta Goertzen

Video interviews are more common these days. They are less expensive and save time compared to travel for both the hiring manager and the candidate.

Yet we’ve all heard the stories about soda cans standing in front of the camera, great shots of someone’s nose. Heck, I have a colleague who is unaware that the camera is perpetually pointing at her ceiling. I have a great view of her light fixture yet I can’t seem to make that clear to her!! It is kind of funny now but it is not funny during a job interview.

When we work with candidates prior to a video job interview, the first thing we do is prepare the room so the candidate looks great. You want the camera to be situated so it looks down on you or at least even with your face (avoid those nose shots!). Clear up your background. Make sure your lighting makes you look good.

Today I found a little gadget to help with the lighting. ChatLight might just do the trick!

Professional photographer Henry Geddes created ChatLight to prevent those overexposed or dreary images. According to the press clip, just “slide Chatlight onto your laptop, tablet, or phone and you’ll be seen in a flattering light. Whether you’re Skyping with coworkers, FaceTiming with family or snapping a selfie, your close-ups will be polished and professional.”

Check out this YouTube video about this cool product.

Don’t we all want to be polished and professional in a video job interview? I am not specifically recommending this product. I haven’t tried it yet but I plan to. However, when there is a problem someone will come up with a solution.

Check out creative ways to make you look great in your next video job interview!!

How to Prepare for a Video Job Interview

April 10, 2015 By Marta Goertzen

Lights, camera, video job interview – Part 2

According to a 2015 survey by Software Advice, candidates and interviewers with experience using video interviewing prefer this method over phone interviews.

Don’t let the ease of arranging video interviews lull you into a false sense of security. This is still an interview. Every interview requires preparation, including video interviews.

Let’s consider some ways to prepare for video interviews:

Have the right equipment. You need a decent video camera. Most computers have webcams built in. This should suffice. If you don’t have a built in video camera in your computer odds are your computer is pretty old. Maybe it is time to invest in a new computer. Or borrow someone else’s computer with a webcam.
Have the right attitude. Think of it as an audition of sorts.
Be sure you have a great Internet connection. Internet connectivity is the number 1 reason why those surveyed disliked video interviews. Skype recommends using a wired Internet connection for stability instead of Wi-Fi.
Test your equipment and connections in advance to make sure everything works.
Place a call to a friend and ask them to help you set up your scene. Have your friend tell you what your background looks like. Be sure your space is clean. Messy offices and backdrops reflect poorly on you. Remember that time Sarah Palin conducted a video interview while the fellow in the background shoved live turkeys into a decapitating machine?
Lift the computer on stacks of books until the webcam is photographing you from above or equal to your eyes. Otherwise you risk having the camera take a great shot up your nose. We’ve heard that being photographed from below your eyes makes people look fatter. No need for that if you set up your scene properly.
Take a picture of your setup so you remember what you did – how many books you used, the angle you sat, the height of your chair. We guarantee you will forget.
Watch the lighting. Try to set up a light in front of your camera reflecting in your face to brighten your face so you look lively. Another reason to practice in advance.
Have your friend ask you potential interview questions so you get comfortable with the technology.
Look at the correct spot on the computer. When you are in a two way video interview, the other person will appear on your screen and your picture will also appear on your screen. It is hard to know where to look. While you are trying to figure it out, your eyes appear unfocused and off target. Figure out where the camera is on your computer and make an effort to look at that spot, not at the pictures that appear on your screen. Some people put a sticky note next to the camera with an arrow or note saying “Look here”. Sounds silly but it helps.
Wear business clothes, at least from the waist up.
Sit comfortably.
Do not pick your nose. Remember the other person can see you.

Video interviews are not without problems. One Interview Doctor client did everything right. He set everything up in advance, practiced, and felt confident. But the interviewer could not get the connection to work right. They held their own technical incompetence against the candidate.

Another candidate did everything right on his end but the interviewers had messy offices and behaved as if they forgot the cameras were on. The Coke cans littered the desk. The camera shot a photo right up the interviewer’s nose the entire time. These things can happen. But let them happen to the other guy!

According to the Software Advice survey, 85% of job applicants would be “somewhat” or “much more likely” to turn down an offer from a company that mishandled video interview. Plus 68% would be “somewhat” or “much more likely” to tell others not to apply!

Video interviewing is powerful. Be prepared and you can control the situation to your advantage.

Recently I was asked to be on a panel of career experts for “How to succeed at a phone or video interview – live chat”. To find out more about this live chat click here.

Lights, camera, video job interview – Part 1

April 7, 2015 By Marta Goertzen

The picture in your mind of a job interview has the candidate on one side of a desk and the hiring manager on the other side in an office with the door closed. But that picture is changing.

More than 60% of human resource managers and recruiters conduct job interviews via video especially for remote jobs according to a 2012 OfficeTeam survey. This is up from 14% in 2011.

Here are a few reasons for this big increase in video interviewing:

It saves the cost of flying a candidate across country for an exploratory interview.
It saves time. You can schedule an interview in a specific time frame without worrying about wining and dining someone about whom you are not serious yet.
The interview team can be scattered. It is easier to gather together an interview team from across the country via video rather than incurring the time and travel to meet in one location.
Technology is inexpensive and readily available. Most people have video cameras built into their computers or cell phones making it easy to arrange for video job interviews. Candidates can interview easily without even leaving their homes so interviews can be scheduled when it is convenient for both companies and candidates.
Less expensive. With home based equipment we no longer have to visit expensive video conferencing centers to arrange for video interviews.
It allows hiring managers to see the person’s dress, appearance and body language. Interviews can be recorded and shared with other managers to compare candidates. It also allows the candidate to see and react to the interviewers’ body language in a way that telephone interviews don’t offer.
Younger people see video interviewing as very forward thinking and advanced.
Sometimes video job interviews are one way. The company can record the questions they want candidates to answer. The candidates record the answers to the questions at their leisure and send the recording back to the company for consideration. This is an excellent opportunity to prepare in advance to show yourself at your best advantage.

According to a 2015 survey by Software Advice, candidates and interviewers with experience using video interviewing prefer this method over phone interviews.

Don’t let the ease of arranging video interviews lull you into a false sense of security. This is still an interview. Every interview requires preparation, including video interviews.

Recently I was asked to be on a panel of career experts for “How to succeed at a phone or video interview – live chat“. To find out more about this live chat click here.

Later this week, in Part 2 of this series on video interviewing, we will consider some ways to prepare for video interviews. Video interviewing is powerful. Be prepared and you can control the situation to your advantage.