I doubt anyone would contest the idea that we are living in a digital age. Not only have our personalities become digitized through social networking sites such as Facebook or LinkedIn, but news, warfare, and all social interaction is becoming increasingly digital. Like many other facets of human life, interviewing too, has undergone a process of digitization.
No longer a purely analogue process, job seekers can apply for positions offered by firms thousands of miles away and never have to leave the comfort of their own home for the interview. Skype, and other tools allowing people to chat face-to-face via an Internet connection, have revolutionized how we communicate and have changed completely the context in which communication occurs. However, digital interviewing comes with its own set of challenges and questions. What do you do if your Internet connection drops? How should you dress? Do the same rules someone would use while participating in a face-to-face interview still apply?
Former intern and Market Watchcontributor Catherine Carlock, recently posted a videowhich looks to provide job seekers interviewing via Skype with some much needed advice about the do’s and don’ts of digital interviewing. Paraphrasing her recommendations:
- Dress appropriately. Although it is happening over the Internet, it is still an interview. Thus, it is important to wear appropriate interview attire.
- Check your lighting and ensure your face is adequately lit.
- If the room in which you will be ‘conducting’ the interview is messy, clean it up! If there is mess and clutter it will appear on camera and make you look disorganized and sloppy.
- What is your camera capturing? Make sure to frame your shot.
- Try it out first. Before using any product, it is important to try it out to work out any kinks.
- No multi-tasking! During your interview, make sure you are free of all distractions—friends, family, pets, or other chat sessions or open windows on your desktop. Your primary focus should be the interview!
- Make eye contact. Instead of looking down at the person on the screen, make sure to look into the webcam (regardless of whether it is perched atop your laptop or embedded in the parameter of the screen).
- Sit still and don’t fidget. Carlock recommends that if you “talk with your hands, sit on them.”
- Technical issues can happen to anyone. Make sure to discuss with your interviewer who will call who back, should the call get dropped.
- Skype and other chat programs aren’t perfect, and oftentimes there is a delay. Keeping this in mind, if you miss a question due to the delay, simply ask your interviewer to repeat it.
I would add that if a prospective employer wants to do a video interview, and you do not have webcam capability, do not simply call in via Skype or another program without video—this amounts to nothing more than a phone interview. If you can’t attend in person, go out and purchase a cheap webcam.
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