Recommendations for Skype interviews

Along with Major League Baseball’s post-season, October brings academic philosophy’s job hunting season. I could spend my time lamenting how few jobs there will be this year, how I may never find a permanent tenure-stream position, or how the APA should have a more efficiently designed website. Doing so, however, is such a waste of time and energy that I find it self-defeating to have even written the sentences above. Instead, I would prefer to focus my efforts on becoming a better candidate. Because much ink (liquid and digital) has been spilled on topics like writing samples, recommendation letters, application letters, APA and on-campus interviews, I want to comment on an area largely under-explored by the blogging and academic community:Skype interviews. (There’s been useful discussion about recommendations for Skypeinterviews elsewhere, see careerbuilder.com and time.com. In some ways, I will be echoing their views.)

Skype is an online software program that permits you to video chat over the Internet (check it out here). More and more people are employing it to collaborate with others, either in business or in academics. Besides that, many have begun to employ Skype to interview job candidates. The “Skype interview” is uncharted territory for employers and potential employees. Here I’d like to discuss some practical recommendations regardingSkype and how job candidates should approach the Skype interview.

1. Does your computer meet the technical requirements of a Skypeinterview? Two critical components of an interview, whether online or in real time, is that you be seen and be heard.  A high speed internet connection, such as “Hi-speed DSL” or a T-1 backbone (or greater), is necessary. The high speed internet connection will enable you and the potential employers to communicate as if you were in the room with them. Also, you will need a webcam. Almost all personal computers (laptop too) come with built-in webcams. Be sure that both the internet connection and the webcam function properly before the interview begins. What should be said here is that even if your computer meets the technical requirements of Skype, you should engage in aSkype interview only if your computer exceeds the minimal threshold. Otherwise, you run the risk of a Max Headroom-like audio-visual skipping experience by your interviewers.

2. If you’ve never used Skype, try it before agreeing to a Skype interview! Not to be too cliche, but: practice makes perfect.  Because I undertake collaborative projects with colleagues several hundred (if not thousands of) miles away, I use Skype often. Communicating using Skype is very unnatural. The Skype conversation is unlike communicating over the telephone. So, I’d ask a friend (even if they’re in the other room) to practice with you using Skype.

3. Don’t look at the person. Perhaps the most unusual part of a Skype discussion is that you should look at the camera, not the person.  The person(s) interviewing you will likely appear in a desktop window. That window may not be located no where near the webcam eye. To the potential employer, you will appear to be talking to the floor or the table (depending on how their room is configured). When you practice, get in the habit of looking at the webcam and glancing at the interviewers themselves only occasionally. Looking into the webcam will give the interviewer the impression that you’re looking directly at them — a virtue of performing well at a face-to-face interview.

4. Moving around is seriously nauseating. Watch the movie The Blair Witch Project(again?). The camera work is seriously nauseating. When the video camera’s subjects move a lot as they do in BWP, audience members find it difficult to track actors’ movements and follow the dialogue or movie sequence. Not sitting still during aSkype interview likely will produce a similar effect. Also, even high speed internet connections will not be fast enough to process the amount of information moving around will produce. Gestures, too, are off-limits.

5. What is in front of you isn’t nearly as important as what’s behind you. The most significant benefit of a Skype interview is the luxury of doing it anywhere. You can be at home, at a cafe (though, I wouldn’t do that; see recommendation #6), your friend’s house, or at work (though, I wouldn’t recommend using company/university time or resources for an interview). Because we like to decorate our personal space with posters, paintings, or other artifacts that reveal something about who we are, those artifacts can be distracting to interviewers. Suppose you’ve got a Motley Crue poster in your apartment. That poster will not be the most appealing backdrop one could have while asking you your thoughts on Aristotelian virtue. So, check what will be in the background before you start the interview.

6. Decrease the noise around you. Cafes are loud — think here of baristas calling out patron’s names and their drink orders. In fact, baristas can be so loud that sometimes it’s difficult to hear someone who is sitting next to you while you are at the cafe. Given the difficulty a person has hearing someone else in the cafe, imagine what it would be like to a conversation that’s taking place online. Too much background noise would be an additional distraction interviewers would face if you were to start a Skype interview at a cafe. Likewise, if you’re at home, shut the door to your room. This will likely prevent someone from entering the room and talking with you while you’re interviewing (idea: put a sign on the door indicating that you’re engaging in a Skype interview and you’d prefer not to be bothered). Don’t forget about your pets either. Cats and dogs should be properly stowed and probably out of earshot. Shut off your cell phone ringer and your landline ringer too.

7. Lighting is important. You’re interviewing virtual-face-to-virtual-face for a reason. They want to get to know you and what you look like. If you’re hidden behind a shadow, it’s difficult to get to know you and what you look like. Lighting set behind the computer will provide your face with a sufficient amount of light to illuminate your face. Before the interview begins, check what the interviewers will see. There, you can review whether there is enough lighting.

8. Appropriate dress. A Skype interview is still an interview. Interviews require you to dress in appropriate business attire. So, the Skype interview is no different. Even if no one is in the room with you, your appearance is still important. Wear to a Skypeinterview what you would wear to a regular interview. (OK, if you want to be funny and not wear any pants, you can do so; just don’t stand up mid-interview. If you do so, the joke’s on you.)

9. Notes.  Notes or reminders may be placed near the computer’s webcam if you would like to glance at them during the interview. But I wouldn’t depend on them. Interviewers, like adept television viewers, will be able to tell that you’re using your notes like a teleprompter.

10. Don’t forget to hang up!!! If you want to avoid a potentially very embarrassing situation, make sure you hang up the Skype phone. Leaving an open Skype line could result in the interviewers learning your thoughts on how you did during the interview, what you think of the school (and/or position at the school), or — worse still — what you think of one or more of your interviewers. When you practice with your friend, be sure that you know how to hang up the phone.

These are just some of my recommendations on Skype interviewing. Skype‘s got some nifty features — e.g., permits you to send documents virtually or documents to appear next to you while you’re conversing. More advanced Skype users will certainly have an advantage over Skype neophytes if they’re able to share documents (like syllabi or teaching statements) quickly and orderly. If you’d like me to blog on that, I’d be happy to do so.

Advertisement