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I'm finding this very interesting because I've done Skype interviews of
potential applicants. I used Skype instead of phone in the hope that
it'd be more like F2F, in that it'd help both me and the applicant if we
could see each other's expressions. It did help me; I hope it didn't
make things worse for the poor applicants!
You do have to be flexible. A couple of times, the connection's been
crap so we've quickly fallen back to a phone call. That changeover is a
bit rough on the applicant, so that risk's a disadvantage of Skype.
Cheers
Rebecca
>>> Chris Morton <salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com> 14/01/14 09:47 >>>
I started such a thread almost a year ago when faced with a video
interview
as a job applicant. I passed through all of the hoops in F2F meetings
with
the local company reps, including the VP. But when it came to the
video
interview with a key developer in Ottawa, my hopes were dashed.
I had "set the stage" as best I could and went through a trial with a
family member, but was using an older Logitech camera that didn't help.
The
other problem was that the Ottawa interviewer did all of the
talkingâthe
first sign that the interview was doomed. (The adage is that a decision
is
reached within... what?...thirty seconds?) I'm sure the quasi-fisheye
distortion from my camera didn't help, nor did its angle from atop my
monitor. (I have since purchased a better, newer Logitech that mounts
to a
tripod and provides a superior image.)
After I posted to this forum about my experience, one respondent wrote
that
she would never agree to a video interview. After considering her post,
I
have to agree. If I were applying for a position where appearance is
part
of the job, such as a TV anchor or some such, then a video interview
would
make sense. But as a tech writer, a telephone interview (in lieu of
F2F)
should be sufficient; if it isn't, then maybe that's not a job one
really
wants.
For the same reason, I held out posting a photo on my LinkedIn profile
for
many years before finally caving in last year. What I look
likeâgraying,
thinning hair 'n allâshouldn't have anything to do with whether or not
I'm
qualified and, in fact, runs counter to EOE laws, IMO.
</rant off>
Chris
On Mon, Jan 13, 2014 at 12:13 PM, McLauchlan, Kevin <
Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com> wrote:
> Yer right. I hadn't looked at this thread for a week, and I've been
> helping the Missus to tweak her setup, so my head was in that space.
>
> So, for the potential employee's half of a video-Skype interview,
> everything that I described should help to project a confident,
> professional image.
>
> Turn it around, and if you are the manager or team lead tasked with
> interviewing the applicants... the same techniques will have the
same
> effect.
>
> Further, as an applicant for a position, if you have a crappy
internet
> connection, I suggest finding a friend who has a decent connection
and then
> ... see previous post.
> It might sound like a bother for a single interview, but if you
really
> want to come across in an impressive manner - to stand out from the
crowd -
> and/or if you anticipate more than one such interview, it's worth
the
> effort and possibly the expense, no?
>
> If there's any issue with the connection, it might be advantageous to
have
> that standalone Webcam, so you could swivel your laptop to face it,
and
> show an Internet Speed test (we like speedtest.primus.ca for the
clean
> interface and lack of nag-ware) as it verifies your
more-than-adequate
> upload and download speeds. "As you can see, I've secured a solid
> connection at this end. Perhaps you are experiencing a corporate
proxy
> issue or there's interference elsewhere. Would you like to
reschedule?"
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert Lauriston
> Sent: January-13-14 2:51 PM
> To: McLauchlan, Kevin
> Cc: Mike Donoghue; TECHWR-L
> Subject: Re: Skype interviewing
>
> I thought this was about job interviews.
>
> I
have no use for video when meeting with SMEs via Skype or other
> computer-based conferencing systems. Screen sharing is often
essential.
>
> For a demo or tutorial I don't need or want to see the presenter
either.
>
> On Mon, Jan 13, 2014 at 11:40 AM, McLauchlan, Kevin <
> Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com> wrote:
> > If we are talking about interviewing SMEs for documentation
content,
> that stuff doesn't matter much.
> >
> > But if we are talking about interviews that will be published to
> internal or external Web, then "what he said" plus another
observation or
> two.
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