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Dress to impress
As for any other job interviews, the clothes you are wearing are your business card. That’s a fact, never underestimate it.
The advantage of a Skype job interview is that the interviewer will see only the top part of your body, giving you the possibility to spend the best part of your dressing time in designing the best outfit for the top.
For your psychological preparation, it’s always better to wear something appropriate even on the bottom (no pyjama’s pants, sorry). This will infuse you with the right state of mind.
Make up
Do you generally wear make-up? Remember, usually webcams have a quite low definition. That means that you can dare a bit more, and use more intense make-up that the one you’ll normally wear in these occasions.
I’m not suggesting black smokey eyes and burgundy lipstick; but you can use a bit more mascara, to intensify your eyes and wear a vibrant shade on your lips, if you are comfortable with that. You can also use a thicker concealer for your dark circles, and be sure that the interviewer will not see it through the webcam.
Mind the light / check the volume
Do all your technical adjustments before the beginning of the Skype call. Try to find the best light, so that the interviewer doesn’t think you are calling from a cave or that you are surrounded by divine flames. Your face has to be visible at all time.
Don’t sit with a window at your back, it will illuminate you too much.
Check the audio: you have to hear the questions and the interviewer has to hear your answers.
Use headphones
Please, consider the idea to use headphones for your Skype job interview. By doing so, you can regulate the volume without disturbing your neighbours and more important, the interviewer will not hear the echo of their own voice: a little precaution that would be enormously appreciated by your interlocutor.
Pick a nice setting
There are two things the interviewer will see during your Skype call: you and the room behind your back.
Choose wisely: try to find a spot of your room that can be considered nice and that’s clean and in order. Don’t reveal too much of yourself: don’t show the posters you hanged on the wall years ago (and that you don’t take off just for sense of loyalty); and if you are too lazy to make your bed in the morning, just don’t frame it- no one needs to know your habit.
If you sit near a window, it would be better that it is not visible at all in the frame. The interviewer wants to see you, not the landscape.
Post it
During a Skype job interview, you have the rarest opportunity to bring your memories back at the time of the school, when during a test, you tried to cheat using little notes hidden all around.
Do the same. Prepare some notes about what you would like to say during the interview, notes about the company and about the position. Stick them on the screen of your pc: doing so, you could read the notes without moving your eyes from the screen.
You can do the same preparing a digital document keeping the window opened.
Please note: write only a couple of keywords. You cannot start to read lines over lines and hope that the interviewer would not notice it.
Let everyone know you are busy!
Choose a quiet room where you can be alone: you need silence and to remain focused. If you live with other people, let them know what you are up to in that half an hour. Ask them to minimize the noise – if they can – and to not come and look for you. A candidate that starts to shout: “MOOOOOOM, I’M BUSY! NO, IT’S FOR A JOB, I’M COMING LATER!” might give the wrong impression to the interviewers.
To not be disturbed at all, change your status on Skype from “Online” to “Do not Disturb”. Skype will hide all the notification you may receive during your call, and your attention will be only for your interviewer.
And – do I really need to say this? – phone out of your sight and turn the volume off. It’s not a good moment to nervously play with the touchscreen or check notifications.
No time for scratched ears
Are you a proud pet owner? Nice, everyone loves video with funny furry little pets!
But for your own good, leave your pets out of the room. Pets are great friends, but really, the last thing you need during a job interview is a cat dropping things at your back or a dog trying to bite its tail. Hilarious, but not professional on a first call.
Sit straight
As your granny (probably) told you, sit straight. Speaking through a camera reduces the signals you give with your body language, so a good posture is paramount to give a good first impression. Sit comfortably and don’t lean on the computer, nod often to show that you are following the conversation and be sure to deliver your ideas with the correct tone of voice: taking away the body language, your posture and your tone are the only way the interviewer can decipher your intention.
Just another interview, after all
A Skype interview is just another job interview, so follow the common rules to get prepared for it. Do your research about the company, study your CV and cover letter, rehearse it if you like to and relax.
If on one hand, a Skype interview gives you the possibility to remain in a friendly territory (and taking away the stress to meet the interviewer in their office), on the other hand, speaking at a camera is more impersonal and you need an extra effort to give a good impression.
And now, as a reward to have read the entire article, a compilation of dogs biting their tail:
