How to Successfully Conduct a Skype or FaceTime Interview
The traditional, in-person, face-to-face job interview is rapidly being replaced with digital interviews — mainly through Skype and Verizon’s FaceTime. Skype is a free program that enables you — via the Internet — to connect with people all over the world, with video and audio connections, at no cost to them or to you. FaceTime is for Verizon users with a smart phone or iPad.
Your authentic voice is your major asset with which you convey digitally all the value you provide. Essentially, you are a talking head much like the news anchors on television. So here are some key points to consider for your next polished, professional, digital interview.
- Set your camera or laptop at your eye level directly in front of you— you don’t want to be looking down attempting to connect with someone else.
- Arrange a neutral and darker background behind you. You are the feature not your room.
- Arrange lighting in front of you so your full face is visible and light reflections on glasses are minimal. Be sure that natural window light is not crisscrossing over you. The slats of a blind look terrible on your body.
- Wear darker colors.
- Use the easy Skype Tools/Options to tweak your video image and audio. If necessary, add an external microphone for the best audio quality.
- Place Post-it notes around the edges of your screen with the key points you want to cover so that you’re constantly looking at the interviewer.
- Position yourself for a head and shoulders shot. There’s nothing worse than filling the screen with your face regardless of how great you think you look.
- Sit erect in a fixed chair to eliminate physical twitching.
- Treat the camera intimately as another person physically present and 10 feet away.
- For a winning Skype or FaceTime interview, your voice is all you have to make the emotional connection necessary to get the job.
- For a winning Skype or FaceTime interview review my 7 short blogs lessons on “How to Find and Empower Your Authentic Voice.”
- Finally, let me share a bit of my expertise with you at no cost! Contact me for your free 20 minute consultation.
As a coach, trainer and consultant, Larry Blumsack partners with people and organizations on the move and those already there to accelerate their communication, presentation and speaking skills to be on par with their ambition. Through one-on-one coaching and group training Larry helps leaders and aspiring leaders elevate their presence and communication skills to influence more people, sell more products-services-ideas and inspire others more successfully than they ever imagined.
Larry is the bestselling author of Face-to-Face is The Ultimate Social Media and founder of Zoka Institute and Zoka Training®. Zoka Training® — Mind/Voice/Body/Mindfulness in sync — is the result of Larry’s 45 years as a coach, acting teacher, actor, voice-over artist, theater and TV director/producer, radio & TV commentator and show host, speaker, trainer, serial entrepreneur, and syndicated columnist. Larry was a founding member of the theater department at Northeastern University.
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