A new year has started and here I
am again, headset on, ready for another series of interviews via Skype. In
today’s digital age, Skype has become a common way of interviewing, at least as
a first step in the selection process.
So how do you make a great
impression from a distance?
· Don’t
make excuses
Let’s face, it is easier to make a
great impression when I can see you instead of just hearing you over the phone.
So try to make it work. You wouldn’t be the first person to download Skype and
create an account. And as a little remark, a professionally looking user name
always helps.
· Technology
is a bitch
And it always fails when you least
expect it but you can handle it with grace. So do a little test run, check how
to put on your sound and video prior to the actual interview.
But keep in mind that things can go
wrong. Don’t be afraid to ask to hang up the call and try again if your Skype
is freezing. If anything, it will show me that you can troubleshoot and that
you can handle unexpected hurdles.
· Check
your surroundings
As you are most likely to have a
Skype interview in the privacy of your own house, I get a unique insight in
your home environment. So check your background, you don’t have to share with
me the fact that you are in the middle of a house move.
It can happen that your child unexpectedly
walks in with a very urgent question (trust me, I know how it feels) but the
way you handle the hick-up will show me how you deal with unexpected
circumstances. So briefly excuse yourself, put the ‘mute’ button on and fix it.
No harm will be done.
· Dress
for success
It’s not because you are at a
distance and I can only see the upper half of your body that you can neglect
the way you look. There is no need to put a suit on but give me a professional
impression. A hoodie is never a good idea and the cliché of sweatpants…well,
what can I say…if you need to handle the above kids issue with your sweatpants
on…I promise I will never forget that I talked to you.
All jokes aside, dressing up for
the interview will also help you to create the mindset that you are conducting
an interview rather than having a casual conversation.
· Business
as usual
To a large extend, it remains
business as usual… after all, an interview is a discussion between two people
as to whether there could be a potential job match. So it is important to build
a connection with me. Through video, less body language information is
transmitted so focus on matching the tone and pace of your voice to the message
that you are trying to convey. If you say that you are excited about a project,
sound excited.
You can use non-verbal
communication. Make eye contact by looking into the camera, it gives me the
impression that you are talking to me, instead of to your screen. Smile and sit
up straight.
Skype will never be able to replace
a face2face meeting to assess chemistry, feel body language and to genuinely
‘meet’ a person. However, it’s important to keep in mind that, during the Skype
interview, you need to convince me that you are the right person for the job
and that I can confidently present you to my client. I hope that these tips will help you in
making a great first digital impression.
I look forward to talking to you…in
real life or via Skype.
Isabel
Through a personalized and
tailor-made approach, Ingenium Executive Search aspires to assist you in
attracting the right talent that matches the DNA of your company
Follow me on Twitter
@IngeniumSearch
