It seems in an instant, video-calls have became a way of life.

Daily stand-up meetings via Skype, business calls via Google Hangouts, and internal office happy hours via Zoom are all new-normals for us at MACRO.CCS.

But even before the pandemic we were widely using video calls for our interviews – enabling us to work with a broader base of technologists to pair them up with the perfect roles up and down the West Coast.

And in years of video-interviewing we have learned some tricks to avoid some of the standard video-call pitfalls that might otherwise hurt your chances of getting that job you’re currently vying for.

In short: the more preparation, the less buggy, and the more professional and successful your next video-interview can be.

Prepare your “studio”

Think of the room that you will interview from as a studio and prepare it to enable a positive impression.

• Ideally, use a well lit room with a door that you can close to gain privacy for your video-conference studio.
• Ensure that everything in the room and within the camera’s field of view is necessary. E.g. remove clutter.
• Position the camera, don’t point into other rooms (read: bathroom, TV room, kitchen).
• Position the camera to capture you from the shoulders up.
• Ensure that the camera is located in a steady position.  Since this is difficult with a cell phone camera, we recommend using a desktop or laptop computer instead.
• Have a copy of your current resume close at hand to refer to.
• Have a tablet or pen and paper close at hand to take notes.

Test drive your “studio”

Before interviewing:

• Make sure your software (i.e. Skype or Zoom, etc…) is up to date.
• Ensure that your user profile isn’t terribly embarrassing or too unprofessional – remember that your interviewer will see your profile and photo before and during the call.
• Test it out with a friend: have a practice call to make sure your camera and microphone are working well and the scene is set.
• Make sure you have sent your user IS to the interviewer at least a day in advance, so everyone is well prepared.
• Ask your interviewer for an alternate telephone number in advance of the interview.  This may come in handy to continue an interview if the video-conference fails from lack of signal or technical difficulties.
• Extra Bonus Points: Configure your computer to record the interview – review the recording and improve your interviewing skills as you can review and adjust your responses for the next time.

Prepare your surroundings

Arrange to have a distraction-free interview:

• Inform your housemates that you will be interviewing.
• Put animals outside or in a kennel
• Mute all cell phones and land-lines.
• If you have little ones and no one to watch them – give them a good activity to do or a television show (but give your interviewer fair warning of your little office mates!)

The interview

Put your best foot forward.

• Dressing appropriately subliminally reminds you that this is an interview.  Dress as you would for an in-person interview.  Your friends who told you to wear a suit jacket or shirt up top and PJ pants on bottom are wrong. If for any reason you have to stand up, it’s best you have pants on.
• Act naturally, smile, use your hands and try to make eye contact with the person you are talking to.
• Don’t open other applications or websites while interviewing.  If your IP bandwidth is minimal you will affect video-conferencing performance.

Follow up

After the interview.

• Make sure that you write down the names and contact information of all persons you interview with.
• Follow up with the persons you interviewed by US Mail or e-mail with a thank you note.

Interview Tips