Re: Skype interviewing

Subject: Re: Skype interviewing
From: Chris Morton <salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2014 12:47:42 -0800

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 talking—the
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 like—graying,
thinning hair 'n all—shouldn'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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