CMU School of Drama


Sunday, April 29, 2012

5 Ways You Can Hold All the Aces When You Video Interview

thegrindstone.com: Video interviews are gaining popularity because they save an enormous amount of time and money for companies and job seekers alike. A study of 506 organizations by the Aberdeen Group revealed that 52% of companies are utilizing video-enabled applications to conduct their interviews already.

9 comments:

seangroves71 said...

This would have been really helpful two weeks ago when i had an interview for an internship. the interview was via Skype which was a definite first for me. I spent the day before trying to pick good place to stay for my interview. Using my dorm room with my roommate's mess in the background wasn't really an option so i ended up using one of the piano rehearsal rooms in the basement of purnell. Skype or Video interviews are very intimidating, relatively more so then in person interviews. The interview all in all went well, at least I thought it did. but I probably could have tried just sitting down in my chosen space and held a Skype or practice video with a friend on the other end just to get used to telling my computer how much i want the job

Timothy Sutter said...

This article was of no help. I had my first Skype interview a few weeks ago and every single of the five things listed was common sense. Of the five of the things listes, four of them where things that were common knowledge for any interview (i.e., dressing nice, be courteous, etc.) and the fifth one is something you do any time some you want to impress is going to see your house. I would have thought that the writer of the article would have at least brought something useful to the table. But when I read the article, nothing particularly helpful came out of it.

caschwartz said...

I feel like 4 out of the five things talked are things which are common sense for all interviews. Hint number 2: set the stage properly was the only one which specifically applies to a video interview, but I feel like it is also fairly common sense. That being said, they are useful things to know, I just think that most people already know them because these hints weren't really video interview specific

AbigailNover said...

This list is a little silly since only half of them were video interview specific. The rest seems like obvious information. I am more interested in the video aspects. No one looks attractive on a webcam. No one. So you're pretty much at an automatic disadvantage. I'm surprised it didn't talk about how to strategically light your face or specify settings on your camera. That aside, the information about the background of the scene is useful. I don't really think I gained anything from this article, which is too bad, because there are probably much better tips that would have been more useful that just were not included.

Page Darragh said...
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kerryhennessy said...

I agree that 4 of the five things seem to be common sense for all interviews. Only one of the pieces of advices was really geared toward Skype interviews I was hoping for a little bit of unique advice that we had not heard before. Overall it was not a particularly helpful article.

Page Darragh said...

I like that video interviewing is becoming more and more common. I think it's great for everyone but I especially like it for those of us who may travel all over from job to job. I would love to save time and money and do a video interview. I agree that preparation is the number one criteria, but feeling comfortable in front of a camera is a close second. An in person interview can have its advantages for someone who needs coaxing, but for those that are able to list their strengths and come off as personable and as a team player, a video interview is perfect.

Will Gossett said...

I agree with others in saying that a lot of these tips are common sense or applicable to any interview in general, not specifically video interviews. The second tip was helpful, about having a decent background instead of piles of junk or whatever is behind you when you sit at your computer. I have never had to interview over Skype before but I foresee it happening at some point, especially if I want to seek work internationally.

ranerenshaw said...

It is interesting reading this now, since my audition for CMU was via skype. I remember trying to find an neutral yet defining space for the background that was well lit, etc. At the end of the day - the faculty probably didnt notice what was behind me but the mindset I placed myself really gave me a confidence boost going into the interview. What was interesting - was that I couldnt see the faculty... skype was broken so that presented its own plethora of challenges. This article though, is kind of stupid. It offers no real help for video interview that you wouldnt do otherwise or differ from a real interview. Silly article, interesting concept though. Skype interviews do exist - and apparently they work sometimes.