This rant is overdue: Skype interviews

Over the years, I have been on many search committees and some of those committees have conducted Skype interviews.  I have a love-hate relationship with Skype interviews (or Zoom or whatever video tool people are using). They allow the search committee to conducted a live video interview with a candidate, where each side can see the other.  When each side is competent at using Skype, it works well. But often they are not and that is a problem.

If you (a job applicant) will be giving a Skype interview, here are several things to consider:

• Do you know how to use Skype to video chat with someone? If you have not used Skype previously, can you take a Skype tutorial or have someone give you a lesson?
• Do you have the correct hardware, Skype version, and Internet connection so that the video interview will technically be a success?
• Can you be hardwired to the Internet, so there will be no video lag?  Video lag could cause the interviewer to not hear all of your answers.
• Do you have a headset, so that the sound will be the best possible?  Note that even earbud headphones can give you very good sound quality.
• Can your device sit steady on a table, at a height that frames your face well?  The interviewer  does not want to be looking at the top of your head or gazing up your nose.
• Does the lighting allow the interviewer to see your face clearly?
• Does the interviewer have a phone number for you, which can be called in case something goes wrong?

Tips for the Interviewer 

Read all of the tips above and apply them to your role as the interviewer. Yes, you need to be competent, too. 

If you are conducting confidential interviews, you may want to use a personal Skype account, so you can control who can see the call history.  Why shouldn't you use a shared Skype account?  Currently, there is no easy way of deleting the history of Skype video calls.  If that shared account can be accessed by anyone, they may see who has been interviewed and that may be a problem.

Using Skype with Diverse Job Candidates

• If you believe that seeing your candidates could adversely impact your process - in other words, that it could case bias reactions - then consider a conference call.  You can use Skype for a conference call, but you can also do that with many telephones.
• Interviewers will automatically assume that the candidate is comfortable with a Skype call.  However, you may want to ask candidates for their consent, rather than assuming. Why?  A candidate may feel that a video interview will disclose a disability and put that person at a disadvantage early in the interview process.
• Conversely, a Skype interview could be helpful in interviewing someone who using sign language or who needs to text chat along with video.  In other words, Skype could provide useful flexibility.

What Else?

This post has just been about the technology, but you - the interviewee or interviewer - need to pay attention to the other aspects of interviewing, too. Have you thought about the questions that will be used?  Have you rehearsed the questions or the answers?  If you are the job candidate, can you provide examples from your work history to support your answers? As the job candidate, can you explain why you are the best candidate?

In other words, you need to prepare for the interview. Please.