Recently, a candidate who was looking for work on Zigo jobs got an interview for a PHP Developer position at a Sandton company but she was still based in the Eastern Cape. She opted to do a Skype interview to save on travelling costs and she found this even more nerve racking because she was under a lot of pressure to make up for a personal meeting. If you find yourself in a similar position, here some tricks to ensure that you ace that interview and make an unforgettable impression.
- Make sure that your Skype Connection is Seamless
Test your connection again and again, if your home connection is bad – be sure to consider quiet coffee shops, an office, a business lounge or a friend’s place. If your connection is bad it may affect how smoothly the interview goes. To find out if your internet connection is strong enough simply make a test call to Echo/Sound Test Service or to a friend to test the video quality and connection, you have option to either choose a normal video quality or HD quality.
- Practice Make Perfect
Practice how you will conduct yourself in the interview by asking a friend to help with a mock interview. Your body language has to send the right message about your enthusiasm to take on the position as well as your key competencies which probably include being able to articulate yourself clearly and concisely.
- Decent Lighting and a Neat Background
If your apartment is a mess then clean it up or go to a coffee shop; the last thing you need is making an impression that you are a slob. Even if you are, your prospective employer doesn’t want to know that about you.
- Dress Appropriately
You wouldn’t turn up to an interview in your pyjamas or sweat pants; an extra effort will never count against so treat this as you would a face-to-face interview. Dress nicely, do your make-up and fix your hair.
- Shut Off Other Applications and Windows
To ensure that everything runs smoothly avoid any sort of distraction that will ruin your chances of landing your new job. In addition, set your Skype status as ‘Busy’ and perhaps mention that you are in a meeting and switch off other devices including TVs and phones.
In addition to the above, unlike a face-to-face interview you can cheat a little with a Skype interview by having some notes handy so that you remember everything that you want to say in the interview. Upon concluding the interview, remember to thank your interviewers for making time and giving you the allowance to conduct the interview over Skype.