Skype interviews

Most of us will have a dreaded job interview at some point in our careers – probably several. The mere mention of an interview induces fear and panic in some people. But now there’s something new to get to grips with – the Skype interview.

Skype logo

You’re probably thinking that interviews over webcam would be easier than the traditional face-to-face kind. When I got an email offering me a Skype interview that’s what I thought too. What could be better than sitting in the comfort of your own room and being able to have multiple tabs open to help you if you get stuck?

In actual fact they present a whole new set of considerations. This only dawned on me once I’d experienced one. After answering my housemates’ questions about whether I was prepared with, ‘It’s a Skype interview – I can just read stuff off the screen’, it’s fair to say I thought I’d breeze through it.

I was under the impression that I would be able to see the interviewer and they would be able to see me, just as if we were in the same room. Yet when I answered the call I found that my interviewer had turned his camera off.  This was unsettling. I knew he could see me, but I couldn't see him. When he began to ask the questions, the connection began to fail and all I could hear were strange crackly noises.

On top of that, I suddenly became very aware that I was sat in the midst of my very typical student bedroom and that my friends were laughing loudly at something in the room next door.

Perhaps not the breeze I thought it was going to be.

Learn from my mistakes – make sure your room isn't a tip, you have a good internet connection, you’re not going to be disturbed and expect the unexpected.

By Katie Lloyd

Editorial intern