What is my best option for doing a video conference interview on the cheap?

March 10, 2009 12:59 PM

I've been asked to do a video conference job interview via Skype. Telephone interview has been offered as an option, but I think video might be in my favor if I can do it professionally. Never done video conferencing before, though, and there are a number of factors to consider. Help me weigh my options! (general tips also welcome)

Factors:

1. It's a public librarian position.

2. I don't currently own the necessary equipment. Not against purchasing a cheaper web cam and headset, though. Also, I only have a desktop! so mobility is limited somewhat.

3. Interviewing from my apartment is...perhaps not the best option. I live in a tiny studio with my two cats. There is really no way to corral them and keep them from interrupting. In addition, although my building is generally quiet, there are occasionally unpredictable neighbor dramas and/or random maintenance noises over which I have zero control.

4. Mentally, it would probably be beneficial for me to be somewhere other than my own apartment for this interview. I know that Kinko's offers this service, but it's 1) pricey 2) only seems to be available for Kinko-to-Kinko conferencing. Is there another, better option? I'm located in Syracuse, NY.

I might be making this more complicated than it needs to be. Any guidance you have to offer would be appreciated!

posted by Knicke to work & money (15 comments total)

You don't have the equipment and you don't have the job. Telephone.
posted by rhizome at 1:04 PM on March 10

You're only making it more complicated than it needs to be until a cat jumps on the power strip and kills the power to your PC and then your neighbors decide to have a brawl.

In short, the situation is unpredictable, and you'd like to make it as controllable as possible, because, obviously, you'd like to make a good impression.

I don't know. I think you're probably stuck in your apartment. I can't fathom a place where I'd rather go - I mean, you don't have a laptop, so it'd have to be a place like a Kinko's or something that already had the equipment and the connection and the software necessary. You obviously can't just go into a library and install Skype and plug in your webcam and load the drivers. And plus, if I'm doing an interview I'd rather be in a place that resonates a sort of comfort with me. I think you put yourself at a disadvantage if you put yourself in a situation and an environment that is completely new just to deal with this.. then again, I'm a neurotic type.

I think you put the cat litter and the cat food in the bathroom and shut the door. They'll probably meow, but if you're in your bedroom or something with the door shut, it'll be muted to the point where it won't bother you.

The neighbors.. well, hey, you can't control that. I think you just need to go buy a cheap (but not too cheap) webcam and a headset. If the headset has some kind of noise cancellation, you're even better off.

Good luck.
posted by kbanas at 1:08 PM on March 10

Or what rhizome said. Telephone will simplify all this crap and let you focus on something more important - like the interview itself.
posted by kbanas at 1:09 PM on March 10

I feel like in order to appear professional you shouldn't be on some grainy webcam, which means an initial investment of at least $100 for a job that you don't even know you're going to get. Also while Skype is generally reliable it is prone to dropping and having weird echoes if you haven't set it up properly or some unknown issue rears its head.

Also you may have some awkwardness talking to a computer that could come across in an odd way on the other side. Overall I recommend against it.
posted by kinakomochi at 1:14 PM on March 10 [1 favorite]

See, I disagree with most here and say that a video conference can give you the edge over telephone because if you're like me you do better when people see you and you see them as opposed to trying to get your point across without any visual feedback. Given that they have asked for the vc, I would think they prefer it as well, so being able to casually say "Of course we can do this." is just one way you are proving to them that you don't drop an opportunity for fear of a cat running across your lap.

The issues can be overcome. Do you have any friends with Mac laptops or an iMac or a laptop with built-in webcam? It's not a big deal to install Skype, do the interview, and then uninstall for them and hand back off. I don't think I'd go through the trouble of purchasing the equipment unless you really have money to burn and can see other uses for it in the future. These are pretty common items however and are starting to become builtin to many laptops so my guess is that you must know someone who has one. Ask them if they wouldn't mind letting you use it and maybe you could even do the interview at their apartment/house so the laptop/desktop never leaves. Then you can buy them dinner as a way of saying thanks.
posted by genial at 1:21 PM on March 10

I'm Nthing phone interview. Doing it out of a place other than a home might send the wrong message. If you have a friend with a good set up and clean office/room you could use a laptop with Skype from, then, and only then, I'd consider it.

Since you say you're uncomfortable with the interview from home and may have noise issues, you might want to find a comfortable, cell phone friendly place (both in terms of reception and people's approval) for the phone interview. Failing that, see how they'd feel about audio-only Skype, and get/borrow a headset. I'd spend about $20-30 for a USB pair, as internal sound cards often have muddy or hissy mic quality, and software often gets confused with them, while USB headsets are easy to set up with Skype.

If you or a friend have a digital camcorder and a firewire port on the computer, I think it's easy to set up Skype to use the video stream from the camera like a webcam (and possibly a mic), making it as clean as your connection allows (you do have a good connection, right?). I'd still recommend a dedicated headset, though, as there's a bigger change of feedback if you're playing back the other person over your speakers and using a mic on the camera on your monitor.

I recommend you rehearse for this with a friend, since you seem pretty concerned about how this will go. Plot out on paper your talking points, strengths, what you need from the job, and keep them at hand. And if you are still going to use a webcam, practice talking into it while looking into the webcam. Watching the picture on the screen makes your eyes look down from the cam if it's above the screen, and makes you appear shifty. Try putting the other person in a small window drug near the cam or your PIP of yourself near the cam and make that your focal point. You'll make more natural eye contact that way, which could be the difference between this being awkward or interesting.

May I ask why Skype would be in your favor?

Good luck!
posted by mccarty.tim at 1:32 PM on March 10

I'm with genial, if they request a vc, you produce a vc. Borrow a web cam (or a laptop with a webcam), stash the cats in the bathroom, clean a corner of your apartment up, and do it there. Better to produce what they have asked for as best you can. If you can't do it in your apartment, perhaps you have a friend with better accommodations?
posted by mrmojoflying at 1:38 PM on March 10

Looking at the video of your interviewers will result in you not looking at them. Make, and generally hold, eye contact with the camera.

If possible, sit so that the camera is at or above your eye level.

Avoid distractions and situate yourself so the camera shows only a blank wall behind you, (or maybe a bookshelf!).


Be brilliant and good luck!
posted by geekyguy at 1:40 PM on March 10

Thanks for the great feedback and advice so far, everyone!

mccarty.tim, they specifically mentioned Skype as the medium. Video would be in my favor because, as genial mentions, disembodied phone feels odd to me. I do fine on the phone, but having done phone interviews before, I've found that not having visual feedback of any kind in an interview setting is...disconcerting.
posted by Knicke at 1:42 PM on March 10

I recommend you rehearse for this with a friend, since you seem pretty concerned about how this will go.
Make that a friendly critic who'll critique your presentation, A/V quality, picture background. Do it a few times before the interview. You don't want to be tweaking technology or lighting during the interview. Who knew how often we pick at our face, twirl hair, or whatever other other distracting habits don't show on a telephone? Or the sweater, tossed over a chair behind you, that you no longer notice but your video guest will.
posted by TruncatedTiller at 1:49 PM on March 10

You really don't need a very expensive headset like someone said above - I'm using a 30 dollar Plantronic set from Best Buy and a cheapo webcam from ten years ago, and both work great for Skype. If you feel comfortable locking your cats in another room, and purchasing some supplies that you could probably use in the future anyway, I don't see why you wouldn't give it a try. Doing it at home, where you can test everything first, seems much better than trying to do it elsewhere.

I would suggest that if you do try to do the Skype VC, practice a few times at first with a good friend so that you can double check things like where the headset mic is placed so it doesn't block your face, how tall you should keep your chair so that you are placed right for the camera, what can be seen in the background, what the light should look like, etc. It is kind of hard to keep eye contact if you are also looking at the screen, but good camera placement can help with that. Rigging it right at the top of your screen is ideal.

You might also take some time to read up on some techniques for on-camera media interviewing, as some of the same considerations are there for a job interview. Here is a "top ten things to remember" tip that I thought was good, but there are lots of them out there.
posted by gemmy at 2:04 PM on March 10

I just tried out GoToMeeting for the first time with multiple participants. I checked the setup up with each participant beforehand, using 4 different computers and locations. It seemed like it would work really well.

However, for some reason GoToMeeting decided not to work during the actual meeting.

Just use the telephone.
posted by KokuRyu at 2:09 PM on March 10

Guys, thank you all so much.

Ultimately it looks like it's going to be a phone interview. I had a VERY helpful friend offer to assist me with laptop and space, but coordinating her schedule and my schedule and their schedule was ultimately too much. Better to put up with the limitation of audio and focus on the content.

However, I'm really grateful for all the pointers. There's a good chance this sort of thing will come up again, and when it does, I'll be a lot more prepared. Thanks again.
posted by Knicke at 3:46 PM on March 10

I wouldn't worry about the telephone interview... Conference calls are pretty normal, and your interviewers are probably very used to it.
posted by KokuRyu at 5:08 PM on March 10

Use a handheld still camera to take portraits of yourself during the interview, especially exactly when the topic of Skype is brought up, while mentioning what you are doing, then email them as attachments, with your thank you email sent right after the interview.

If they don't come out perfect, you can restage a few poses.
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:54 PM on March 10