Johnny Campbell shares practical tips for home video interviews: use a plain backdrop, position your webcam at eye level, get good lighting, use a wired headset, tell your household to stay quiet, dress appropriately, and test the software beforehand.
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Lots of companies are shifting to working from home in light of recent events, and so too are all interviews. Interviewing in person is hard enough, but now you can make a video interview first impression and that can be a bit tough through your webcam. So we have some tips for you to get through this video interview. First things first, you're at home. Are you sitting in an appropriate place where the backdrop is appropriate? Remember, your home is on show, so try to sit where behind you is relatively plain, but definitely not facing into your bedroom or the kids playroom, a messy office or a pile of laundry. If you're in a coffee shop for the free WI fi, be so mindful of the backdrop and who's around you. So find a really quiet corner. Next, is your laptop's webcam at the right level? Really, the interviewer should just see you, not the whole room around you and also not up your nose. So raise your laptop up on some books if you need to to get get your eye line just right. Next, turn the lights on. It might be daylight outside, but often webcams over emphasize daylight outside and therefore throw us into shade. Can you be heard clearly? My advice is to wear a wired headset. I find Bluetooth headsets lose connectivity at just the wrong moment, and while I love my AirPods, their microphones pick up every bit of noise around me, which can be a huge distraction to the person I'm on that video call with, especially if you're in a coffee shop. Have you thought about who else might be at home too, aside from pets? Chances are if you're having to work from home, so too are your partner and kids. We all remember that BBC video interview bomb so well. So let everyone else who's at home know that you're doing a video interview and ask them to please steer clear. Next, what are you wearing? Yes, you're at home, so it's okay to be casual, but wear appropriate clothing only the way down. I've heard horror stories from people who've been on video calls wearing formal up top but pajama pants or even worse, just underwear where they didn't realize that their camera was able to see. And last but not least, test the software. Usually the first five minutes of every video call is lost getting the software to work properly. You want to make the best impression you can, so download the software in advance and test your sound and video before it's your interview time. Have you any tips you'd like to share that you found helpful for doing video interviews? Let us know by sharing them in the comments below and send this video to a friend who you know is doing a video interview from home if they'll find it helpful. Best of luck in your interview.
