: we will talk about the features of communication using the most popular Skype program, which, due to its convenience and versatility, is increasingly used for work purposes. Your potential employer scheduled a Skype interview for you? In our article you will find some tips, following which you will feel at your best.

We tried to cover all aspects of a professional Skype interview- from optimizing the quality of communication to psychological preparation for an interview.

Consider the time difference

The reason why you are going to have a Skype interview is most likely due to the physical distance of your potential employer: often he is in another city or even in another country. Suppose you are going to Skype with a foreign employer (this is where the conversational skills acquired during the course will come in handy more than ever!). First of all, ask about the time difference between your countries and find out the exact local time of contact, otherwise, you risk missing the interview and ruining your first impression.

If you have a conversation with the UK, make sure you calculate the time difference correctly: many believe that the United Kingdom has a GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) time zone, however, do not forget that in the summer the British switch to summer time(British Summer Time) - keep that in mind.

The image on the screen is your business card

Before contacting your future interlocutor, find out if you will need a video camera. Often, professional interviews are conducted without it - for example, among IT specialists, it is usually not customary to “call with video”. But if you're going to have a video call, try to properly prepare for it.

First of all, take care of how you will look on the screen of your interlocutor. Needless to say, your clothes and hair should be neat, but it’s still worth considering what background will be the most advantageous: if you are calling from home, it will be ridiculous to call from the kitchen or from the bedroom - it’s better to go to the living room or another room with a neutral interior.

Think carefully about your suit: depending on the type of job you're applying for, your attire may be business attire or less formal if your "dream job" doesn't have a dress code (although it's likely that if you're taking the call at home, formal office attire will inappropriate - but then decide for yourself).

Of course, you may not care much about clothing if the camera does not capture the area below neck level. However, experienced "negotiators" do not advise placing the camera too close to the face: it is better that the camera captures the shoulders as well. When positioning the camera, try to put it not directly in front of you, but a little obliquely so that the interlocutor does not feel uncomfortable under your gaze (if you still want to “make eye contact” with your interlocutor, just look through the webcam eye).

Provide silence

Before the proposed Skype interview, you should take care of the issue of audibility: this is really very important. An ordinary city apartment is a surprisingly noisy place. Someone is listening to loud music, a TV is on in the next room, children are making noise ... during your conversation, silence should reign in the house.

Disable all programs on your computer that can interrupt your call with unexpected sound alerts (for example, about a new comment on a topic, etc.) - this can distract and unnerve the interlocutor.

If you have a desire to choose a status in Skype busy, so that you are not distracted by extraneous calls, do not do this: your potential employer will also not be able to get through to you. If during the interview they still try to call yours, you just have to ignore them.

Optimize call quality

A special issue is Internet connection. Speaking of working on Skype, mobile phone or iPad is not the best choice for you: a computer or laptop has better performance. Generally speaking, in recent years, the quality of communication has been steadily improving, but, nevertheless, you can optimize it: for the duration of the interview, refuse to download large amounts of data, ask your family not to load the home computer network at this time.

Next, before the communication session, check the audio settings: in the main Skype window, click on the menu heading Calls and in the drop down list click Sound settings. At the bottom of the sound settings window that opens, click the inscription Make a test call toSkype- so you check the sound level on the microphone and headphones / speakers. If you can hear your speech during the test call, everything is in order, you are ready to call. If not, use the tips of the program itself to adjust the sound parameters - the Skype interface is simple and, as they say, user friendly. Checking your audio settings before calling is very important: the appearance of such small problems during an important interview can throw you out of the saddle.

If communication problems appeared already during the call, it is better to hang up and call again(however, if you have done a preliminary test call, you will at least know that the problem is not with your settings or headset). With the consent of your interviewer, instead of a video call, you can use regular Skype audio: a call without video requires slightly less computer and network resources.

Needless to say, your webcam should display a sufficiently high-quality picture, and headphones, speakers and a microphone should clearly reproduce and transmit sound - this should be taken care of in advance when choosing these devices.

With poor sound on the speakers, sometimes the problem is solved by choosing good headphones - you will not solve communication problems by increasing the volume.

Also before the interview, go over the functionality of Skype to remember all its features - it may well be that during the interview you will have to perform actions in it that you do infrequently (for example, send or receive files, with several subscribers at once, etc.).

Peace, only peace!

Now let's talk about your voice. Many people feel insecure when talking on the phone or Skype: their voice trembles with excitement, breaks down, which makes an unfavorable impression. If you are "from a timid dozen", tune in to overcome your fear, restore your breathing, try to control your voice. Excitement during a professional interview is a natural thing, but often we worry from scratch just because of the non-standard situation, because it’s not every day that we have an interview via Skype. Calm down, concentrate - and everything will work out!

To save on company expenses, recruiters conduct an initial interview via Skype. As a rule, the company is represented by an employee of the HR department and Technical Specialist. The impression the candidate makes on the people on the other side of the screen determines his further participation in the selection.
In addition to this, a number international companies focused on remote collaboration. In this case Skype interview in English is the main method of selection of specialists. Many IT companies in Russia operate as subsidiaries of international corporations, and if a specialist gets a job, say, in Yekaterinburg, part of his team, led by superiors, may work in the US or Europe. Therefore, in addition to communicating with HR specialists in Russia, the candidate will have to pass an interview in English with future colleagues from other countries.

Features of an online interview

Modern technologies quite qualitatively replace personal communication. The webcam broadcasts high-resolution video, and headphones with a microphone will provide comfortable conditions not only for the interviewer, but also for the candidate. To feel confident during a fateful conversation, it is recommended to practice interviewing online. For this you can find an english teacher, which at the same time will check the level of knowledge of the language.
Despite the specific communication channel, the Skype interview is no different from the usual one. It is conducted by a trained employee who asks the candidate exactly the same questions as in a personal meeting. In any case, the applicant is expected to have adequate business behavior and communication style.

Interview Techniques

In addition to the traditional competency interview, HR professionals can also conduct a behavioral interview. It will allow you to find out the character traits of the candidate that affect his behavior in different situations. HR Specialist may ask to talk about past conflicts in the workplace and how to resolve them. Interview methodology according to competence, it assumes that the applicant will be asked questions about previous jobs, achievements, professional experience, education, family and hobbies.
When the interview takes place in English, the candidate must be prepared to answer the usual factual questions. In addition, he may be asked to talk about various work situations. When preparing, it is recommended to make an approximate list of questions and answers to them.

Technical preparation for an online interview

Before a Skype interview, be sure to check:
Connection quality. Make a few test calls, check the sound volume, video quality. Adjust the camera and microphone as needed.
Environment. You need to make sure that the room is quiet enough, and nothing extra gets into the frame. It is worth asking the household not to disturb the candidate during the conversation and not to make noise.

Cloth. Appearance must match the occasion

Sign language. It is recommended that you practice looking at the camera rather than staring at your image on the screen. This will help create the illusion of a face-to-face conversation. In addition, you must try not to gesticulate with your hands, as they may not get into the frame. Close gestures should also be avoided.

It is no secret that it is much more profitable to work abroad. And it's no secret that foreign employers are quite willing to hire Ukrainian specialists. In principle, finding a job abroad is not so difficult if you have the necessary skills and knowledge, have sufficient work experience, and so on. But finding the right job isn't everything. Ahead is one of the most difficult stages: an interview with a potential employer. In English, as a rule.

According to statistics, more than half of the interviews with foreign job seekers are conducted by Western employers via Skype. This is not surprising, since the Skype interview, although it differs from the real one, is not much, and allows you to fully evaluate the applicant, at least make the first, most important impression about him.

Yes, such an interview is an important stage, and you need to pass it with dignity. How to pass a job interview via Skype? We'll talk about this.

Secrets of a Successful Skype Interview

1. Environment, your appearance.

Yes, you need to pay attention to all this. It is unlikely that your interlocutor will be delighted with your appearance in home clothes, household members or pets flickering in the background, or, excuse me, the mess in the background. You are going through an interview, the severity is exactly the same as in the office. Therefore, make sure that the environment resembles the office environment as much as possible. A minimum of details in the background, strict, albeit not office clothes, a neat hairstyle - all this will be a plus. As well as silence, the absence of distracting sounds (turn off other instant messengers, phone, music, and so on), the absence of strangers in the room. In short, imagine that you are in an office.

2. Technical support.

The battery charge of the laptop must be full, the webcam - giving a high-quality image and sound. Take care of a respectable Skype login, frivolous, vulgar or "gaming" logins will definitely not work. By the way, it will not be superfluous to look for yourself on the Internet, to evaluate your image. This applies to social networks, photos and other things - all the information that search engines give out.

If there are any problems, don't panic. Equanimity and calmness is your plus in the eyes of the interlocutor, therefore, if there is a problem with communication, say or write that you will call back in a couple of minutes. This is a much better option than panic, confusion in the eyes and trying to fix problems right during the interview.

Do not forget about the time difference - if you have a white day outside your window, your employer may have a deep night. Therefore, determine the time of the interview in advance, and at the same time, specify who should call whom.

3. Behavior during the interview.

Skype-interview has its own nuances. First of all, it is the direction of your gaze. Do not look into the eyes of the interlocutor - the camera is above the level of his eyes, look into it. Otherwise, the interlocutor will see you with lowered eyes, this is not the best angle. If you are not used to communicating like this, practice beforehand. Or, somehow fix the camera so that you look into it without difficulty.

You should not get too close to the camera, but also move away - the interlocutor should see you in much the same way as he would see you at a real interview sitting at the table.

During the interview, everything you need should be at your fingertips, but out of the line of sight of the interlocutor.

Your behavior should be calm, friendly, in every sense positive, confident. Do not answer questions instantly - it is worth a little, literally for a second, to delay with the answer.

And most importantly: the interview will be conducted in English. And you must be ready for this.

Passing a Skype interview in English: how to prepare for this?

Of course, you need to know English. At what level? But here it all depends on the position for which you are applying. If you are a specialist in a certain field, whose work will not involve serious negotiations or writing kilometer-long texts, the Intermediate level is enough for you. If you are applying for a position related to working with people, you need a higher level, special attention should be paid to spoken English. And the accent - Russian or Ukrainian, a pronounced accent always cuts the ear, so train your pronunciation.

If your position is related to finance, analytics, law, medicine, and other "narrow" areas, then you should place more emphasis on business or technical English.

It is clear that you need to learn the language, train with listening and learn specific terms before you have an interview in English. This will help you online - you can start at the level you need, and for quite short term make great progress in language proficiency. A large selection of online courses allows you to quickly find exactly the one that suits you best - business English, a specialized course or a general English course. In any case, you will be satisfied with the result of the training, which means that your potential employer will be satisfied with you during the interview. At least in terms of English proficiency.

But knowing English is not everything. It is worth preparing for the interview itself, again, with the help of specialists. The fact is that typical questions are often found in interviews, but the answer to them is not typical. Tell us about your professional experience. Why do you want to work for our company? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Familiar questions, they are often asked here as well. But this does not mean that you should answer such questions in a standard way. The best option would be to make a list of typical questions, and as an answer to them, write a short “essay” - under the guidance of a teacher, preferably a native speaker. In this case, you will be confident in yourself at the interview, and this is important.

Skype interviews are becoming more and more popular every day. They are especially relevant for the primary selection of candidates for a position. For example, companies and universities conduct interviews for potential employees and students. Today I will talk about my experience of interviewing online and share some tips.

Introduction

About my experience

I had to go through two different interviews in English via Skype. I prepared for these interviews, so in both cases the result was positive. I want to note that people from different countries different pronunciation. English language people from African countries will be very different from the pronunciation of the Spaniards, Russians, Germans, etc.

But if you communicate for a while with a person or people from a certain country, you begin to understand their pronunciation and the meaning of sentences quite easily. For example, I talked a lot with guys from African countries: Tanzania, Ethiopia and South Africa, they all had about the same pronunciation.

Now, even after some time without communication, I will understand the speech of people from these African countries and some other countries thanks to my previous experience. Here are some of my tips for preparing for an online interview.

If you need to be interviewed in English, I recommend watching videos of people with the pronunciation you need on the service in advance YouTube to get used to and understand their speech in advance.

If you have a friend or acquaintance who knows English well and has a good conversational practice, you can ask him to help you. The meaning of help is as follows, your friend sits in the same room as you and listens to your conversation. If you do not understand the question that you were asked or some phrase, ask her to repeat, for example:

• Please repeat your question (Please repeat your question) .
• I'm having communication problems. Please repeat your question. (I have a problem with my Internet connection. Please repeat your question).

During the time while you are being repeated a question or a phrase, your friend sends you a translation of the question in a few words in Russian, for example, by sending a message to social network. You receive a message on your monitor in a separate window, read it and are ready to continue to communicate :). You don't even have to turn your head or listen to your friend's clues :).

Conclusion

I will be glad if my advice is useful to someone. Somehow I already wrote an article in which I talk about different services and ways to improve the English language. If anyone hasn't seen it yet, be sure to read it.

Good luck!