Among the many workplace activities and norms the Coronavirus Pandemic has changed is the job interview. Before the pandemic, job interviews beyond the screening stage were usually face-to-face. Because of the pandemic, the video or virtual interview now dominates instead. There are important differences between face-to-face interviews and virtual interviews. last time I noted one important difference related to psychological safety and what might be called the "home field advantage."
There are at least three other differences that can be just as significant, including the attendance list, video presence, and the technologies of staging, lighting, and makeup. In what follows, I use the term interviewer to refer to the representative of the hiring organization, and the term candidate to refer to the person seeking or considering the position.
The attendance list
In most face-to-face interviews, both interviewer and candidate know who is participating. Rarely are face-to-face interviews observed by hidden camera. But in virtual interviews, neither interviewer nor candidate can be certain of the attendance list. In virtual interviews, on either side, people other than the interviewer and candidate might be present. Usually, the possible presence of unannounced attendees gives the interviewer an advantage, because few candidates have the time or resources required to harvest any value from recordings or hidden attendees. In what follows, I assume that any unannounced attendees are colleagues of the interviewer. And I refer to the unannounced attendee as Heidi (H for "hidden").
Heidi might be sitting just out of camera view, or she might be connected to the interview digitally. If she wants to comment to the interviewer or prompt the interviewer without disclosing her presence, she can write on a whiteboard if she's co-located with the interviewer, or she can send a text message. If Heidi isn't co-located with the interviewer, she can speak to the interviewer directly if the interviewer wears a headset or in-ear monitor.
The interviewer The most important difference between
our video presence and our real-life
presence is the nature of our eye contactcan benefit from the participation of unannounced attendees in two ways. First, if the interview is part of a series, the interviewer can pursue lines of inquiry that arose in previous interviews in the series. Those previous interviewers can hear firsthand the results of those pursuits. Second, a topic might arise that's beyond the interviewer's area of expertise. But with assistance from Heidi, the interviewer can pursue that topic.
Recordings provide another way of extending the attendance list. Recordings can't help either party in real time, obviously, but they can help both parties as they perform their after-action reviews. In this regard, though, recordings can be more helpful to the interviewer than they are to the candidate, because processing the recordings can be time-consuming. The hiring organization is more likely to have resources available for such activity. For the candidate, it's safest to assume that a recording might be available to those evaluating the interview. Take care.
Video presence
In virtual interviews, as in real life, people take in visual and auditory information. They use that information to evaluate what others say (or don't say), which contributes to decisions they make. In the context of the hiring process, the pertinent decisions are the decision to hire or not hire — or to accept or reject the offer. The difference between a face-to-face interview and a virtual interview is related to the difference between the information each party projects in real life and the information they project via video.
And that difference can be significant. In my experience, the most important difference between our video presence and our real-life presence is the nature of our eye contact.
To achieve eye contact in the video context you must look directly at the camera. Unfortunately, people tend to look not at the camera, but at the video image presented on their own computer displays. That image is usually directly below the camera. The result, for most common camera configurations, is that in their video images people seem to be looking down. Experienced video presenters avoid this. They look directly at the camera.
The hard part about this is that when looking directly at the camera, you can't easily see the other person's reactions. To make this a little easier at first, try looking at the image on your computer screen occasionally, rather than steadily. And for one-on-one interviews, make your video partner's image as large as you can, or as close to the camera as you can.
Over time, the odd sensation you feel at first will pass, as you begin to rely more than usual on your peripheral vision.
Staging, lighting, and makeup
Staging includes all matters related to selecting and positioning whatever the camera sees. What I mean by lighting is clear, I hope. Makeup includes anything applied to skin to enhance the resulting image.
For staging, consider carefully those items that will be in the camera's field of view. For example, if you have a wall calendar with notes written on it, be aware that your video partners might be able to discern what you have (or don't have) on your calendar. Be aware that if your sofa is in view, when your dog jumps up on the sofa, circles around three times, and plops down with a heavy sigh for a nap, your video partner will catch every second of the action — and will likely miss whatever you were saying.
Lighting is a bit of a (ahem) dark art. By previewing your image using an expired meeting link, you can probably make suitable adjustments. Avoid point sources such as standard light bulbs. If you must use a point source, aim it at a broad flat surface so as to produce a less direct effect. Even better: use multiple light sources to get a more diffuse effect. This is one reason why ring lights are so effective.
Natural daylight is best, but beware: the quality of the image can change when a cloud passes by, or when the angle of the sun changes. The lighting variation resulting from changes in the sun's position within a time interval as short as two hours can be significant. For a short video interview — an hour or less — daylight is probably fine. And north light is the least variable.
Applying your own makeup requires skill and practice. If you don't normally use makeup, try to adjust the lighting instead.
Last words
In most interviews, participants try to manage their performances to project their own preferred image of themselves. They also try to evaluate their partner's performance, taking into account the effects of their partner's performance management. In virtual interviews, experience with virtual interviews does provide an advantage for both performance management and performance evaluation. Just as it's possible to overthink all this, it's possible to over-rehearse your own performance.
Presenting your true self as best you can is a sound strategy. Accepting a job offer for the wrong job is just as counter-productive as having the wrong candidate accept an offer that should not have been extended. First issue in this series Top Next Issue
Is every other day a tense, anxious, angry misery as you watch people around you, who couldn't even think their way through a game of Jacks, win at workplace politics and steal the credit and glory for just about everyone's best work including yours? Read 303 Secrets of Workplace Politics, filled with tips and techniques for succeeding in workplace politics. More info
Your comments are welcome
Would you like to see your comments posted here? rbrenyrWpTxHuyCrjZbUpner@ChacnoFNuSyWlVzCaGfooCanyon.comSend me your comments by email, or by Web form.About Point Lookout
Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.
This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.
Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.
Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.
Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.
Related articles
More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:
- Choices for Widening Choices
- Choosing is easy when you don't have much to choose from. That's one reason why groups sometimes don't
recognize all the possibilities — they're happiest when choosing is easy. When we notice this
happening, what can we do about it?
- Retention
- When the job market eases for job seekers, we often see increases in job shifting, as people who've
been biding their time make the jump. Typically, they're the people we most want to keep. How can we
reduce this source of turnover?
- Untangling Tangled Threads
- In energetic discussions, topics and subtopics get intertwined. The tangles can be frustrating. Here's
a collection of techniques for minimizing tangles in complex discussions.
- Why Don't They Believe Me?
- When we want people to believe us, and they don't, it just might be a result of our own actions or demeanor.
How does this happen?
- Defect Streams and Their Sources
- Regarding defects as elements of a stream provides a perspective that aids in identifying causes other
than negligence. Examples of root causes are unfunded mandates, misallocation of the cost of procedure
competence, and frequent changes in procedures.
See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness and Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness for more related articles.
Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout
- Coming December 11: White Water Rafting as a Metaphor for Group Development
- Tuckman's model of small group development, best known as "Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing," applies better to development of some groups than to others. We can use a metaphor to explore how the model applies to Storming in task-oriented work groups. Available here and by RSS on December 11.
- And on December 18: Subgrouping and Conway's Law
- When task-oriented work groups address complex tasks, they might form subgroups to address subtasks. The structure of the subgroups and the order in which they form depend on the structure of the group's task and the sequencing of the subtasks. Available here and by RSS on December 18.
Coaching services
I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenyrWpTxHuyCrjZbUpner@ChacnoFNuSyWlVzCaGfooCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.
Get the ebook!
Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:
- Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
- Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
- Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
- Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
- Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
- Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )
Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info
Follow Rick
Recommend this issue to a friend
Send an email message to a friend
rbrenyrWpTxHuyCrjZbUpner@ChacnoFNuSyWlVzCaGfooCanyon.comSend a message to Rick
A Tip A Day feed
Point Lookout weekly feed