Skype in style for job interviews

The increasing prevalence of interviews conducted over Skype may allow more students forego suit bottoms during interviews.

For years, employers and admission committees have conducted first-round interviews over the telephone, Career Services director Patricia Rose said. In recent years, however, more and more employers are switching to Skype as an alternative.

To cut costs, employers, especially those based abroad, are increasingly more likely to conduct remote interviews using the the free, downloadable software application — which allows internet users to instant message and make voice and video calls rather than send recruiters to campus, Rose said.

Skype interviews are especially prevalent among smaller employers, Barbara Hewitt, senior associate director of Career Services said. Larger companies have more sophisticated video conference technology set up for security reasons.

Hewitt herself has recently taken to interviewing students via Skype for assistant graduate positions. While she found the service offers “another element of meeting with a person that the phone doesn’t,” Skype has its drawbacks.

“It shows you how the person carries themselves, but it doesn’t allow you to see how they might interact and fit in at the office,” Hewitt said.

And while she has never personally encountered connectivity problems, she recommended that interviewees check in with the employer beforehand.

Over spring break, College sophomore Katie Kim encountered several mishaps during a short 10-minutes interview over Skype with Laforce and Stevens, a marketing and communications firm based in New York City.

Due to technological error, Kim’s interviewer could not connect with her at the scheduled time and almost passed up the interview. Luckily, they connected shortly after via e-mail, Kim said.

Dorm rooms are good locations for Skype interviews, Hewitt said, but only if they have good reception.

It’s also important that they are quiet and not distracting, she added, recalling an incident where a cat suddenly jumped on screen during an interview and caught her off guard.

Harrison Vigersky, a first-year masters of business administration student, often meets with clients over Skype for his job at the Wharton School’s Small Business Development Center.

He cautioned against under-dressing and not maintaining eye contact while talking over Skype. “People often make the mistake of thinking that what you’re wearing doesn’t matter,” Vigersky said, “but if you’re a guy, you should be wearing a shirt and tie — at least on top — and business attire if you’re a girl.”

“And while it’s human instinct to look at the actual face on the computer screen during the interview, you’re not engaging in eye contact,” he added. “You should look at the camera.”

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