Your Video Skills Count: Keep Your Eyes on the Green Light During the Job Interview
+PLUS: Managing Your Brand, Running a Company Are Intrinsically Linked
Editor’s Note: John took the night off. This post originally appeared in January 2020, but its relevance is only gaining steam.
Keeping your eyes on the ball is spot-on advice baseball coaches frequently share with their players. It is something you learned at an early age, and this phrase is an important part of every coach’s instruction.
In the world of video job interviews, my advice is to keep your eyes on the green light. The one at the top of your computer’s screen.
Whether we like it or not, video job interviews are here to stay. To be an effective, competitive candidate, you must master the skills of this form of television. This is a subject I have written about in the past. It is an important part of my Master Class on interviewing skills. Your appearance, the camera frame, avoiding backlighting, and not showing your ceiling fan or water spots on your ceiling are important directorial suggestions
The reason I return to this subject yet again is to raise a warning that poor performance in a video interview can get you eliminated from consideration. Simple as that. Let me explain:
In a recent career coaching session, in a simulated video interview, an exceptionally bright and capable executive who was preparing himself to go after a better position kept referring to his notes that were on his desk. The problem was that he was screwing up some great answers because he kept looking down at his notes. It looked as though he was distracted and bored. That is not an image you want to highlight. Remember, the camera exaggerates your movements. It subtracts from your energy level and can add 10 pounds to your appearance which is why you never, ever, ever tilt your laptop screen up to frame your face.
I stopped him and asked him to just focus on the green light at the top of the monitor. Two hours later, after reviewing the video of the coaching session, he called me back. “Oh my god, I cannot believe the difference. When I saw how I looked when I looked over at my notes, I was embarrassed. I looked like I didn’t care about doing a good job. I know I have done the same thing in other video interviews that counted as part of the job search. No one wonder I did not get a callback.”
As I have said before, like it or not, video interviews are here to stay in the job search process. If anything, they will become even more important as time goes by, so now is the time to master this medium. Your content is important, but the bad visual atmospherics will kill you.
Keep your eye on the green light.
+PLUS: Managing Your Brand, Running a Company Are Intrinsically Linked
If you cannot successfully manage your professional brand in this digital world, what reason will you give a board why they should hire you to run their business?
Mastering the tools and strategies of personal branding in an increasingly digital world will become as important as a graduate degree in the not-to-distant future.
Being passionate about an idea or your work is important, but it is not a guarantee of success.
The secret to successfully developing your professional network is directly related to how much value you share with others.
Building a professional network is so much more than just a tool for a job search. It is really about your reputation and your willingness to help others.
Research shows that executives who engage career transition coaches when they are fired or laid off typically land a new job quicker than those who go it alone.
Finding a new job IS a full-time job. You have to network extensively online, on the telephone, and at professional networking events. Sitting back and hoping recruiters will find you is not an effective job search strategy.
Elevate Your Interviewing Skills, Outperform Your Competitors
“The smartest decision I made was hiring John Self to help me level up my interview game. Absolutely the best.” Retail General Manager, Dayton, OH
“I have engaged John twice with outstanding results. He is a remarkable interview coach. Healthcare executive, New Jersey.
For more than 10 years, John Self led the interview course faculty of a global professional association teaching managers and executives a Master Class on interviewing. Each year, his was one of the top-rated presentations.
Arrange a free consult call with John and find out how he can take you to the next level.