Online Interviewing Isn't Getting Easier

You would think that after 15 years experience of online interviewing, I would be a wiz at it. My constant declaration that I am tech savvy is starting lose its reliability as I struggle to connect with potential employers over the internet. So allow me to share all of my missteps with you in the hope that you may avoid making the same mistakes I have made. At the bottom of this post, I have even written out a handy-dandy checklist to run through the next time I attempt an online interview that you are free to use.

My first rookie mistake was my assuming that the internet connection I had was strong enough to enable online video interviews. Though the speed was adequate enough to handle my surfing the internet and streaming all of my favorite Netflix shows right up until the interview, it didn't have the connection power to sustain what I was trying to accomplish using Google Meet. Even though we both tried turning off our cameras and closing tabs on our devices, the flow of the interview was having too many interruptions which led us to reschedule. You would have thought that my past experience being interviewed with a slow connection where the interviewer’s face was frozen in disappointment for ten minutes after one of my question responses would have taught me never to use a slow connection again - nope, lesson still unlearned! 😱

During my second attempt to connect, I tried to rectify the connectivity issue by having a back-up device ready (my MacBook) while using my iPhone as the default device. My thinking was that should the wifi fail, I still had the 5G cellular data plan to keep me connected to my interview. 

At first my two device plan was working until I realized that the headphones I was using with my iPhone weren't connecting properly so that I couldn't hear any sound coming from the interviewer. After unplugging them and going to the speaker option, I still couldn't hear her. And yes, I even left the meeting and rejoined several times on both devices to see if that would help, but to no avail. By checking the Meet sound  icon on the top right of my phone, I could see how my sound had several options to connect - my iPhone, my MacBook, and my headphones, but no matter which option I chose, all hope of hearing the interviewer vanished. I truly began to feel like I was in an old Verizon commercial repeatedly stating, "Can you hear me now?" which is only funny in hindsight.

As the flexible educators we are, we tried continuing the interview using the Chat function on Meet, but it seemed writing our questions and answers was taking too long to make the process worthwhile for either of us given the time constraints the interviewer had. Even after disconnecting the interview, I still couldn't locate where issue lie even when enlisting my family to connect to the Meet link with me.

So with the third interviewing looming, my plan for successful connection hinges on my ability to follow this checklist and keep my fingers crossed that a new issue doesn't arise.

Online Interview Checklist for Google Meet:

• 🎧 Where is my sound? - Check where the sound is connecting (headphones, Macbook, Projector, iPhone).

• 📸 Lighting - is my face even identifiable in my video camera, or is that my shadow?

•  🐈 Backgrounds - ideally I would like my background blurred, but that requires stronger internet connections so instead I will keep my back facing a plain wall without clutter, or cats.

• 💻 Internet Strength - Are any of Starlink's satellites being obstructed?

• 📱Cellular Strength - How many bars do I get here?

• 🪫 Battery Power - Are all of my devices fully charged, or connected to power?

• 🧻 Interview Notes - Do I have my CV, Philosophy of Education, and Interview Questions handy?