May 5, 2014 Career Newsletter
Skype Interviewing (By Jessica DiPietro, Career Services Student Assistant)
Did you know that 12 -18% of interviews are now conducted via the internet? Get ready when a potential employer asks you to interview via skype! While many professional aspects of the interview are the same, don’t let the following technological aspects trip you up…
Finding a good location
The most important thing is to choose a location that’s quiet. Noise from family members, co-workers, loud appliances, and pets can be very distracting during an interview. Next, turn around! What you see behind you is what your interviewers will see. You may love that poster of your favorite boy band, but it’s not appropriate for an interview. A blank, neutral, and clean area is always best.
Looking the part
Even if you’re conducting the interview at home in your bedroom, dress as if you were going into the office. It will help you get mentally prepared for the questions ahead. A smile comes more naturally in person than online, so remember to bring similar positive energy to your online interview too!
Keep in mind that webcams aren’t designed to be flattering, so preview yourself in the camera beforehand. If you want to flatter your image, don’t have lights or windows behind you because it makes shadows on your face. Face your light source towards you to highlight your best features!
Looking the part also includes what interviewers see in your skype profile. Have an appropriate skype name and contact information, including a professional profile picture. Why should you have a profile picture? If you encounter technical difficulties with the video feed and are forced to switch to an audio call, you still want your interviewer to be able to visualize you!
Positioning yourself
When setting up your video, sit up straight and make sure your face is in the center of the webcam. Remember to look into the camera, not at the video feed on your screen. If you look directly at the image of your interviewer on your computer screen, you’ll appear to be looking slightly away from him or her. Looking directly into your webcam will seem like direct eye contact to your interviewer. This is also applies to your own picture. If you are distracted by how great you look that day, take the temptation away by hiding your picture entirely.
Other things to keep in mind
- Run a test with someone else beforehand to iron out potential technical difficulties
- Don’t do other things on your computer while in the interview. Keep all other computer programs closed, especially if they might make noise during the call.
- If your wifi is unreliable or your computer is far from your router, consider connecting with an ethernet cable.
Career-Related Events This Week
Identifying Your Strengths
Mon, May 5 | 2:30 – 4:00pm
Meet the Employer: Walgreens
Mon., May 5 | 5:30 – 7:30pm
iCareers: Employer Info Session with National Park Service
Tuesday, May 6 | 12:30 – 1:30pm | MGH 420
Webcast: Developing Apps at the Geospatial Edge: Moving Data Closer to Users
Tuesday, May 6 | 11:00am
Networking for Shy People (& Everyone)
Tue., May 6 | 3:30 – 4:30pm
Meet the Employer: WorldQuant Investment Consulting
Tue., May 6 | 5:30 – 7:30pm
Resume & Cover Letters
Wed., May 7 | 3:00 – 4:00pm
Successful Interviews
Thu., May 8 | 3:30 – 4:30pm
Therapy Dogs Visit
Friday, May 9 | 12:00 – 1:00pm | MGH 420
Social Media-Maximize Internships & Job Options
Fri., May 9 | 3:00 – 4:00pm
External Events
An Introduction to Crowdfunding– Accessible Money or Another Dead-end?
Tuesday, May 6 | 9:00am
ProLango Mixer
Tuesday, May 6 | 5:00pm
Bellevue Job Club Networking
Tuesday, May 6 | 10:00am
Charting a Course and Telling Your Story: A Maps & Data Workshop for Nonprofits
Thursday, May 8 | 10:00am
Free Time Management Training Workshop
Friday, May 9 | 1:00pm
The Seattle MySQL Meetup Group
Monday, May 12 | 6:30pm
Kscope 14 Student Day
June 22-26 | WA Convention Center
Highlighted Student Jobs and Internships
- Perkins Coie LLP – Library Diversity Internship Program
- Hennepin County – Cataloging & Database Maintenance Internship
- City of Louisville, CO – Cataloging Intern
- Parsons Corporation – Information Systems Internship
- Life Safety Products – Customer Experience Technology Intern
- PETCO –Mobile Technology Intern
- Deloitte – Information Technology Services
- Department Of Veterans Affairs – Student Trainee (Information Technology)
- Disney – User Experience Internship – Glendale Summer
- Wireless Generation – Project Manager Intern
- KCI – Project Management Internship
- *Seattle Public Utilities – Multimedia Production Intern, & Web Developer Undergraduate Intern
- *University of Washington Libraries – Student Reference Specialist, Research Commons
- *Say Media – Software Engineer – Intern
*Apply Now Through iCareers!
Highlighted Professional Jobs
- Global Systems, LLC – Project Manager
- DeepIntel Solutions – Project Manager
- Caradigm – Director, Information Technology
- Appature – Software Development Manager/Technology Lead
- Work.com – Technology Architect
- Edaptive Systems –UX Designer
- Trulia – Director of Product Management, Search
- CSID – DevOps Engineer
- Superior Group – Mobile UX Designer
- Lockheed Martin – Systems Administrator
- XPO Logistics – Systems Engineer
- Booz Allen – Systems Architect
- Rod Library at the University of Northern Iowa – Web Developer
- Richland Library – Content Strategist
- Johnson County Library – Web Content Developer
- King County Library System – Supervising Librarian
- Ocean County College – Director of Library Services
- City of Seattle – Children’s Services Librarian
- *Corbis Images – Metadata Technical Specialist
- *SerialsSolutions – Sr. Software Test Engineer
- *Seattle University – Director of Public Services and Coordinator of the Learning Commons Partnership
- *Lakeside School – Upper School Librarian
- *CampusPoint – Cloud Voice Support Engineer
- *Anblicks LLC – Hiring Graduates for IT technologies
*Apply Now Through iCareers!