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Skype and Facetime interviews are becoming more and more common in the tech field.  Considering how often Skype and Facetime interviews are used instead of (or in conjunction with) phone screens, it’s amazing that the technology has only existed for about 15 years.  If you have a video chat interview coming up, here are some tips IT staffing firms would suggest.  Even if you’ve used Skype or Facetime to do job interviews before, you may still find some new info below to help you nail your future interviews.

• Make sure your connection is good, right before your interview. Doing it the night before or even hours before won’t give you the same reassurance.  Skype a friend or your IT recruiters for a few minutes before your scheduled interview to confirm everything is working perfectly.  If you’re at home, consider asking everyone else to get off the Wi-Fi so there are no possible interruptions.  IT staffing agencies have certainly seen employers nix a candidate because of a bad skype connection.

• Dress like you were going to a face-to-face interview. The tech field is noted for having plenty of workplaces that are very casual, but that doesn’t usually translate to the interview.  Wear a suit (or whatever your technical recruiters suggested), shower, comb your hair, etc before you interview.  It’s also very important to note here that you don’t want to assume that you can wear pajama pants or sweatpants because the camera won’t show them.  IT recruiting agencies have heard plenty of horror stories about this before.  Avoid becoming one of them yourself and dress completely appropriately.  From head to toe.

• Take anything odd or distracting out of view of the camera. You may not think anything of it, but if you have some weird posters, desk toys, etc, it’s time  to just clear them off and put them away.  They could distract, or possibly offend the interviewer.  There’s no reason to risk ruining your interview when you can just put them back after.

• Make sure your username is professional. If you need a new Skype account just for job interviews, you might want to consider it.  Having a silly or rude name for Skype is just as bad as having an unprofessional email address.  Make a simple, easy to remember username that is comprised of your name (and possibly your birthday, location, the year, etc if your name is very common).