{"id":5202,"date":"2014-05-09T10:01:31","date_gmt":"2014-05-09T14:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/?p=5202"},"modified":"2018-08-08T12:13:46","modified_gmt":"2018-08-08T16:13:46","slug":"ace-the-audio-and-visual-interview-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/2014\/05\/09\/ace-the-audio-and-visual-interview-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Ace the Audio and Visual Interview Process"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/dreamstime_m_18019732.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright  wp-image-5205\" alt=\"Skype\" src=\"http:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/dreamstime_m_18019732-300x199.jpg\" width=\"240\" height=\"159\" srcset=\"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/dreamstime_m_18019732-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/dreamstime_m_18019732-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/dreamstime_m_18019732-100x66.jpg 100w, https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/dreamstime_m_18019732-200x132.jpg 200w, https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/dreamstime_m_18019732.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/><\/a>When applying for jobs and internships, often the first round of interviews is via phone or Skype before you\u2019re invited to the office. You also may have two or more rounds of phone or Skype interviews if you are applying for a position in another state as well.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few tips to make sure you ace the audio and visual interview process:<\/p>\n<p><b>Phone Interviews:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Silence your phone. This will make all the difference so no one gets interrupted. Even if your phone is on silent mode, go to your settings and turn your vibrate off.<\/li>\n<li>Dress up so you still take everything seriously. Although the person won\u2019t be able to see the way you\u2019re dressed, they\u2019ll be able to hear it. Dressing well puts you in the mindset of a professional setting and will translate directly to your composure while on the call.<\/li>\n<li>Practice some theater-style voice exercises to get warmed up.\u00a0Especially if it\u2019s first thing in the morning, your voice can sound off. Practice talking at different levels and getting your voice warmed up so you\u2019ll sound your best.<\/li>\n<li>Be aware of your breathing \u2014 it might be louder than you think. Do you want to sound like a serial killer? Your breathing can become a serious distraction, especially if you\u2019re nervous. Be aware of this and even consider adjusting your phone so your mouth is away from the receiving-end of your phone while you\u2019re not talking.<\/li>\n<li>Write out what you\u2019re going to say or answers to popular questions. No one is going to know if you\u2019re reading off answers \u2014 it will help you feel more comfortable answering the questions and giving your elevator pitch.<\/li>\n<li>Have the r\u00e9sum\u00e9 and biography of the interviewer in front of you. Prior to the call, you might not spot any tie-ins relevant to your conversation. During the interview, however, a detail might jump off of their bio and give you an opportunity to make a personalized connection that they won\u2019t forget.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure you are in a quiet area and that there is no noise in the background. Any noise can disturb the call and may leave a sour note if the interviewer is distracted and\/or can\u2019t hear you. An office, a closed room, a conference room or even a closet can work for a phone interview.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Skype Interviews:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dress up. How would you dress for an in-person interview? Dress the same exact way for a Skype interview. Sure, you might be able to get away with not wearing pants because your legs are out of the picture, but your composure will most definitely be affected. Professional appearance translates into professional behavior.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t sit with your back to a window. If you sit with your back to a window, your silhouette becomes darker. Sit facing a window and the light will flatter you more and help erase part of the background.<\/li>\n<li>Eliminate noise in the background and close all your open programs. Do you want your interviewer to suddenly discover your obsession with Austin Mahone? Well then, you should probably be sure to close all of your programs \u2014 especially music ones \u2014 prior to the interview. Also do your very best to eliminate all other background noises \u2014 they\u2019re just plain distracting.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t sit in a room with a lot of stuff in it. For Skype, if your video is on, your interviewer(s) can see where you are. If the room you\u2019re in is a mess, that may be an indicator of your lack of organization. A professional setting, like an office or conference room, is ideal, but sitting at a table with your back to a solid wall can work as well.<\/li>\n<li>Keep your body still and consistent. Be aware of your body at all times. Eliminate unnecessary movements before they happen, such as leg jiggling and tapping. These will all negatively impact your interviewer\u2019s experience.<\/li>\n<li>Be sure to maintain eye contact. It\u2019s easy just to look at yourself in the Skype window, but maintaining eye contact shows you\u2019re engaged. It also shows respect. Do not browse the Web or click around a lot \u2014 stay in the Skype window.<\/li>\n<li>Wait your turn to speak and wait a second or two before speaking. The last thing you want to do is frustrate someone by talking over him or her or cutting them off.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"center\"><b>Do you have any other tips for phone and Skype interviews?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><i>This was a guest post written by Vice President of Public Relations Ben Butler, and Immediate Past President Lauren Gray. Follow them on Twitter <\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/BenButlerPR\"><i>@BenButlerPR<\/i><\/a><i> and <\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/laurenkgray\"><i>@laurenkgray<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When applying for jobs and internships, often the first round of interviews is via phone or Skype before you\u2019re invited to the office. You also may have two or more rounds of phone or Skype interviews if you are applying for a position in another state as well. Here are a few tips to make sure you ace the audio [&hellip;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":5205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2892],"tags":[28,849,560,821,1765,1383,1764,2217,15,755,762,422,1552],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5202"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5202"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8928,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5202\/revisions\/8928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}