#WebcamWoes: Should we be staring directly into our Webcams during an interview? 😳📹 Let’s chat about this dilemma! So, picture this: you’re in the middle of a virtual interview, trying to make a good impression, but you can’t decide if you should stare right into the webcam or at the person on the screen. Sound familiar?
I can totally relate because I have my webcam on my monitor, making it hard to look directly at it without feeling like I’m staring into a black hole. Plus, I don’t want to seem like I’m looking down or distracted during the interview. 🙈
But here’s the real kicker – should we be worried about not looking directly into the webcam? Will interviewers think we’re not engaged or worse, accused of cheating? 🤔
With public sector interviews on the line, we need all the tips we can get! Should we switch to using a laptop for these crucial moments? What do you think? Let’s tackle this together! Share your thoughts and let’s navigate this webcam mystery! 💬🔍 #WebcamDilemma #InterviewTips
If they interview people a lot they are probably used to this. I have literally told them “I dislike this camera because it makes me look like I am looking down when really I am looking at you guys” and they just laughed and it went over well. I would sometimes make a point of looking up at the camera directly if I’m smiling for some reason so they get a good view of your face at its best, but mostly I watch them.
I’m super keyed into stuff like this because I have autism so I’m constantly paranoid I’m not giving adequate eye contact. Just bluntly saying I don’t know where to look and passing it off as a joke kills two birds with one stone.
I’m a hiring manager and have interviewed dozens if not hundreds of candidates via webcam. I can tell you from my perspective, it doesn’t matter at all. I’ve had candidates with their webcams off to the side, giving a profile or 3/4 view. Not ideal and kinda tells me something about the thought they put into prepping for the meeting, but honestly not a deal breaker or even a factor if you’re the right candidate saying the right things.
However, this may be role dependent. If you’re going to be in sales or account management where you’re regularly meeting with clients via webcam, then eye contact may be more important.
I had the option for my latest job to leave the camera on or off. I left it on and my panel all had theirs off. My feedback after was that I was super direct and maintained eye contact. This feels weird since my panel was 4 people and I had nothing to focus on other than just that camera lense. Since then I’ve had managers talk about people they interviewed where they were cheating /searching or weren’t confident based off their camera being off or not looking into the camera. I think a few different things play a role and you should work on calming down, looking at the camera and not other feeds or yourself on the screen. Reposition to what feels better.
If you’re **really** that worried about it, and you have an Nvidia (RTX) card on your PC/laptop, you could always download Nvidia Broadcast. [They added a creepy AI Eye Contact feature a year or so ago.](https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/jan-2023-nvidia-broadcast-update/) Otherwise, I wouldn’t worry too much about it and just focus on question prep and selling your skill set.
I look at the person on the screen? Why would I stare into the camera itself if I’m trying to develop some kind of rapport with the person I’m interviewing with?