In 2012, when Skype interviews were still a novelty, International Schools Review featured an informative Article exploring the art of Skype-ing for International Teaching Positions. Teachers rounded out the Article by contributing their anecdotal experiences, ultimately encouraging scores of current and potential International Educators to take advantage of the Skype venue for recruiting.
Back “in the day” when Skype was relatively new, huge amounts of bandwidth were needed to make the software operate correctly. This made it almost impossible to conduct a Skype interview when either the school or the candidate was located in a developing nation with a low-powered connection. When the video portion of Skype started fluttering and/or the sound began to stutter, the online interview turned into not much more than a test of a candidate’s patience and ability to deal with frustration — admittedly, two desirable qualities for an International Educator but not the major focus of an interview.
Much has changed since our original Article in 2012. New developments with Skype software afford a quality online interview experience with even the most meager of Internet connections. Along with the expanded reliability of Skype Interviews, we’re also seeing new advantages and some concerns associated with online interviews. The last of the big Recruiting Fairs is about to take place. Once that’s over, Skype will play an even more important role in the International Teacher recruiting process. Your input may be helpful!
Please do visit our earlier Article/Blog titled, Skype Your Way to an International Teaching Position. We encourage you to add your own, recent Skype Recruiting Adventures hits and misses to the Comments section to bring colleagues and schools up-to-date and in a position to get the most out of what Skype has to offer as an online recruiting venue.
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