Since the pandemic started, interviews have been virtual for university, residency, etc. I just went through pediatrics residency interviews, which were virtual, and while I can’t predict whether next cycle’s interviews will be virtual, I figured I’d share what products helped me get through this year’s virtual interviews. If it turns out that interviews are virtual again next year, hopefully this blog post turns out to be a good resource.
To start, besides the equipment I’ll discuss in this post, you will need a quiet room with a non-distracting background. It definitely doesn’t need to be a plain white wall – in fact, it’s probably better if it’s not just a white wall. A book shelf or some plants in the background is probably ideal, but anything that isn’t too distracting is fine. I have seen people interview with their room in the background (bed and all) and I think a plain white wall is much better than that. If there’s no appropriate spot in your home to take interviews from, I recommend booking a day pass for something like The Yard or WeWork. You can book a private office if you contact them far enough in advance. That’s actually what I ended up doing because the area I live is too loud to take interviews from. Anyways, now let’s get to the equipment.
Absolute Must haves
Number one on the list of absolute must haves is a strong internet connection. This site is a great and free website to check your Internet speed. I was told that a speed of > 200 Mbps would be strong/reliable enough for Zoom interviews. I made sure the co-working space I chose had a high enough Internet speed before booking.
A solid webcam is number two on this list and I can’t emphasize this enough, especially if you have a Macbook pro that is more than a couple years old. Most laptops are NOT equipped with a good enough camera for video chatting. This is the one I used and it was SO good. Just make sure to install it well in advance of your interviews. (See photos below for a comparison of my laptop webcam with my external webcam)
A ring light is third on this list, but honestly, it could almost be number one. It’s SO important to have a good light source. Even the best webcam in the world can’t help you if you’re not in a well lit area. I used this ring light and loved it. If I had been able to be in front of a window, I would have done that, as I think natural light is the most flattering, but I took my interviews from an office with no windows.
Fourth, a laptop stand is important to help keep the laptop at eye level rather than lower on the table. In general, I think laptop stands are also good for preventing neck pain and upper back pain.
Helpful but maybe not strictly necessary
Being on video calls for several hours plus using a webcam can drain your laptop’s battery. Because of that, I thought that using plug-in headphones rather than my laptop’s speakers or bluetooth would save some battery and be a better option. I think it worked out well and I would do this again. I really do think it saves battery and prevents your laptop from overheating. It also just feels somewhat more secure than bluetooth.
Finally, I used an external mic and I thought it was helpful but not strictly necessary. My webcam and my laptop both had built-in mics, so I could have skipped this, but I think it helped the audio quality an extra little bit. The one I used clips on to your lapel, but I just held onto it so my hair wouldn’t rustle against it.
Photos
This is a screenshot of my Zoom screen taken with my Macbook built-in camera. It looks decent because I’m in the best possible lighting – natural light on a cloudy day that is coming at my face directly from in front of me. These are ideal conditions for my Macbook camera and it looks pretty good. But the minute the lighting isn’t this perfect, the camera isn’t great.
This is a screenshot of my Zoom screen taken with my webcam camera in the same lighting as the above camera. The difference is more noticeable in video than in a screenshot/photo. But that said, you can see a bit of a difference. HOWEVER, this lighting was amazing so the difference between this and the previous photo isn’t as noticeable.
This is a screenshot of my Zoom screen taken with my Macbook built-in camera. The lighting was not optimal – I did have a light source in front of me but not my ring light. You can see that the image quality is bad, and the video quality was similar.
