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Original poster

Camera on/off for job interview

30 replies

Rhayader · 29/04/2021 21:19

DH was interviewing a candidate for a job today. As part of the interview the candidate was sharing their screen and had to do a technical task as DH was giving instructions. Once the chatty CV/competency bit of the interview was over and the technical bit began, the candidate turned off his camera.

DH was talking to me about it saying it was odd but maybe they just felt self conscious. Would this be suspicious to you?

OP posts:
MiloAndEddie · 29/04/2021 21:33

I wouldn’t think suspicious but I would think odd. You wouldn’t turn your back in a face to face interview

MotherOfGodWeeFella · 29/04/2021 21:36

I would have asked that their camera remained on throughout the interview in the email confirming the interview. It's possible he didn't mean to turn it off and they could have asked him to turn it on.

Bbub · 29/04/2021 21:38

I don't think it's suspicious, as long as they had the camera on at the start. I would keep it on the whole time as I'd assume it would be weird not to have it on though,but each to their own.

I think if it's important to an interviewer they should state that they expect cameras on in advance just in case of crossed wires

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name674398 · 29/04/2021 21:38

He should have asked them to leave it on. Although, I was interviewing this week and needed it to be switched off twice, once when the candidate got overwhelmed (switching it off seemed to really calm their nerves) and second for connectivity issues. But I'd have expected it to remain on by default unless a reason was specified.

Bbub · 29/04/2021 21:38

It would be a shame if an otherwise good candidate was judged negatively for this. It could be a mistake like pp said

AppleKatie · 29/04/2021 21:39

I think it’s indicative of someone else doing the technical bit for him and therefore suspicious

Orangebug · 29/04/2021 21:39

I would feel slightly suspicious of this actually. Someone could be in the room helping them with the task? The trouble is that you can't tell so it's not fair to penalise them. I think DH should have asked them to switch it on.

Duckdown · 29/04/2021 21:40

In MS Teams, sometimes when you share your screen, the camera turns off automatically. Could this have happened?

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep · 29/04/2021 21:41

It's totally inappropriate to keep your camera off during a job interview.
One of my interviewers kept her camera off during my recent interview which was so off putting.

LIZS · 29/04/2021 21:42

Maybe the bb could not support both call and camera when sharing.

2021mumma · 29/04/2021 21:46

Why didn’t he just say “oh you’ve disappeared” incase they clicked off by mistake. I was interviewing someone the other day and he had the camera so close to his face I could only see his nose! I stopped interview and asked him to move backwards - no awkwardness at all

Shinyletsbebadguys · 29/04/2021 21:47

Its possibly a glitch though. I have this on the work Zoom corporate account (I have never had it before and I have used Zoom for work since before the pandemic ) if I share my screen it switches my camera off and I often forget to switch it back on for a few minutes afterwards. Not helpful as I teach online but it just is.

I don't get it with Teams but to be fair I'm sure others do.

Original poster
Rhayader · 29/04/2021 21:47

It's Zoom so I don't think the camera goes off automatically and the default setting is that you can see a little picture of you but this view can be turned off in the settings.

They didn't comment on the camera being off and DH didn't comment either. If it was me I probably would have said something like "oh it looks like your camera has turned off, are you able to pop it back on please"

DH said that they were definitely on speakerphone not on a headset/earphones (he was getting quite a bit of feedback, hearing himself echoing etc).

The job is very very technical and this was a first round interview after doing a technical test (also online and not monitored). There will be at least 5/6 other interviews as part of the process so there are more opportunities to test technical competency -- but this was meant to be a large part of the technical assessment. .

OP posts:
Original poster
Rhayader · 29/04/2021 21:48

@Shinyletsbebadguys

Ahh interesting. Yes it is a corporate zoom account.

OP posts:
MiloAndEddie · 29/04/2021 21:57

The echoey feedback can be a sign of another device. We’ve had it before when someone on a zoom call then phones someone else and puts it on speaker and it causes a lot of feedback

ChocOrange1 · 29/04/2021 22:01

Could just be a mistake. I would give them the benefit of the doubt at this point.
I don't understand why someone would try and flub the technical part of the interview. Surely it would become obvious pretty quickly if they started the job and couldn't do those things, and they would just be dismissed during the probation period.
Seems more likely that he just pressed the wrong button

feliciabirthgiver · 29/04/2021 22:04

This happens to me, my camera switches off in screen share mode, I'm happy to correct as soon as someone points out that they can't see me.

clolo · 29/04/2021 22:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
Rhayader · 29/04/2021 22:13

DH wasn't suspicious but just thought it was weird.

I was a little bit suspicious... I used to assess graduates in a previous role and have had several candidates break down in tears and ask to leave when given a paper copy of the maths test they did online at home admitting that their friend did it.

It sounds like enough people here have experienced weird camera glitches when screen sharing so it's likely a honest mistake. DH will pass it on to the next interviewer as something to watch out for and get them to prompt the candidate if their camera goes off again.

OP posts:
Cocksinsocks · 29/04/2021 22:18

Another five or six parts to the interview to come? Fucking hell, what's the job? Sounds absolutely hideous.

I turn my camera off when presenting. Because I'm checking notes and because you can't see other people while screen sharing and it's really weird if they can still see you. Also because it's hard to turn your camera off while presenting and I live in a shared house and someone can appear in the background - so I'd rather turn it off just before I present to avoid my DP or whatever appearing on screen

Original poster
Rhayader · 29/04/2021 22:23

@Cocksinsocks

I know, it's absolutely brutal. Job is ~£200k salary, 95% of candidates fail the pre-screener test.

OP posts:
Wizzbangfizz · 29/04/2021 22:26

I have interviewed a fair bit over lockdown and I insist on cameras on- it is hard enough not meeting face to face.

DottyWott · 29/04/2021 22:28

My camera goes off when screen sharing on iPad in Zoom and I can’t override it

Walkingtheplank · 29/04/2021 22:36

Sounds like a badly managed assessment.
I recently had a 2.5 hour technical assessment. I was advised beforehand in writing that I'd have to share my screen plus have camera and microphone on throughout which made me feel a bit self conscious to start with and I'm certain that they'd have told me if I'd stopped sharing etc.
I don't think this interviewee can be marked down if the rules weren't clear.

BackforGood · 29/04/2021 22:52

What I can't understand is, if this was to assess their technical ability, why your dh didn't just say at the time "Oh, I've lost your picture there, can you make sure the camera is on please" as soon as it went off Confused