Alright look. I’m just gonna walk through all the stuff I got wrong with my video interview setup because it took me way too long to figure it out and maybe I can save yall some time.
Twenty five years in security. Director level. Multiple Fortune 500 companies. And I was doing basic stuff wrong on Zoom calls that was probably costing me opportunities without me even knowing it. Nobody tells you this stuff. They just form opinions and move on.
The Camera Height Thing
My laptop was on my desk. Camera pointing up at me. I looked like I was looming over the call. Or like I was on a throne looking down at peasants. Neither is great.
Didn’t even occur to me until interview three or four when I caught a glimpse of myself in the little preview window and thought… huh. That looks weird. Stacked some books under my laptop. Got it to eye level. Immediately looked more normal. More like a conversation between equals instead of whatever I was doing before.
Understanding how camera angle affects how confident you look is one of those things that seems dumb until you see the difference.
The Lighting Situation
My home office has a window behind me. Which means I was basically a silhouette with a voice. The interviewers could hear me fine. They just couldn’t see my face properly. Couldn’t read my expressions. Probably made me seem distant or evasive even though I was neither.
Fix was simple. Turned my desk around so the window was in front of me. Suddenly I had natural light on my face instead of behind my head. Could also see my own face clearly in the preview which helped me realize when I was doing that tense frowny thing I do when I’m concentrating.
If you can’t move your desk just get a cheap lamp and put it behind your laptop pointing at your face. Not complicated. Just has to be done.
The Background Problem
For a while I was interviewing from my kitchen because the lighting was better there. Which meant there was a refrigerator visible behind me. And a calendar with my kids’ activities on it. And some dishes in the sink probably. Real professional.
I’m not saying you need a fancy bookshelf or whatever. I’m saying the background shouldn’t be distracting. If they’re looking at your stuff they’re not listening to your words. Plain wall works. Boring is fine. Boring means they’re paying attention to you.
Ended up moving to a corner of my bedroom with just a blank wall behind me. Felt weird. Looked way better.
The Audio Quality Issue
This one was embarrassing because I should’ve known better. Been in IT my whole career. But I was using my laptop’s built-in microphone for interviews because I didn’t think it mattered that much.
It matters. Built-in mics pick up every little sound. The fan running. The dog barking three rooms away. Your own breathing if you’re nervous. They also make your voice sound thin and far away. Less authoritative. Less present.
Bought a $30 USB microphone off Amazon. Night and day difference. Voice came through clearer and warmer. Actually sounded like someone you’d want to hire instead of someone calling from a tunnel.
The Standing Up Thing
Okay this one I resisted for a while because it seemed silly. But standing during video interviews actually changed how I sounded. Didn’t even change what I said. Just how I said it. Voice was fuller. Breathing was better. Didn’t hunch or slouch or do that weird thing where you slowly sink into your chair over an hour-long call.
Had to get a standing desk setup going which was annoying. But once I did it I couldn’t go back. Just felt more like myself. More like having a real conversation instead of being interrogated at my computer. More on why standing actually changes how you speak.
The Eye Contact Problem
This is the one that’s hardest to fix because it feels wrong when you do it right. When you look at someone’s face on screen you’re not making eye contact with them. You’re looking at where the camera isn’t. From their perspective your eyes are angled down. Makes you look less confident or less engaged.
The fix is to look at the camera dot. Not at their face. Which feels unnatural because you can’t see their reactions when you’re doing it. What worked for me was kind of alternating. Look at them when they’re talking. Look at the camera when you’re making a point. Still not perfect but better than staring at the wrong spot the whole time.
More on how to do the eye contact thing without being weird about it.
Why Any of This Matters
Look I get it. This all seems like surface level stuff. Shouldn’t your experience and your answers matter more than whether your lamp is in the right place?
Yeah. They should. But that’s not how people actually work. They’re forming impressions before you say anything. Research on first impressions says they decide a lot in the first few seconds. If your setup is making you look unprepared or hard to read or unprofessional… that’s the impression they have while they’re listening to your very good answers.
It’s not fair exactly. But it’s reality. This is part of how they decide if you’re actually senior. Someone who’s been doing this a while should know how to present themselves. If your video setup is a mess it raises questions.
Setup Is Just the Start
Getting your video presence right removes one source of friction. But the bigger shift came when I stopped trying to impress and started showing how I’d actually approach the role. Walking through my first 30, 60, 90 days. Made the whole thing feel like a real conversation about the work.
The Quick Checklist
Camera at eye level. Light in front of you not behind. Background boring. Audio clear. Consider standing. Practice the eye contact thing.
None of this is hard. Most of it is free. Takes maybe an hour to set up right. And then you never have to think about it again.
Twenty five years in my career and I was getting these basics wrong. Maybe yall are smarter than me and already figured this out. If not… now you know.
