Setting Up the Web Conference Session

Determine How the Web Conferences Will be Conducted

• Select which web conference tool you will use; Zoom or MS Teams. These can be used for both video and audio interviews
• Review information on securing online meetings
• Ensure the person coordinating the interview and the committee chair have a Mason-licensed web conference account in Zoom or MS Teams

Scheduling the Interview Sessions

• If someone other than the committee chair is scheduling the sessions, they will need to have scheduling privileges for the committee chair; this allows them to schedule on behalf of the chair and allows for the call to be seamlessly initiated on the day of
  • Other committee members can be assigned “alternative host” or “Co-organizer” roles so that they can also start the meeting and are not put into a lobby or waiting room.
• When naming the meeting, it is ideal to have a consistent naming convention that avoids using “interview” (so the word is not on their calendar where others could see it) and any identifying information
• Schedule the meeting so that a unique meeting ID or link is generated for each session
  • Do not schedule a recurring meeting or use a personal meeting room
• Enable a waiting room in Zoom or lobby in MS Teams
• Save meeting details in a spreadsheet where the meeting information is recorded and associated with the proper candidate information

Tip: Schedule with 10-15 minute gaps between meetings in the event of technical issues.

Testing the Connection with the Candidate

It is recommended to:

• Use the same meeting link created to schedule the interview
• The candidate should be in the same location and using the same device they will use for the interview
• Test at least one business day before the interview
• Connect for 5-10 minutes before to ensure they have a stable network connection
• Ensure you can see and hear the candidate and that they can see and hear you
• Suggest that the candidate have a glass of water nearby for the interview
• Suggest keeping all pets in another room and setting all other devices to silent
• If the candidate is interviewing from their office, suggest they put a “do not disturb” sign on their office door

Conducting the Interviews

• On the day of the interviews, the meeting host, co-host, or alternate host should start the meeting
• If recording, be sure to let all attendees know that the session is recorded
  • HR Policy: All recorded interviews must be downloaded by the requesting party to a CD or flash drive and included with all the paperwork generated by a search committee. ITS, Enterprise Collaboration, or Zoom administrators are not responsible for compliance with record retention.
• If the committee needs to meet for discussion,
  • Best practice: conduct the discussion in a separate meeting so the candidate can’t re-join
  • Alternative: remove the candidate from the meeting and lock the meeting