Communicating & Interviewing Online
April 2020
With Covid-19 currently keeping us indoors we have put together some great ways to go about interviews, meetings and communicating while in lockdown.
We understand the frustrations that some of you may have with internet connection and realise it can be a bit daunting trying to use a new online tool (especially for a job interview) but if you familiarise yourself with it prior you will have no trouble. Feel free to video call one of the Rural Directions team for a practice run before your interview – just book a time in with us.
For video calling, Rural Directions’ preference for ease of use is Zoom. It’s quick and easy to download and get going.
If you have any questions at all please don’t hesitate to contact one of the team.
Look after yourselves and stay safe out there.
Zoom
You don’t need an account to join a meeting. You DO need an account to host a meeting. For Employers who wish to set up a meeting/interview, you will need to have an account (it is nice and easy to set up an account).
You can invite people through email, messenger, phone etc. which is great.
They will get sent an invite to download the app, once this is done they can join the meeting. The download process is quick and easy.
On Zoom you are able to share your screen, share documents and photos with one another.
You can have multiple users but meeting with 3+ people will be maxed out at 40minutes (on the free version).
Getting audio and video connected is the challenge – you need to go to the first dot of the three to get connected. This should be quick and easy to sort.
Facebook Messenger
A lot of people are on Facebook Messenger and this is a quick easy way to video call someone. It’s not as formal as Zoom however still works. You don’t need to be Facebook friends to have a video chat.
Skype
You do need a Skype account to join a Skype meeting.
Microsoft Teams is taking over Skype for business.
Skype and Zoom are very similar but Zoom seems to better quality for video calling and has other neat features.
Microsoft Teams
It does take a while to set up an account in Microsoft Teams but once it is set up this is a great tool for working as a team. You can share files, documents, instant message each other and video call.
Google Earth
Google Earth is a great tool enabling you to look at satellite imagery of the farm location. *Please note – you need a good internet connection and speed to use this platform.
Once you have opened the above link you can search the address of the property, you won’t see boundaries but you will get an idea of the location, contour and setup of the farm. You can also use ‘Street View’ to view the property/ house from the street. This feature doesn’t work for all rural properties.
Good old fashioned phone calls
A lot can be covered over the phone, don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and call us or the employer/employee to have a chat. Phone calls are more personable than texts or emails.