Using Webex for Interviews

Owned by Dan Jakubiak
Last updated: Apr 26, 2022
3 min read

Faculty, students, and staff can set up interviews using Webex, a free tool for University affiliates. Below are tips for conducting a job interview with Webex. 

Setup Options

  • Set up the Webex meeting like any other meeting; there are no interview-specific settings to use.

  • You may:

    • create a Scheduled Meeting in order to have unique meeting names and invitations for each session. 

    • use your Personal Room; it can even be specifically customized for this time period using the instructions below.

Customizing Your Personal Room for an Interview

This section is optional. 

  • The use of your Personal Room can simplify your interviewing process. This solution guarantees a single link for all users and, if required to coordinate your committee, you need only create an Outlook invite with a link to your Personal Room within the body of the invitation.

  • You may change the name of your Personal Room to tailor it to the interviewing process. For example, you may apply a naming scheme similar to: [Job Position] Interviews - December 2022.

  • You may also alter your Personal Room's join link. Doing so will break your old join link (i.e., cause it to stop functioning) and create a unique link for the set of interviews. Following this tactic will hide your usual Personal Room link from the public. Once the interviews are over, you may return your link to the previous value and break the link used for the interviewing.

For more information about customizing your Personal Room, see Customizing your Webex Profile. 

Be Sure to Test

The search committee should test their own systems to ensure they can all connect to the Host. Users may join a coworker's Personal Room to ensure their computer is working. If you can connect to one Webex session, you know you can connect to any other session. Users may also use this autonomous test meeting: webex.com/test-meeting.

If the anyone is connecting using a UConn room system, they should follow this guide: https://uconn.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/TL/pages/10889560316

Conducting the Interview

  • Have the Host start the Webex session.

  • Once everyone is in the session, lock the Webex session.

    • The Room Lock is global. The lock bars all entry regardless of who the participant is.

    • Locking the Room is necessary for interviews. Sometimes candidates like to join early to ensure they can connect, but they may accidentally join at the tail end of the previous interview.

For more information about the Room Lock tool and admitting participants, see https://uconn.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/IKB/pages/10770814459

  • You may elevate one of your committee members to Cohost if you would like help managing the session. Learn more about https://uconn.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/IKB/pages/10789815244

  • See if you would like to move participants to the Lobby in order to:

    • discuss privately but not yet expel the candidate. The Host/Cohost can move the candidate into the lobby. The candidate can then be re-admitted when the private discussion has concluded. Participants cannot see others in the lobby; they will not know if there are others in the lobby.

    • Admit the next candidate without unlocking the Room.

  • When the interview is ready to conclude, you should Expel the candidate.

    1. Explain to the candidate that Expulsion is commonplace and that they should expect it when the time comes. Expelling the candidate ensures that they have been removed from the discussion.

  • If necessary, wait for the next candidate to appear in the Lobby.

  • Admit the next candidate when you are ready to do so.

  • When the search committee is done for the day, press the red X to end the Webex session.

  • If you are in a UConn room, turn off the equipment in the room.

For more help with conducting your interview, contact techsupport@uconn.edu.