How often do you turn your camera on when you join online work meetings? I am not a big fan of live video calls for work, because I enjoy taking every advantage of working remotely – meaning working in my comfortable hoodie sweatshirts and putting on my dorky glasses.
I’ve been holding off on turning on my camera for as long as I could — until yesterday. I had a work meeting with a new director who prefers face-to-face video calls with attendees. One hour before the meeting, my colleague suggested to me that I use the camera for the first impression.
I found myself in an uncharted territory and scrambled to figure out 1.) how to turn my laptop camera on for the meeting, 2.) how to adjust my camera, so I look like a normal human being (believe me, the built-in cameras on the laptops are rarely meant to make people look normal), 3.) how to put on the minimal makeup to cover my dark under-eye circles and add some color to my lips without looking like I have any makeup on, and 4.) the lighting – the key to the clarity of the video image.
I spent 45 minutes just to solve the four problems above. All of these were just to get myself looking normal enough to make a decent first impression for work. The thought of caring about my looks for a remote work meeting seems obnoxious at first thought, but, this shallow action is so important because you want people to take you seriously. Once the first impression is formed, there’s no second chance.
I have some friends and colleagues who are fed up with working from home and found face-to-face video calls their only connection to the real world. But for me, on the other hand, I want completely the opposite. I want the luxury of sitting in my home office taking calls without having to think about how I look on the screen.
In conclusion, with the advancement of technologies available for working remotely, there’s pros and cons for people like me who prefer comfortable over accessibility.
The Cover Image: It’s a picture of my cat, Inca. I took this picture when she wanted to sleep. Her facial expression clearly shows how much she wanted to be left alone, but she had no choice. And that, is exactly how I feel about turning on my laptop camera for work.
