Ivan Stojanovic interviewed for the Irish Executives (LinkedIn Group): Inspire Ireland award 2011

Jobs Board got shortlisted for the Irish executives Inspire Ireland 2011 Award. 7 of us got shortlisted and one after another we presented our business plans to the Irish Executives judges today. It was an online event. Video conferencing was used that connected us all. I never presented a business plan to a camera as opposed to the live audience in front of me so it was a bit strange doing it the first time. The video quality regardless of how good it is, still makes it harder to ‘read’ your audience. You do not see those fine details of their facial expressions. Also, you only see the part of the body that the camera is capturing. I only realised all that at the end of the conference, since although I ‘saw’ the recipient, I could not really confidently say how good did the whole presentation actually work. Was it all convincing? I am not sure actually.

The format is also distracting a bit because the PowerPoint presentation has to be managed by a precise click on the screen, as opposed to the clicker. This makes you look for a second or two at the screen as opposed at the camera, and being aware it does not look right on the other end it made me uncomfortable a bit. A hint if you are developing a video conferencing software. Make sure people can use the keyboard or the clicker for their PowerPoint presentations as opposed to some super small arrow buttons on the screen.

Being shortlisted for the Irish Recruiters Inspire Ireland Award is probably the best thing that could happen to JobsBoard.ie so early in its lifetime. The only better thing would be to actually win the Award! The publicity is what it is all about, and a recognition by the very high-level judging panel.

I wish all the best to all other participants, especially those that got shortlisted and interviewed today with me. Regardless of the end results being shortlisted is an achievement we should all be proud of. Let the best man win tomorrow!