With life; especially our working lives, becoming more and more busy juggling increasing workloads and the manic school run how does anyone find the time for the traditional face to face interview?
The traditional method is traditional for a reason because it’s the most effective method of interviewing. With the job seeker potentially accessing the working environment, while the employer has the chance to assess the interviewee’s body language. None of which in the past could be achieved without a face to face interview, hence why it’s been successfully used since time immemorial.
The downside to this method is that it takes a huge amount of time and organisation from both parties. Arranging to meet Monday at 10.00am….no wait 11.00pm on Wednesday……no 10.30am on Wednesday! The time it takes to arrange a face to face interview with busy work schedules, it could be quicker to try different and more modern methods.
There’s a number of methods that could be used in the place of face to face interviews, however, only one that could almost be it's equal, videos!
Video calls are one of the newer forms of communication to come out of the technology world in recent years and is by far the only method when applied to the hiring process to share similar attributes to its more traditional counterpart.
Much like it’s counterpart, video calls enable both parties to not only hear each other but see each other! Being able to see someone when you're communicating with them for any reason enables you to understand so much more about the person and during an interview that's essential. Seeing how a person presents themselves can tell you a lot about their character. For example, if they're impeccably dressed it could mean they take pride in the way they look so may also take pride in the way they work. Being able to see someone also means you’re able to know by their body language if they’re engaged in what you’re saying, bored or nervous.
It’s all these small things during an interview that set people apart when it comes down to making the important final decisions. And without them would make the task much harder.
Video interviews biggest advocate is it’s not restricted by location. Unlike the traditional method of interviewing, video calls can be made anywhere no matter an individual’s location. Which means less time organising days and diaries to accommodate travelling for face to face interviews. An individual at a touch of a button could use their personal smartphone to participate in an interview during their lunch break or that colleague who’s based in a different office could assist in conducting an interview without either person leaving their respective offices to do so.
For a colleague that couldn’t participate during the initial interview, due to an important meeting or their just away on holiday, some video software has the ability to record. Meaning that colleague could watch it back as if they themselves had been in the room. Negating the need for all parties to arrange another interview just to accommodate one person.
Technology has enabled us to conduct video calls, however, despite its creation, it’s also what holds it back from being better than the traditional and reliable method. Sometimes its technology lets itself down by having system errors or not connecting due to lack of signal. But with technology upgrading all the time, such as the newly implemented 5G, it's only a matter of time before those issues are no longer.
Videos won’t replace a physical handshake or seeing the office environment first-hand, but they can offer the hiring world a lot more than first meets the eye. And in a world where every new generation is relying more heavily than the last on technology, shouldn’t interviews be moving with the times?
Who knows? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
What are your thoughts?