The ‘new normal’ is a phrase we hear multiple times a day now. The pandemic has changed the way we socialise, work and altogether live. One of the more noticeable changes with this ‘new normal’, has been how companies complete internal talent acquisition.

Before the outbreak, it would be rare to not have candidates come into the office for a final stage interview. Now, the hiring process is being completed via video call software, such as Skype and Zoom. As companies have started to send their employees back into offices recently, an important question to ask is: Are face-to-face interviews still necessary, or even safe?

For companies very focused on employing the exact right people, value and personality-wise, I would assume that they would find video recruitment much more difficult than face-to-face interviews. How do you know you’ve found the right person for the role and the company environment just from a video call? And how does the employee know they’ve accepted the right job for them when they haven’t met their colleagues in person?

Apart from the main negative of interviewing over video being the uncertainty of the company’s environment and workplace culture, unfortunately there are aspects such as bad Wi-Fi connection, absence of technology, and background distractions that can negatively affect your video interview.

However, there are actually quite a few pros to this hiring method.

No one ever wants to be late to an interview, especially as this could be harmful to the employers first impression of you. If you are doing the interview from your home – punctuality is not a problem at all. The lack of travel arrangements needed also makes for a much cheaper way to interview, for both the interviewee, and the company, if they pay expenses. This will also mean a less stressful and nerve-wracking experience for the candidate, giving them the potential to perform better in the interview.

Another positive about interviewing online is that you can add multiple people to the call from any location, meaning more people from the company get the opportunity to see if you’re a right fit, leading to a less biased final decision.

During 2020, the statistics for video call interviews have definitely risen from previous years, as it has been almost impossible to not hire using virtual tools. 86% of companies perform employee interviews over video call and 78% of corporate companies use some type of video calling software.

From personal experience, it is definitely easier to show your personality in a face-to-face interview, as well as body language, which is obviously very hard to read during video calls. However, interviews via video call have been perfectly acceptable during Covid times and are sometimes definitely more of a reasonable expectation – especially for long distance candidates.

Do you think there will be a continuing rise in video call talent acquisition even after company safety measures are relaxed? Or will face-to-face interviews still be the necessity to most companies? Let us know what you think will happen.

Written by Madeleine Goddard