Have Online Interviews Become Too Convenient?

A lot has changed in the post-pandemic workplace, with some positive and progressive developments. But in an era where work-from-home is more common than ever before, and Zoom meetings are still very much a way of life, a high proportion of interviews are still happening online. Which begs the question – have online interviews become too convenient?

Workplace Crystal Ball

Think of the last time you walked into an office building and sat in reception waiting to be greeted – what did you see and hear?

Employee’s coming in and out, chatter from the receptionist, C-suite leaders shaking hands with guests, staff going out to lunch.

Perhaps you heard some office gossip, or saw someone storming towards the lifts. Maybe you noticed stressed workers rubbing their eyes, or team’s laughing together.

Then you walk through the office to the boardroom. You hear the banter – or lack of – as you stroll past everyone’s desks. You see staff laughing in the kitchen, or you see everyone in silence with steam coming off their keyboards. You get a sense of the technology they use – has everyone got nice big bendy screens or are they battling with archaic PC’s?

And then you sit in the meeting room ready to be interviewed and you’re a few feet away from your potential new boss who seems preoccupied and disengaged. Or maybe they’re bursting with energy, excited to sell the company and find out more about you (let’s hope it’s the latter!).

You glance through the glass meeting room walls and get a first-hand insight into what the working environment looks like and how people are behaving. Do they care about the space they’re in and does it match what they say they’re like online and in the media?

No crystal ball required – it’s right there in front of you.

But on Zoom? There’s a messy office (or nice bookcase with pretty stationery) or a blurred beach background.

Literally nothing more.

And if the person you’re talking to is so inclined, it’s very easy to camouflage what’s really going on and present a façade.

Now, of course, everyone can be on their best behavior in an office when they know interviews are happening. So being on-site doesn’t reduce all the risk, but by jove, it gives you a much better insight!

So why are so many people still jumping at the opportunity to have an online interview versus a trip into the space they might end up working in?

Has interviewing in person got too inconvenient?

Sure, meeting people in the flesh takes time, energy, and money. Not to mention the inconvenience of potentially having to make excuses and take time off from work (which we fully appreciate is awkward).

But isn’t your potential new job worth the effort?

If you have the opportunity to attend an in-person interview – even if your job is going to be mainly remote – do it. Your career is too important to not put in the effort, and the upside of meeting interviewers in person and seeing where the company that you want to work for operates from (and *how* they operate) is too important to pass up.

And interviewers – trust us when we say, you’re much more likely to set a good impression and hire the right person if you can meet them in person and show off your working environment (and if you don’t want to do that, you’ve got to ask yourself why?).

The world can be wonderfully remote now (and there are tremendous benefits to that), but it doesn’t mean that should be our default.

Need help hiring new talent for your team? Or looking to make your next career move? Drop us a line mail@butlerhr.com.au or call 02 4229 9142 – we’d love to hear from you!