Skype interviews (Part 1) – Advantages and Disadvantages

If you are not familiar yet with Skype interviews, let´s fix it now! 

Job interviews using the Skype computer program are each time more and more common in recruitment process all over the world. A Skype interview could happen as the first screening of the candidate, but normally it is used as an intermediate step of the different parts in the recruitment process, or even as the final interview.

Like everything in life, Skype interviews have advantages and disadvantages. Let´s check some of them.

Advantages

1 – It´s a cheap way to do an interview - There is no travelling nor commuting involve for the candidate to go to the interview place. The Recruiter can also do the interview from his house or from anywhere he whish.

2 – It does not requires much technology or equipment to happen - If you have a smartphone or computer with web cam, and a good internet connection, you have almost everything that you need to start your Skype interview. If you do not have the necessary equipment at home, going to a cyber cafe can be a good option, or you can borrow a friend´s laptop for one hour to do the interview.

3 – You do not need to be on the same city or country that the Recruiter is. That gives you the chance to talk to somebody who is geographically very far away from you, maybe even in a different continent. A personal interview in the same conditions would be much more difficult to happen.

4 – The interview process in general is faster when you use Skype interviews. You still need to adjust your agenda with the Recruiter´s agenda, but a part from that, normally you can save some time and get the interview step done soon.

Disadvantages

1 – There is this general feeling that the interview process is colder and more impersonal when done by Skype, comparing to a face-to-face interview. You know (and you see) that there is another person on the other side of the computer screen, talking to you, but it is not the same then having the person in front of you. The more familiar the candidate is with Skype or other similar programs, the better, because this “strange feeling that I am talking to a computer” might disappear at some point.

2 – The interviewer and candidate do not really see each other, only their faces and the upper body part. The interviewer might miss some important information about the candidate due to the limited access to see his body language.

3 – Some candidates don´t consider a Skype interview as serious as a regular interview. They take it as something less important than a personal one. This is a big mistake, because it is an interview, with the same purpose than other interviews! Remember: the Recruiter can make the final decision about your process during the Skype interview, so do not minimize the importance of this situation.

4 – I have seen many candidates trying to play tricks during the Skype interviews or trying to deceive the Recruiter. The fact that we can´t see the ambience where the candidate is, nor the things or people he has around him, can create more misleading opportunities than in a personal interview.

We, Recruiters, know that very well, by experience, so we are more alert to identify suspicious situations. I personally have a clear criterion about how to deal with doubtful situation: if I am not sure whether the candidate is taking advantage of the situation or not, and I can´t clarify that during the interview, the candidate is out of the recruitment process.

Change your mind set about Skype interviews from now one. Today you are more familiar with that and a bit more prepared to face it when it happens to you. Jack Canfield said “Everything you want is on the other side of fear”. Remember that!

Do your best and go ahead!

As you know, English is not my native language. I use it because I can reach more people and share my experience with you.

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