Suzie is drinking coffee in an old t-shirt and yoga pants when she gets a calendar alert for a video interview that is set to happen in 15 minutes.
She bolts to the bathroom to get ready.
Suzie puts on a formal blouse, dabs on some neutral lipstick, brushes her hair, and quickly pulls up the company information on her phone.
Before clumsily pulling out her office chair and turning on the table lamp for her interview.
Suzie’s interview experience is what the dawn of the internet has brought to the modern business world. Job interviews can now be conducted within the comfort of our own homes.
Read on to discover how job interviews have changed as a result of the digital age.
Long Interview Processes are a Thing of the Past
The job application and job interview process in the pre-digitalization era are associated with manual paperwork.
Recruiters had to publish job vacancies in newspapers, magazines, and postures.
Job applicants had to search newspapers for jobs and filter out appropriate opportunities. They had to send out or even visit the offices to submit CVs, wait for days, and even weeks for a response. Then visit the office again for an interview.
Recruiters had to collect and store all applications, read each one, screen candidates, and send out interview letters to selected candidates. It was a time-consuming process with hectic and repetitive administrative tasks.
During this time, the job interview process was only face-to-face with structured written tests and a panel of recruiters asking questions. This is a typical example of the interview process at that time.
Much has changed over the past few years with the emerging digital age.
The digital age has given employers a wider pool of potential candidates with online job boards and other web-based talent collection pools. This has allowed employers to be more selective while recruiting.
The Rise of Social and Digital Media Has Changed The Face of Job Interviews
The nature of job interviews has changed dramatically with the digital age.
Globalization has led to outsourcing, academic inflation, population explosion, immigration, and a higher unemployment rate. Additionally, this has lead to higher competition and an increased number of job applications.
Physical handing out has very little meaning nowadays because recruiting is done via online profiles and websites. These online platforms are now used as a conversation starter at job interviews.
Candidates are researched on online platforms like AngelList, Stack Overflow, Indeed, and Glassdoor.
Also, they are reviewed on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
Let’s briefly discuss the role social media plays in the job application and job interview process:
- LinkedIn, a social professional website connects employers and applicants. It allows them to directly message each other about potential jobs and conduct online interviews.
- YouTube helps candidates upload videos of their skills and background to supplement their job application.
- Facebook and Twitter have initiated a much larger change from online job portals to social media job search. Job seekers now check out employers on social media and employers can use social media for recruitment.
Reviewing the candidate’s online activity has helped recruiters understand the candidate’s skills, social media participation, and involvement in online groups, conferences, webinars, and seminars. This allows recruiters to assess the right skills, social media presence, and personality traits for the job.
How Interviews Have Changed
Phone interviews were regularly used as a precursor to traditional interviews. They were used if the candidate was not local or as an initial pre-screening call to determine whether the candidate had to be invited for an in-person interview.
Now with all the video call apps available such as Skype, Spark Hire, and Google Hangouts – it has allowed recruiters to conduct video interviews with anyone worldwide. And it has resulted in a smoother and faster job interview process.
It is also important to note that during these video interviews, recruiters are still able to test the candidate’s skills using appropriate websites or software for their field.
For example, people who are interviewed for a software engineer position. Recruiters can use websites like CodeChef, Stack Overflow, and HackerRank to know their candidate’s skill set. Hiring teams need candidates who practice coding/programming on CodeChef and HackerRank regularly, so they are able to read the results correctly.
A Rise of On the Go Interviews
The new wave of home-based jobs, outsourcing, video calling, social media apps, and software powered by AI has resulted in the automation of the job interview process and On the Go job interviews.
Recruiters and applicants are connected via a cloud-based database and can easily conduct job interviews remotely.
Digitalization offers its own paradox, while it is easier for companies to hire candidates quicker, it also means that applicants can be subjected to rounds of interviews because it is cost-effective.
The interview timeline can either be shortened or lengthened as companies and/or candidates reschedule interviews last minute by email or declining a calendar invite.
As you can see, technology has brought a tremendous change in the interviewing process and will continue to evolve in the coming years.
And Now Back to Suzie…
As Suzie gets situated to interview, the interviewer messages her to reschedule because an important internal meeting came up.
….and just like that technology can be a blessing and a curse all at once!
Need Some Help?
If you are on the job hunt or need help preparing for an upcoming interview – please feel free to reach out to me at 832-387-5835 or email at recruitgyan@gmail.com.
I am here to answer any questions you may have.
