With current times requiring all of us to manage and minimize travel and face-to-face meetings, interviewing candidates on the phone, or using popular video services like Zoom & Skype has obvious appeal in bringing a practical solution to keep talent acquisition of accountants and bookkeepers moving.
When used effectively, phone-interviews bring all the benefits of trimming down that pile of CV’s into the final few for shortlisting without the current risks and expense of bringing candidates in from all over and organizing the resources to accommodate interviews and candidates. However, they also bring considerable risks of missing out on great candidates when running ineffectively. With over 50% of our communications attributed to non-verbal body language, how can you make the most from the efficiencies without losing the effectiveness of the interview?
Here are 4 pointers for making the most from conducting selection interviews by phone, based on hundreds of phone interviews conducted by us, and including the use of video conferencing technology into the mix:
Phone interviews get the worst press when they are sprung upon candidates. Some recruitment consultants and employers simply call candidates out of the blue to announce they have been shortlisted and dive straight into an interview that may run anything from ten minutes to an hour. The candidate may be halfway around the supermarket with a toddler in tow, or even driving a car.
To get the most from phone-interviews, organize them in the same way you would organize face-to-face interviews:
Every good interviewer knows the value of setting the scene before getting an interview underway. In a situation where all non-verbal communications are missing, the scene-setting introduction is more vital than ever.
Think for a moment about recent face-to-face interviews you have conducted. How often have you known a candidate was unclear about how to answer your question simply by reading their facial expressions? How often have you been able to convey that a candidate should stop talking by putting down your pen or disengaging from the interview?
When we designed and conducting 60-minute phone interviews for middle-managers into a major supermarket chain, the introduction to each interview spent at least 5 minutes explaining:
As the interview unfolds, checking whether you are putting into practice what you said you would do at the outset of the interview is always worthwhile. This simply means ensuring you account for different candidate's peculiarities, such as their accents, clarity of speech, ability to understand your questions, and your ability to understand their answers.
If clear, concise phone communications are part of the job, this may be a selection criterion in itself, but make sure you don’t lose good candidates for roles that don’t require these phone skills.
At first, video conferencing and especially the availability of Skype and Zoom to most candidates and interviewers would appear to address most of the shortfalls the phone interview presents. After all, you can now see the candidate and they can see you.
The reality, however, is that while these technologies can help break the ice, especially if panel-interviewing offshore candidates, the need to account for non-verbal communications is still there. Think about the closeup TV camera shots needed to get emotional reactions and facial expressions in the news, or in movies. Most video conferencing facilities won’t give you that same detailed definition you get when interviewing people face to face, so still, pay attention to accounting for those non-verbal communications in the introductory scene-setting stages and as the interview progresses.
A few other tips on using Video Interviews:
Using these simple yet effective guidelines help you benefit from the cost and time savings of interviewing remotely while accounting for the shortfalls in not meeting candidates face to face.
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Author Bio
Steve Evans has a whole career dedicated to enabling employers to attract, recruit, develop, and retain talented individuals and teams, with particular expertise in candidate testing and assessment before jointly setting up Accountests in 2013. Accountests deliver the world’s only online suite of annually updated and country-specific technical knowledge tests for accountants and bookkeepers.
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