Abstract
The advancement of technology and the Covid-19 pandemic substantially impacted on organisations’ overall recruitment function and changed their ways of recruiting talent, causing a substantial shift towards a virtual way of doing things. The aim of the present study was to explore the candidate experience of virtual interviews in contrast with face-to-face ones to ascertain the way in which the experience of virtual interviews can be enhanced, since organisations are globally increasingly adopting the virtual approach.
The present study contributes to research that focuses on society’s need to understand whether we can sustainably utilise technologically based means of recruitment such as asynchronous video and synchronous online interviews in the workplace beyond the Covid-19 pandemic. It followed a qualitative case study research approach and applied thematic analysis to the data collected from 14 participants who were interviewed one-on-one.
The research findings evidence that virtual interviews are still utilised and further suggest that they will be a relevant tool in the future world of work. Nonetheless, there are considerable advantages and disadvantages to utilising virtual interviews as well as similarities and differences. The most common advantage is convenience in terms of saving time and cost, whereas the most common disadvantage is the lack of human interaction and an absence of non-verbal cues. However, the present participants’ preference for live or pre-recorded virtual interviews was found to be dependent on their personal candidate experience around the utilisation of the technology. The implications of the virtual interviews given the findings of this research are that there is an ongoing significance for virtual interviews and despite several advantages, organisations need to address the challenges of this recruitment method to enhance their candidate experience.
Some of the recommendations include testing the virtual interview software prior to the interview to solve for any connection issues. Maintaining eye contact and using gestures can also provide a candidate with reassurance and updating the employer’s digital page can help ensure the candidate knows enough about the company and is
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interested to work for it. Overall, the study revealed that there are certain key aspects that should be carefully considered (such as those aforementioned) when using virtual interviewing methods, to ensure that the virtual interviewing experience for candidates is as close and efficient as possible as traditional interviewing (face-to-face) would be.
Key words: Virtual interviews, asynchronous video interviews, synchronous online interviews, face-to-face interviews, technology, e-recruitment, human resources, candidate experience