It is now over four years since the pandemic and we have all become accustomed to conducting meetings via Teams or Zoom.
The suggestion that employers go back to holding more meetings face-to-face has become a hot potato in business circles and the media.
One thing we know for sure after 25 years in marketing recruitment is that it is always better to take the time to meet a client – preferably at their premises – than take the instruction on a video call or over the phone. Important details about the vacancy and/or the company are certain to emerge from a personal meeting. Our client wants us to promote their vacancy to the candidates we identify and so it is vital we paint a positive picture of their company and the workplace environment. If the candidate were to ask “have you met with the recruiting manager and been to meet the company?” we naturally want to be able to tell them “yes”.
The same logic applies for the candidate themself. The interviewer and interviewee will both get a much better understanding of each other in a face-to-face meeting, even for a first interview. Since the pandemic many employers have begun to expedite the first interview to save time and expense, often rendering it a short and superficial online vetting (swift verification) exercise. That should of course be unnecessary if the verification, CV selection and personal pre-interview process has been done thoroughly – which in the case of the candidates we supply, of course it always is! We try to meet and to personally brief everybody we put forward.
Specific benefits of conducting a first interview face-to-face include:
They get a glimpse of your office and proposed colleagues: An interview is not just an opportunity for employer to evaluate candidates, but also vice-versa. Going to the premises enables a candidate to get a real ‘feel’ for the environment, office layout, dress code, and interaction between staff. It can often help them decide if it is somewhere they can fit in and thrive.
You get undivided attention! An in-person meeting enables you to better command your interviewee’s attention. They cannot sneakily look at their phone or laptop – and they’ll have to dress properly instead of slipping a shirt and tie over their pyjamas in their back bedroom!
No annoying connectivity issues: How often has the Zoom connection failed or the WiFi blipped at precisely the wrong time for you in an important video meeting?
Making full use of body language: In-person interviews allow you to make full use of body language to express yourself – and to likewise better interpret that of the person you are meeting. Many candidates we interview come across very different online than in person. In a face-to-face interview they are often more relaxed and more likely to ‘open up’ when we get to discuss their career, their aspirations and suitability for a particular vacancy.
More opportunities to make an impression: Everybody with whom a candidate interacts on their visit to the premises, from the receptionist who greets them to the interviewer and their colleague who makes the coffee, might have a say in the hiring decision. Each person the candidate meets gives them a fresh opportunity to impress.
💡Remember – whether you are the interviewer or the candidate you only get one chance to make a first impression. If given the choice, pick the interview option that best allows you to get yourself and your proposition across.
