Modern Interview went Old Fashion

Last week, I arranged for an interview to take place. Prior to the submittal if this candidate for the position in question, I was unaware that she was in another state. When I was informed of this, I contacted the hiring manager to let her know. Fortunately, she was still interested in interviewing her over the phone and asked if she had a video on her computer or a Skype account. I asked the candidate if she had either and she said no. She did inform me that she had a LinkedIn account where she had a picture of herself and recommendations from her colleagues and managers. I had to stop there. Did she think that the reason that the reason that the hiring company wanted to interview by video or Skype was because they wanted to see what she looked like? I quickly explained to her that they wanted to see her reactions to the questions that she was asked and her body language as to mimic that of a traditional interview. She, fortunately, understood.

I brought the incident up to my boss. He thought that the concept of a video interview could be a potential liability for companies if they used them as a way to "screen" candidates. "Screen" candidates for what, I thought to myself. Then I got to thinking even more. Where is the EEOC in all of this? Have they even considered Video Interviews and Skype s as a potential for discrimination? Or, are they waiting for someone to make a claim? What about all of the benefits for employers, like saving money on flying out potential candidates or watching a candidate in a more relaxed and natural environment for them.

To avoid any legal issues, a company who ops for this type of interview needs to treat it just like a traditional face to face interview, and all viewers of the video must be aware of the Title VII, ADEA & ADA laws. I even think that this should go a step further and require all applicants to do a Video interview. This way, the same advantages or disadvantages a video interview may provide will apply to all applicants.

In case you’re wondering, the candidate mentioned above ended up having a phone interview and was offered the position. I guess the traditional methods still work sometimes.