For decades, shortlist project interviews remained relatively static, with prospective teams meeting face to face with selection committees in a room together. Interviews started to change incrementally when Zoom and Cisco Webex came along, to accommodate the occasional team member unable to attend, usually due to extreme circumstances. But now that COVID-19 has introduced us all to an experience of perpetual extreme circumstances, those changes have come faster—and will continue to do so—for the foreseeable future.
By now, most firms have participated in virtual interviews. Initially, teams viewed virtual interview preparation as pro tempore. They now realize virtual interviewing is here to stay as an ongoing option, pandemic aside. Why? Virtual interviews create cost savings. They reduce setup and travel time. They put everyone on an equal playing field. They’re relatively borderless: People can attend from anywhere. And they work … well enough.
As the country opens back up, teams are now starting to experience the in-person, socially distanced interview. And as conditions continue to change, teams are also seeing all manners of hybrid interviews, with both virtual and in-person presenters.
So, looking forward, you’re going to need to build your pool of interview team members to be able to accommodate the three variations. Teams need to be at the ready with screen presence for virtual interviews, stage presence for socially distanced interviews, and flexibility for hybrid interviews.
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This article, written by Dean Lincoln Hyers and Pete Machalek, first appeared in the Marketer journal.
