RoundUP #4

RoundUP #4

Welcome to the RoundUp newsletter.

Such a fascinating set of results emerged from our poll, which received a total of 444 votes exactly!

When applying for a new job, what do you prefer?

Face to face / in-person interviews          42%

Remote / video interviews                          19%

A mix of both                                                  39%

Face to face has its place at the top, but not far behind is a mix of both face-to-face and remote interviews. Just 19 percent of you told us that you prefer remote only. There’s no doubt that a video interview saves time in the early stages, and this came through in the comments section of the poll. But perhaps there is something to sitting eye to eye with one another during a recruitment process?

Canadian research has confirmed that the familiarity we felt with coworkers on calls during the lockdown was resting on connections that we remembered from pre-Covid days, days when we were sat near each other in the office or met up for lunch.

After around 2-5 minutes of meeting a person for the first time, we have a better chance of more accurately predicting cooperativeness and generosity. Non-verbal cues are an important part of our sense-making process, and the full complement is not available to us online. Just ‘seeing’ a person on screen may have its limits.

As Ann Rajandream, AWS Partner noted in the poll comments section:

We should bear in mind that a candidate wants to get the flavour of the organisation too, to make an informed decision, a face to face interview can add to that.

Here is another nuance on this topic, posted by Chris Parker from Goodnam Mason:

One awkward technicality I’m finding with this is now that lots of people have gone back to the office, it’s a struggle for candidates to find somewhere quiet/professional enough to actually do the remote meeting.. which means you either have to wait for a WFH day or accept people interviewing on their phones/in cars. How things have changed!

Things have changed.

We’ll run this poll again a year down the line to see how the results are shifting.

#Vacancies – Here is a snapshot of locations and specialisms where we have the highest demand

If you are an experienced recruiter, in any sector, and wish to learn more or just have an exploratory chat, contact us.

Until next time.

The Round Team.

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