Businesses have learned the hard way that hiring the wrong person for the job can be extremely costly. An oft-cited 2012 study by the Centre for American Progress found that it costs businesses about one-fifth of a worker’s salary to replace the person who leaves. Those in positions requiring higher education and training are even more expensive to replace. That’s not to mention lost productivity and profits while the company still employs that worker.
Since they can no longer fail to make mistakes, employers are more cautious than ever and thus spend more time vetting candidates to ensure they have the right skills, values, and personalities to fit the work culture – putting would-be candidates under immense pressure to win-over potential employers.
The recent pandemic has compounded the challenge of finding the right candidate. As remote work becomes the norm, so do remote job interviews – whether that be over the phone or using video conferencing platforms like Zoom and Adobe Connect. While virtual interviews were critical to maintaining health and safety during the pandemic and have many benefits for both candidates and companies recruiting, in my professional opinion, they will never replace in-person candidate meetings.
The Power of In-Person Interviews
I have conducted interviews over the phone and video conferencing before, and both methods certainly have their merits. With the right questions, you can complete the interview easily enough – minus potential technical difficulties – and the candidate can perform well. However, I still think nothing beats meeting someone for a chat face to face. While people may argue that it is possible to build up rapport and connection through virtual interviews, I respectfully disagree. I believe meeting a candidate in person offers the best opportunity for genuine engagement.
For any job that acquires strong social skills, such as client-facing sales roles or specialist consultant roles, employers should, at some point, meet candidates face to face. With in-person interviews, employers can get a better read of body language and a better sense of the candidate’s interpersonal skills, which is impossible with virtual interviews. Similarly, interviewing for jobs requiring skills demonstration would also benefit from in-person interviews.
While health concerns remain a top priority, I am more than willing to meet candidates in person before interviews and, in doing so, add real value to their career prospects. Instead of dealing with candidates over the phone, we prefer to make sure to meet them face to face to ensure they are the right fit for the company – to ascertain that they have the skills, values, and personalities to back up their résumés.
We want all our candidates to succeed. That is why we insist on meeting them face to face so we can best prepare them for what comes next and all but guarantee success. By working with the candidate one-on-one, I can coach them through the entire process. During my career, I have worked with everyone from surgical sales specialists to orthopaedic scrub nurses. I worked with surgical nursing staff to find careers in the commercial sector, such as medical sales and clinical support. While they were very skilled and more than qualified for the positions they were applying for, they needed support with the process as the culture was so different from what they were accustomed to.
Benefits of meeting candidate in-person beforehand
Interview anxiety is prevalent, even for the most well-qualified and experienced people. Meeting strangers in a position of authority; talking about yourself; being evaluated and judged on your appearance, demeanour, and ability to sell yourself—are all triggers for nerves and stress, which is why it can be beneficial to work with HR & recruitment specialists to coach you through the entire process.
At ISS Ltd, we champion the candidates. Unlike your standard recruitment solution, we aim to provide real value by meeting the talent in person rather than merely speaking to them over the phone. This allows us to separate the wheat from the chaff, as it were, and best prepare all the people we represent.
I have years of working in HR & recruitment, specialising in the following fields: medical devices, medical equipment, medical consumables, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and hospital sales. As well as advising people about how to prepare for the interview by adopting the personality of the hiring managers and asking you typical questions you can expect to receive, I will meet you in person to make sure everything is explained to you so you can perform at your best.
If you would like to discuss joining a Team that brings your career to the next level, please feel free to get in touch.
Patrick Fitzmaurice
HR & Recruitment Director ISS Ltd
p.fitzmaurice@independentsearchsolutions.com
Mobile: 00353 (0) 87 25 35 247
Independent Search Solutions Ltd
www.independentsearchsolutions.com
