Are Online Job Interviews Really More Difficult?

If you are looking for your next job at the present time, chances are your interview or interviews will be happening online.

I’ve even had clients who have had to do a full assessment day online via Zoom.

Now if all of your past experience has been doing job interviews face to face, the online job interview can come as a bit of a shock.

When something is new or maybe unfamiliar, it tends to result in us over thinking things. 

Worrying about it excessively and even creating more stress and anxiety.

But the question I have is whether online job interviews are really more difficult?

My view is that there are pros and cons with both face to face and face and online job interviews.

In addition there are some things that are similar no matter how the interview is carried out.

What’s the pros and cons of the face to face job interview?

Pros

  • It’s familiar.  Something that you have done before.  
  • It’s a bit easier to build rapport.
  • It’s easier to gauge how the interviewer is responding, particularly the body language.
  • You get a bit of insight into the place you are working and maybe even meet a few more people.

Cons

  • You have to travel to the interview.  
  • It’s a lot less easy to actually keep a job interview under wraps as you may have to ask for time off.
  • You may not be able to have papers a notes to hand as easily as you could if online.
  • It may be a lot more structured.

What’s the pros and cons of the remote job interview?

Pros

  • No travel and all the worries about being held up.  
  • You are in an environment that’s familiar to you.
  • You can easily fit it around your day without anyone else knowing about the job interview.
  • It’s much easier to have prompts and reminders to help you

Cons

  • Technology can be unpredictable.  
  • There’s always the risk of you being interrupted.
  • It can be a little tougher to build up rapport.
  • It can be a little tougher to gauge the response of the interviewer.

What’s the similarities whether face to face or an online job interview?

  1. You have to be well prepared if you are going to perform well.
  2. You have to promote, sell yourself and demonstrate that you can do the job and fit in.
  3. You have to keep the job interview in perspective to help you manage your nerves.

Conclusion

Job interviews are and should be tough.  While online job interviews present different challenges, they are not in my experience and client experiences more difficult.
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