Interviewing During a Pandemic
I am sure you are well aware of what Coronavirus or COVID-19 is by now, so I’m not going to go into to the who, what, where, how and why’s of the virus.
However, it is extremely important that business continues and continuing with recruitment goes hand in hand with that. Putting recruitment on hold can have a negative impact on the way in which a business continues to run/grow.
I thought I would give a few suggestions on how to ensure your hiring plans aren’t effected by the outbreak. It’s already been reported that some of the large banks are asking candidates to sign a waiver confirming they haven’t visited certain countries in a certain period of time before attending a face to face interview. A lot of offices are requesting staff work from home but with modern technology it doesn’t mean you can’t meet with potential candidates.
- Telephone interview – these are becoming more common with initial HR phone calls in an interview process and is a good option if you are wanting to have a general conversation or test culture fit rather than technical ability.
- Skype/Face Time/WhatsApp – this is also becoming an increasingly more common way for people to conduct interviews. Of course it’s important that when looking to hire you “meet” with the person potentially joining your team and a video call is definitely the best alternative to this.
- Google Hangouts Meet – this is a platform for multiple people to all communicate via video call. Often towards the final stages of an interview the shortlisted candidates will meet with multiple stakeholders in the business and this would be a great platform to use to enable a “face to face meeting” without it having to be in person. (Google Hangouts Meet are also offering a free upgrade to their premium version for businesses, due to the effects of Coronavirus).
If you are currently looking to hire into your team or are in the process of doing so, we’d certainly suggest you think about how you can speed the process along. It has been made known that the virus has still not reached its peak in the UK yet, which highlights the importance of on-boarding new team members to aid in ensuring business does continue during this time.