New-Age Interviews

Job interviews are no longer conducted only face to face, in a Q&A format. We examine the various ways you get to meet your potential employer these days and how you can best prepare.

- Sisonke Labase

Times have changed, and so has the way companies do business. With the technology that has come along in the internet era, a face-to-face interview is no longer the only way to assess a candidate. If you expect to sit in a room with someone or be grilled by a panel, you’re in for a surprise. We look at some of the common new-age forms of interviewing that have gained popularity in recent years.

THE TELECON 

Telephonic interviews are an easy way to communicate with you, especially if the company is based in another town. If the potential employer is searching for someone within a short space of time, they can weed out who is worth meeting this way. Pretoria-based Suyan Budhoo, a life coach at Success Focus, explains: “Telephonic interviews can be conducted when the interviewee cannot attend an initial interview, perhaps due to the job being in another city or overseas. This type of interview saves time, recruitment and travel costs. It can also help an employer to decide which candidates should go on a short list to interview face to face.”

How to prepare: For a telephonic interview, the best way to make a good impression is to be beyond prepared. This includes ensuring that your phone is fully charged. It’s a good idea to make sure that you’re in a quiet area with a good signal, so you don’t miss anything during your interview. Since you can’t see each other, it may be hard to impress your interviewer with just your voice and what you say.