Phone vs. Face-to-Face Interviews

Check out Historiann’s recent post about whether phone interviews are a good alternative to face-to-face interviews at big annual conferences. Her initial feeling — based on the fact that none of the departments she’s worked in have “brought someone who had a telephone interview to campus as a job finalist when we also conducted conference interviews” — is that face-to-face meetings are superior. A “disembodied voice over the speakerphone just doesn’t establish one’s energy or presence in the same way that in-person interviews can,” she writes.

She’s quick to note, however, that at least one commenter on her blog thinks this could be a good year for phone interviews, since “departments might be looking to save money” through “alternative interview arrangements,” given tight budgets.

Maybe, but job seekers who have phone interviews will still be at a disadvantage unless each and every interview is conducted by phone, Historiann points out.

Tell us what you think.