As an executive retained search firm in Austin, I would estimate that 60% of our candidates are actually “SKYPED” (free video interview discussions). I would also guess that 25% are interviewed in person with the remaining 15% over the phone.
In my opinion, the best way to interview someone is definitely in person. However, sometimes due to keeping costs in line related to travel budgets or for ease of convenience, using SKYPE is a very good substitution.
If I have to interview an executive candidate on the phone, I can make a fairly good judgement on a candidate but it is much better to see the candidate in person or via SKYPE. Non-verbal behavior fills in the blanks for a complete picture.
It is also interesting that most candidates today are “SKYPE savvy.” Most have had interviews in the past two or three years via SKYPE and this is not a new conversation for them. However, I find that most company organizations still execute most of their interviews via telephone interviews to determine if they want to invite a candidate into the company. I believe organizations need to catch up in this area.
My preferences are: 1) in-person, 2) SKYPE, 3) telephone interview. It takes about 5 minutes to load the SKYPE software on to your computer. If you are not using this technology and you are in the business world, you are running behind.
