In today’s highly competitive job market the importance of employing efficient recruitment techniques cannot be overstated and personal interviews are undeniably proven and among the most reliable ways to secure candidates that best meet company’s requirements. However, I am convinced that such a time-consuming approach might be unreasonable for some businesses.
Admittedly, in-person interviews allow employers, and even more so experienced recruiters, to promptly identify if candidates possess people skills that best align with the corporate culture. For large-scale enterprises, though, which have to prioritise time and rational budgeting, such an approach might impose certain challenges. The way I see it, large-scale businesses might benefit from more optimized recruiting schemes where the vast pool of candidates is selected progressively, from CV screening to technical skills assessment, and the top-expertise hiring managers and business owners are only engaged for the final decision making. Therefore, a standardized step-by-step selection process rounded by an in-person interview might potentially reduce hiring risks and expenses by shortlisting the applicants that meet fundamental job requirements at an early stage.
Small and medium-sized businesses on the other hand will most likely find an individual approach more time and cost-efficient as oftentimes the employer combines a number of roles, including that of a project manager, accountant and a recruiter. In this case, interviewing might be a more reasonable way to assess job compatibility of a potential employee, especially in the service industry.
I believe that the choice of recruitment strategy is largely driven by the structure and industry of a given business and there is hardly a versatile approach that will meet the needs of every single enterprise. Yet, personal interview remains an inevitable part of any hiring process.