Want a Job? Get a Webcam: More Companies Hiring Via Video Interviews

ABC's Bradley Blackburn reports from New York: In the Oscar-nominated film ‘Up in the Air,’ George Clooney plays a man who flies around the country, firing people for a living.  He works for an outplacement firm, and part of the plot rotates around his hatred of a strange idea: instead of firing people in-person, his firm plans to do the job remotely, using video conferencing. For now, “layoff via webcam” exists only in the world of the movies, but there are signs that more companies are using video technology for another purpose – hiring. At universities across the country, many career centers have installed video conferencing technology in the hope of helping their students and alumni find work.  For some employers, video interviews are now as crucial as a paper resume.  Questioning via webcam is a cheap and efficient alternative to flying someone across the country to conduct an in-person interview. “Employers love the fact that they can do at least a first round of interviewing by seeing the person through video,” said Julie Lucas with the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. Lucas said the technology saves potential employers both time and money, and students like it, too. “This is the generation that’s grown up with this technology.  They’re very comfortable with it,” she said. The University of Denver subscribes to a service called InterviewStream to conduct webcam interviews and help their students prepare.  InterviewStream’s software includes practice interview questions, and it can also critique an interviewee’s performance. InterviewStream co-founder Randy Bitting said his service helps people “get used to speaking on a webcam” before they sit down for a real interview.  It tells people when they rely on verbal crutches such as “um” and “like.” The service costs schools anywhere from $2,500 to $4,000, and potential employers pay up to $60 per person to conduct an interview.  Bitting said over 50 MBA programs and 300 colleges have signed on. Of course, video technology won't completely replace the interview table anytime soon. The University of Kansas School of Business has had video conferencing technology in its career center for over three years but so far “it’s never been utilized,” said Dave Byrd-Stadler, employer relations coordinator for the school.  That’s partly because many of the school’s graduates work at companies in the region, but there are also all of the intangibles that video cannot capture.  “Reading body language, having more personal discussion, it’s easier to pick up on in-person," Byrd-Stadler said.