A Comparison of Conventional and Technology-Mediated Selection Interviews With Regard to Interviewees’ Performance, Perceptions, Strain, and Anxiety

Abstract

Organizations increasingly use technology-mediated interviews. However, only limited research is available concerning the comparability of different interview media and most of the available studies stem from a time when technology-mediated interviews were less common than in the present time. In an experiment using simulated selection interviews, we compared traditional face-to-face (FTF) interviews with telephone and videoconference interviews to determine whether ratings of interviewees’ performance, their perceptions of the interview, or their strain and anxiety are affected by the type of interview. Before participating in the actual interview, participants had a more positive view of FTF interviews compared to technology-mediated interviews. However, fairness perceptions did not differ anymore after the interview. Furthermore, there were no differences between the three interview media concerning psychological and physiological indicators of strain or interview anxiety. Nevertheless, ratings of interviewees’ performance were lower in the technology-mediated interviews than in FTF interviews. Thus, differences between different interview media can still be found nowadays even though most applicants are much more familiar with technology-mediated communication than in the past. The results show that organizations should take this into account and therefore avoid using different interview media when they interview different applicants for the same job opening.

Expanding conceptual understanding of interview anxiety and performance: Integrating cognitive, behavioral, and physiological features

“…HRV is conceptualized as one's capacity for emotion regulation and social engagement (Thayer et al, 2009;Thayer & Lane, 2000). Unsurprisingly, HRV has been found to change in the context of a simulated job interview (Melchers et al, 2021;Villada et al, 2017) and higher HRV reactivity (i.e., greatest change from resting to a stressful state) has been found to be related to greater accuracy in perceiving subtle social and emotional cues in a mock interview (Muhtadie et al, 2014). Finally, one study found that interviewees' level of cortisol (hormonal index of physiological arousal) varied depending on their level of social anxiety, such that individuals identified as having high levels of social anxiety (i.e., one feature of the cognitive component of interview anxiety) also exhibited higher levels of cortisol (Budnick et al, 2019).…”

“…This preference for face-to-face interviews may result from the fact that in-person interviews facilitate a natural back-and-forth that enables individuals to convey and interpret emotional responses, and provide more opportunities to use nonverbal cues (Chapman & Rowe, 2002;Proost et al, 2020). A more recent study examined anxiety in response to three interview platforms (face-to-face, phone, video-conference) and no significant associations were observed, although the sample consisted of university students in a lab-based study, which calls for additional field-based research (Melchers et al, 2021).…”

“…Similarly, nonverbal behaviors of anxiety are typically collapsed into an overall category reflecting "anxiety displays," which have been shown to negatively relate to interview success (Budnick et al, 2015;Langer et al, 2016). Finally, the limited studies that have examined the physiological component of interview anxiety have not found an association between salivary cortisol and interview performance (Budnick et al, 2019), nor between cardiac activity and performance during a simulated interview (Melchers et al, 2021;Villada et al, 2017). This may not be surprising given that interviewers cannot readily see an interviewer's physiological activity; rather, this internal activity may be translated to overt behaviors, which speaks to the need to examine indirect associations.…”

Psychological Benefits and Challenges of Ph.D. Entrance Exam Virtual Interviews During COVID-19 Pandemic: Does Gender Play a Role?

“…One possible reason for this non-discrepancy is due to the design differences of different VI platforms, such as the opportunity to fake responses ( Lukacik et al, 2020 ) and restrictiveness in making and correcting errors ( Wong, 2020 ). Another explanation is that experiencing the actual interview lowers the differences between the applicants with prior experience and their counterparts ( Melchers et al, 2021 ). Unlike this study, Wong (2020) found that having no prior VI experiences results in more negative reactions against VI, especially concerning fairness and justice issues, but experiencing VI may help to mitigate pre-interview negative reflections ( Basch et al, 2020a ).…”

“…They perceived the VI as inadequate in providing social presence, eye contact, and impression management opportunities. In the same vein, comparing conventional and technology-mediated selection interviews, Melchers et al (2021) concluded that different interview media bring about different performance ratings and perceptions under their inherent attributes.…”