Safer Ways to Interview


The COVID-19 pandemic has put many employers on edge when it comes to their safety. While often thought of as an innocuous activity, most job interviews are essentially two strangers talking to each other. Neither the applicant nor the hiring manager necessarily knows each other all that well, which means safety precautions have to be taken for health reasons. 

If you’re a business owner or hiring manager who’s especially concerned about your health and safety during job interviews, here are a few steps you can take:

Cancel face-to-face initial interviews

These days, there is no real reason to conduct initial job interviews in person. Minimize person-to-person contact by cancelling face-to-face interviews. We recognize that it’s hard to duplicate the connection when interviews are done face-to-face. However, only in this way, you are keeping everyone’s health and safety prioritized. 

Don’t forget the old-fashioned phone call

Let’s not forget how initial screenings can be made efficiently via phone call. Calling applicants will not only let us feel safe in our homes, but it can also help us determine the applicant’s sincerity of his application by focusing on the tone of his voice.

Use apps such as Zoom and Skype for final interviews when possible

Whether we like it or not, virtual interviews have become the new normal for recruitment during this pandemic. Final interviews should be done through video calling apps such as Skype and Zoom. This will not only help you avoid physical contact with strangers, but these methods can be far more efficient, allowing you to screen more applicants in a given time. Once you’ve narrowed down your applicant pool, you can then consider calling in people for a face-to-face follow-up interview once your company’s regular operations resume.

Limit travel

After the Enhanced Community Quarantine is lifted, it is beneficial to limit your travel for a month or two. Cancel or postpone your business meetings, interviews and visits most especially if it requires you to attend mass gatherings. It is to ensure that once you conduct face-to-face interviews in your office again, you can also protect your applicants from any possible health risks.

Keeping safe and healthy should always be your priority. If there’s one thing that the COVID-19 should teach us, it’s that while preventative measures can be a hassle, they’re well worth it to prevent serious risks to our safety.

What other things can employers do to keep themselves protected during interviews? Tell us your ideas in the comments!

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