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Over the last few years there has been a lot of development in video chatting.  More companies are rolling out programs that will allow you to call friends through your computer and see each other’s faces.  This concept has also been applied to many conferences within businesses as well.

So why has it never filtered into the Human Resources departments or IT recruiting companies? For a hiring manager it could be a good way to gauge the personality and professionalism of a prospective candidate rather than just listen to them over the phone.  Listening to someone’s voice is a lot different from just seeing the person body movements and facial expressions.  Those are very important to understanding the prospective IT job candidate better.

From an IT recruiters’ perspective this can also go horribly wrong.  First, their internet connection could be weak and cause a lot of freezing during the interview.  A hiring manager would find this annoying especially if you will need to reconnect with them every so often.  In addition, the candidate would need to tidy up the location where they are planning on interviewing.  Most importantly, there can be many interruptions.  Unlike being on the phone, the hiring manager will be able to see or notice interruptions from your body language and facial expressions.

The main difference with a phone interview and video chatting is that you need to sign on in order to video chat.  A candidate could just not sign on due to forgetting about the interview.  With a phone interview you can call them and either speak to them or leave a message.  Either way, you can contact them regardless of whether you have a strong signal or not.

There are many things that are left to chance with video chatting that can cause the candidate to lose the IT job or the hiring manager to become fed up with the candidate.  This could cost IT staffing companies placements or candidates themselves could miss out on a golden opportunity.