At work we are (finally) hiring another person to the team. I’ve been drafted to be on the hiring committee, which is a pleasant surprise. It’s my first time ever being on a team to determine who to hire as a colleague. Previous experience is only with interviewing potential student assistants. It’s quite a step up, and not without some pressure. To have the power to (partly) determine someone’s fate regarding their gainful employment is something I take seriously.
Since the pandemic is still a thing, we are conducting interviews via Zoom. We’ve only done one thus far, and I have to say I hate it. It’s a pain to read out long and complicated questions, hoping the interviewee catches all of it. Perhaps this first guy is idiosyncratic in not being able to hear well over the Internet. On half the questions he had to ask for a second reading. I got the feeling that this could have been avoided, and the interview gone much smoother, if it were live in person.
Because it’s difficult to deduce body language and cues when the other party is trapped inside a computer display. The eye-contact you want to make just doesn’t come through via Zoom. The interviewee can’t gather any immediately feedback, on how we are reacting to his answers. With this first guy there were definitely times where he should have caught onto our subtle hints that his answers were dragging on too long. Again, difficult to convey over Zoom.
Nevertheless I look forward to the rest of interview and deliberation process. To have some impact on who I will get to work with for many years to come is such a privilege. No one else to blame if who we hire ends up being shitty and wholly unreliable!
For you in full blossom.