5 Reasons Skype Won’t Scale

By: Sanjoe Jose,CEO,Talview.com

We are living in an increasingly connected world today, thanks to the ubiquitous presence of digital technology and tools like Skype which have extended themselves to recruitment tasks beyond personal chats with friends and family. Nearly 250 million users worldwide are using Skype to hold job interviews today. The immediate reasons why businesses are engaging this medium to connect with candidates is that it is free of cost, easy to use and quick in access, which means that companies can save on a lakhs of rupees that can go waste in flying candidates to and fro for an interview. The low cost factor is tempting several organizations to adopt Skype as their means to a virtual interview but this is where they must be warned about the downside of using this tool for their hiring operations.

Most companies need to reconsider Skype as an enterprise solution whether large or small, due to certain technical deficiencies which mar this tool. Some of them can be summarized as:

1. Audi-Visual Quality: The technical issue of how well you may be able to see and hear each other is always prevalent. Low internet speed may play a role in worsening the situation.It can often put recruiters in an embarrassing situation if they constantly have to repeat what they are saying. Even candidates may become nervous and lose their flow of thought when faced with breaking of audio-video connection frequently. Multiple callers may face problems of reliability and time lapse in fixing the problems.

2. Multiple Interviewers: Skype is not very compatible for connection to a board room AV system. Especially when more than one person is sitting to interview the candidates, one needs adequate audio equipment with advanced microphones and speakers to capture every word. Besides, it is difficult to keep all people interviewing the candidate in a frame where each one of them is equally and clearly visible.
   
   

3. Basic Focus on Consumer to Consumer Interaction: Skype was essentially created for people to stay connected hence it works on a policy of creating personal accounts. It is not designed as a B2B tool.

4. Recording for Later Reviews: It does not allow recording.

5. Lack of Security & Privacy: Skype technology is not found to be entirely secure when it comes to video conferencing for business needs. Especially if sharing vital or confidential information about the company, one must ensure encryption and security codes that are unbreakable as security is topmost priority when conducting business over any digital medium.

Organizations are moving towards a rapidly technological world where live video interviews, recorded interviews or others such forms of digital tête-à-tête are taking precedence over the traditional form of recruitment. Live streaming interviews are as close as one can get to face-to-face interaction. One can study body language, communication skills as well as a person’s reactions to spontaneous questions. Skype is a web-based program that allows for such video interviewing. However, owing to the above-mentioned disadvantages, it is fast being replaced by video interviews to get in touch with a large number of candidates across geographies. Also, it gives flexibility for the candidate to sit anytime, anywhere for the interview at his or her convenience. This means organizations can headhunt for top talent without losing out on key candidates due to time—distance gaps in the competitive world today. Not only are they cost saving which is important especially for SMEs, they also reduce barriers of distance to a level where candidates can be interviewed from overseas. Crucial for outsourcing recruits from other regions of the world to avoid a talent mismatch, this helps businesses hire aptly as per their needs and scale their brand to new markets. Offering a contemporary multimedia enriched experience, much content can be shared across cyber space to assess, review and understand candidate quality though sharing of social media profile, online portfolio, live work sample or aid one’s oration through presentation. This method also helps in gauging candidate’s technical proficiency and working style.

As compared to poor audio-visual quality, security lapse and technical glitches that Skype is riddled by, Asynchronous Video Interviews benefit your organization with speedy recruitment processes and augmented flexibility. One must assess the business needs of the company to recruit wisely. If audio-video quality, longer duration of interaction, multiple interviewers and security are necessary factors for the hiring process to be fruitful, Skype is definitely a weaker choice. To enjoy relevance and seamless communication in today’s fast-paced world, Video Interviewing seems like the better option to ensure timely talent recruitment and an enhanced interviewing experience.