What Type of Job Interview is Best for Technical Roles: Face-to-Face or Virtual?
By Fay Capstick
As a recruitment agency specialising in highly technical IT and digital roles, we are often asked to give our opinion on what is best, face-to-face or virtual job interviews. This week we shall guide you through our thinking process to help you decide what might work best if you are offering a technical job. For candidates, it should give you an idea of the rationale behind what you are being asked to do.
Let’s dig in!
What are the Advantages of Using Face-to-Face Interviews?
- Collaboration Assessment: For roles like developers and DevOps engineers, face-to-face interviews allow employers to assess real-time problem-solving skills in a collaborative environment, such as pair programming or team-based tasks.
- Understanding Technical Depth: In-person discussions often enable deeper exploration of candidates’ expertise, especially for complex topics like architecture design, scalability, or infrastructure setup.
- Team Compatibility: Developers and DevOps engineers often work in agile teams. Face-to-face meetings can help gauge how candidates will interact with specific team members and contribute to the team dynamic.
When do Face-to-Face Interviews Work Best in Highly Technical Hiring?
- Senior Developers and Architects: For those leading technical design or architecture, face-to-face interviews provide insights into their leadership presence and decision-making approach.
- DevOps and Infrastructure Roles: In-person interviews can simulate real-world collaboration scenarios, such as resolving outages or optimizing deployments.
- Final Stages of the Hiring Process: Meeting in person solidifies mutual confidence and provides candidates with a clear picture of your company’s work environment and tools.
Challenges for Recruiting for Highly Technical Roles
- Global Talent Pool: Many highly skilled developers and DevOps professionals in the UK tech market work remotely or are based abroad, making in-person interviews logistically challenging.
- Tech-Driven Hiring Processes: The tech industry often relies on coding tests, technical exercises, and virtual collaboration tools, which can reduce the necessity of in-person meetings.
- Time-to-Hire Pressure: Given the demand for tech talent in the UK, lengthy in-person interview requirements might discourage top candidates who are juggling multiple offers.
Our Recommendations
Virtual Interviews for Screening and Technical Assessments:
- Conduct your initial interviews via video conferencing, focusing on technical proficiency through tools like live coding platforms or collaborative whiteboards.
- Use these stages to evaluate problem-solving, technical knowledge, and communication skills.
- Face-to-Face Interviews for Final Stages:
- We think you should reserve in-person interviews for senior or strategic roles or when hiring for key contributors to core projects.
- Consider scheduling on-site interviews to include team meet-and-greets or facility tours, providing candidates with a holistic experience of your organization.
- Offer Flexibility:
- Acknowledge that some candidates, especially in DevOps and development, may prefer fully remote processes. Giving candidates the option of virtual or in-person final interviews demonstrates adaptability, which resonates with tech professionals.
The Bottom Line
For highly technical roles in the UK tech industry, hybrid hiring approaches are most effective. Virtual interviews are ideal for speed and scalability, while face-to-face interviews are invaluable for finalizing decisions, especially for roles involving collaboration, leadership, or long-term commitments.
Final Thoughts
At Parker Shaw we have been at the forefront of the sector we serve, IT & Digital Recruitment and Consulting, for over 35 years. We can advise you on all your hiring needs. If you are looking for your next job in the IT sector please check our Jobs Board for our current live vacancies at https://parkershaw.co.uk/jobs-...;