Hiring new employees is not an easy task and can be extremely stressful. Many employers, thus, constantly try to investigate and come up with new ways in which they can make this entire stressful process much easier for them.

With technologies such as webcams and video conferencing, conducting virtual interviews is now a possibility and could easily become a new way to hire future employees. Virtual interviews can be conducted from within the comfort of an employer’s home or office, and this is perhaps a great advantage in conducting virtual interviews. These are essentially like other job interviews. However, they are different in that the manner that these interviews are conducted is via the Internet instead of in person. This essentially means that interviewers would not have to set aside extra time to meet with the candidates on a particular day in or outside of the city, and you will not have to invite any strangers inside your office or home. You might as well take the interview in your pajamas and you can easily conduct these video interviews on Blue Jeans video conferencing software. 

Types of Virtual Interviews
According to HH Staffing, virtual interviews consist of two basic types; with the first one involving a recording of the job applicant while they answer all of the interview questions in the style of a video resume. In this, the employers would send a video to the applicant consisting of interview questions, or email the list of questions to them. The interviewees would then have to record their answers to the questions in the format of a video and send it over to the employer so that the video can be reviewed.  The other virtual interview type is a two way process where interviews are conducted live and involves the interviewer and interviewing interacting with each other in real time as though it were a physical meeting, except it’s through computer screens. Virtual interviews are a great way for employers to hunt out talent in an effective manner. They are especially useful when interviewing candidates that are not situated in the same geographical location as that of the interviewers.

Advantages of Virtual Interviews
Inexpensive
When an employee needs to be hired outside of the area that the business is situated in, it takes a lot of funds in order to fly the applicant to the required destination in order to carry out their interview. When the same interview is performed online, the hiring process becomes much easier and cost effective, especially since the company does not have to spend heavily on purchasing air tickets, as emphasized by Recruiting Trends. They would not even have to waste fuel in order to travel to any nearby location that the interviewee wants their information taken at. All they would be required to do is to sit comfortably in their office space and let the interviewee be comfortable in their home while they conduct the interview.
Time Saving
A Successful Woman raves about how conducting a virtual interview saves time as it can be scheduled whenever it is possible for both the people involved, and not just during regular business hours. The time is also saved in the sense that with the help of virtual interviews, there will no longer be any need to travel to other locations in order to conduct the interviews. 

Technology
When you interview candidates through video conferencing programs, it makes it possible for you to really be able to tell how capable the applicants are in terms of their understanding of technology. When a company knows that an applicant can master the usage of an online program, they can determine whether a certain candidate is fit for a job or not, especially if the position is for something technology driven.

Are Virtual Interviews for You? 
Virtual interviews are truly gaining a lot of importance and popularity all thanks to the many advantages and benefits that they offer to the companies. A study conducted by PGi showed that since 2011, online job interviews have increased by as much as 49 percent, with 66 percent of the candidates actually preferring to be interviewed over the Internet. The numbers of HR managers that are known to make use of video conferencing to interview candidates are 6 in every 10, which will significantly increase in the near future. Another very significant advantage of taking interviews over the Internet as opposed to the traditional methods over the phone is that virtual interviews can look into the non verbal part of communication of the candidate as well. Virtual interviews play an important role in making the hiring process much more effective and efficient for the company. These interviews are a great way to judge a candidate’s skills for the job and make sure that they make the right decision while hiring someone. Apart from this, virtual interviews are also far more constructive.