Chances are, if you have ever had a job, you have gone through at least some kind of interview process at least once. Experiences may vary, but the same basic concept is the same. Employers want to get to know you to see if you would be a good candidate for their organization. Many can identify areas for improvement with how interviews are conducted.
In my personal experience, the interviews I have been a part of are unique. The most recent being an interview for the USSF (United States Space Force). That interview was the determining factor for whether the service would accept me or deny me. The decision for who gets in and who does not is determined by STAR Comm (Space Training And Readiness) Command. The interview makes up 60% of your packet and is crucial for your success. It consisted of six questions that appeared virtually and had you answer into your web camera. Overall, the experience was a bit alien and foreign to me. Just like in the lectures for this week, I felt the coldness of the interview since there was no rapport established. There was no opening or closing, no conversation, and no dialogue at all. It was answering questions that appeared on your screen into your web camera within the allowed time frame. We had to wear full service dress as the camera was required to see from the top half of our body of the torso up. That experience didn’t feel real to me and I was greatly thrown off with the zero human element.
Despite my gripes, I know why they did it like this and why it is not feasible to have in-person interviews. The service is heavily reliant on digital technology and is doing everything they can to fast-track processes. Having candidates answer questions into a camera for later grading frees up time and resources as we no longer have to have a panel of personnel sitting on the interview board for long periods of time. They can now work on reviewing the interviews on their own time, freeing them up to complete their missions faster and more effectively. Overall, while I wouldn’t classify the interview as ‘effective’ from how it is defined in the business setting, it was effective in the military setting. Very streamlined and fast, cutting out the logistics portion of interviews entirely.