Can a Good Handshake Clinch the Deal for Your Dream Job?


 We've all been there.  Looking and looking and interviewing for the dream job, and then, there it is, right in front of your eyes.

So you suit up and work on your handshake and your spiel about how you're the best candidate for the job.

But a new study says that's not all it takes.  The study examining the effects of technology-mediated interviews found in-person interviews yielded better impressions for the company and the candidate.
“We live in a world where we increasingly rely on technology, but this study reminds us that personal interactions should never be underestimated,” said author Nikki Blacksmith, a doctoral candidate at the George Washington University’s Department of Organizational Sciences and Communication. “Many times, the candidate does not have a choice in the format of the interview. However, the organization does have a choice and if they are not consistent with the type of interview they use across candidates, it could result in fairness issues and even possibly a lawsuit," newswise.com reports.
Ms. Blacksmith found that, overall, technology-mediated interviews resulted in lower ratings for both the company and the candidate. Within that category, video interviews received the most negative rankings, followed by telephone and computer interviews. Face-to-face interviews received more favorable rankings.
Additionally, the study looked at the effect of time on the ratings, assuming that as people became more accustomed to the technology and it improved or advanced, they would rate it higher. In fact, the opposite occurred, and ratings became more negative for more recent studies.
“Considering the rate at which technology has changed, it is clear that we lack understanding of the modern interview,” Ms. Blacksmith says in the paper.

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