Job Interviews

The Slow March of Progress

The emergence of new technology is often both exciting and disappointing. While it’s great to think about how much of a positive impact the newest breakthrough is going to have on our lives, the reality is that it can take a frustratingly long time for some things to really take off. As an anecdotal example, while Skype has been around since 2003, I did not have my first series of Skype job interviews until 2014. These were overseas teaching positions, so in-person interviews were not an option, but that hasn’t always meant that Skype was going to be the natural choice.

When I applied for my first Korean language teaching job back in 2011, I had a regular phone interview. Future job interviews when I was already living in Korea took place at diner and at McDonald’s. Judging from my personal experience, at that time Korea was one of the best nations in the world in terms of internet connectivity. My point is that there is often an odd reluctance to make use of some of the very useful technological tools we have at our disposal.

I think that oftentimes it comes down to an issue of perceived legitimacy. In-person interviews, for example, have just been the established norm for so long that it took some time for people to get used to the idea that a virtual approach can be just as professional. Thankfully, it seems that virtual interviewing has managed to cement its legitimacy by this point. The whole process is just easier for both applicants and employers. A casual Google search for “Skype interview” now yields pages and pages of guides on how to prepare for one. It’s a good sign that this kind of advice is in such high demand.

There are, however, other areas where more progress could be made. One such area is education. A lot of busy people in the world could really take advantage of online learning platforms to get a degree or certificate and further their careers. Having worked in the education industry for over 5 years, I certainly would have liked to see my students to have access to more e-learning resources. This area is undergoing its own little struggle for legitimacy, but I can say with confidence that it will become as normalized as putting on some nice clothes and sitting down in front of a webcam to land your next gig. Currently, online interviews are becoming increasingly widespread across U.S. universities and colleges as part of the application process. I’m going through my own grad school applications at the moment and have had to eliminate one German university from my list of potential schools due to a lack of online interview options. There was an English language test that was a required part of the application, and I was not able to fly to Germany just to take it in person. I am hoping that now that other virtual solutions have paved the way, it should take far less time for new ones to establish themselves.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bart Chlebowski is a professional writer and TEFL teacher currently based in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia. He just came back from spending over 4 years in the South Korean TEFL industry both as a teacher and content creator. He has a degree in English with a minor in political science from the University of British Columbia, and plans to go on to get his MA in Europe later this year. His interests include current events, politics, history, literature, and travel. In his free time, he enjoys hitting the beach, having some drinks with his wife and friends, or taking in a good soccer match.