John Jonas explains why early Skype interviews with Filipino virtual assistant candidates backfire: cultural shyness, fear of losing face, and technical barriers cause up to 80% dropout rates. Use written communication first to build trust, then video calls as a final step.
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Why you shouldn't do a Skype interview when hiring a VA. A Skype interview, it seems like the most obvious thing to do. Seems so sensible that anyone who talks about hiring vas tells you to do it, whether they've actually done one or not. So here's the thing. I don't do Skype interviews, and my hiring success rate is around 80%. It's not a necessary part of the interview process. Plus it's riddled with problems. Here's why. Filipinos are what they call shy. Anything which they feel like could potentially embarrass them is really scary to them. They don't like to lose face, and a Skype interview with a potential foreign boss is one of those things. So if you schedule a Skype interview, here's what happens. Let's say you have 10 potential candidates. You ask them for a Skype interview right off the bat. Five of them are going to drop out of the process because they're too scared to do the interview. Of the other five who schedule with you, three of them won't show up because they're too scared. Which means you just lost eight potential recruits for a position which didn't require them to be talking on the phone or doing voice interactions. The two who show up are probably not the best two candidates. They're just the two most accustomed with doing a Skype interview. So why don't Filipinos like to do the Skype interview? Well, there are all kinds of reasons. It could be that they don't have a microphone for their computer, or they're scared that you'll hear the chickens clucking around in the background. Or they're worried their Internet won't be good enough for a video conference call. Or they're worried that you won't understand them. They're pretty sure that they'll understand you because they watch American TV and movies. But it's so embarrassing if the person interviewing you doesn't understand you. So in the end, there are all kinds of reasons not to do this. However, if you're going to do it, let me give you some advice which will make you more successful. So do this interview as the last piece of your recruiting process. The earlier you do it, the more likely you are to lose good candidates. The later in the process you do it. The more communication you've had with them, the more trust you've built up with them, the more likely you'll have them show up. Plus, if you do it later in the recruiting process, the less time you have to deal with time zones and doing more interviews. In the end, I don't recommend doing a Skype interview when hiring a Filipino va, but if you're going to do it, do it later in the hiring process. For more tips, head over to OnlineJobs ph Education. My name is John Jonas and I created OnlineJobs Phone.
