The impact of videoconference technology, interview structure, and interviewer gender on interviewer evaluations in the employment interview: A fieldexperiment

Despite the growing use of communication technologies, such as videoconfere ncing, in recruiting and selection, there is little research examining whet her these technologies influence interviewers' perceptions of candidates. T he present field experiment analysed evaluations of 92 real job applicants who were randomly assigned either to be interviewed face-to-face (FTF) (N = 48) or using a desktop videoconference system (N = 44). The results show a bias in favour of the videoconference applicants relative to FTF applicant s, F(1,91) = 7.35,.p = .01. A significant interaction of interview structur e and interviewer gender was also found, F(1,91) = 3.70, p < .05, with fema le interviewers using an unstructured interview rating applicants significa ntly higher than males or females using a structured interview. Interview s tructure did not significantly moderate the influence of interview medium o n interviewers' evaluations of applicants. These findings highlight the nee d to be aware of potential biases resulting from the use of communication t echnologies in the hiring process.