Get Hired From Home On WhatsApp

A few students from Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai, were in for a surprise when their future employer recently formed a WhatsApp group called the ‘The Internship’ and added them to take their interviews.

The Gurgaon-based creative director who was interviewing them thought it would be more creative in the comfort of their own surroundings. It would also cut down on the time and energy spent on travelling.

The strategy worked. The advertising agency hired all six as interns.

Even as interfaces like Skype and Google Hangouts and other networking sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook are being increasingly used during campus recruitments, the WhatsApp interview was probably the first of its kind and has caught the fancy of many on networking sites.

One of newly picked interns, Sai Padwal, said he had no idea that the conversation was supposed to be an actual interview. “It was something new and exciting. We were asked to create memes on the ‘Be like Bill’ series. The platform allowed us to be comfortable.”

Bodhisatwa Dasgupta, senior creative director of JWT who interviewed students, said, “Resumes hardly tell us how creative a student is. A creative person works best when he/she is left alone in his or her comfort zone…So I gave them a few tasks on WhatsApp. It helped me find out who can think on his/her feet faster. “

While WhatsApp interviews may not work for an interview for tech profiles in institutes like IITs, IIT-Bombay has been making use of interfaces such as Skype and Google Hangout.

Students are very comfortable online as it is a regular medium for them. In live interviews you are judged on everything. But it depends on individual preferences. A few recruiters who are unable to come to the campus for interviews do opt for online interviews,” said Atul Shukla, IIT-B placement manager. The institute’s placement cell also uses LinkedIn to connect to recruiters, said the student.

“At SP Jain Global, we help students present themselves well through LinkedIn, we advise them to write and upload blogs, their media appearances, and share news-worthy articles. The students go through mock interviews which are video recorded for review and expert coaching.

From clothing to posture to voice and demeanor, we help them present their best professional selves on Skype and video interviews,” said CJ Meadows, director of innovations at SP Jain Global School of Management. At NMIMS, recruiters use Skype for interviewing on rare occasions. Tanima Nigam, coordinator from Lady Shri Ram College said that several companies prefer using the online platform if they are unable to make it to the campus.