Hate talking on the phone? This interview is for you
不喜欢讲电话？这种面试适合你

Even if you don’t suffer from telephobia, or terror of talking on the phone, there’s still a good chance you text more than you dial.

就算没有电话恐惧症，也不害怕讲电话，你发信息的机会也可能大大高于打电话。

But how would you feel about texting a hiring manager to find out about a new job, or even do an interview?

但如果是用信息跟招聘经理讨论新工作，甚至是面试，你意下如何？

It seems many of us would much rather text than talk. A recent survey of 3,200 18-34-year-olds in the US, UK, France, Germany, Japan and Australia by LivePerson, a business solutions provider, found that if people had to choose between the phone app and messaging app, 73% of Americans and Brits would pick the messaging app. Other studies support these findings.

信息面试如何进行？比起打电话，大多数人更喜欢发信息。专业解决商业问题的活力人生（LivePerson）公司最近在英美法德日和澳大利亚进行了一项调查，发现在3,200名18至34岁的调查对象中，73%的英美人在打电话和发信息中会选择后者，另有其他研究也佐证了这一点。

So, it makes sense that employers are embracing texting, particularly for filtering early-stage job applicants.

因此雇主用信息面试也有道理，尤其是在初选面试。

Restaurant-reservation company OpenTable and healthcare company Roche, are two early adopters. They, and other firms, use Canvas, a text-based interview platform that launched last year, which allows recruiters to start text conversations with candidates.

提供餐厅订位服务的公司"摆桌吃饭"（OpenTable）和做健康保健的罗氏公司（Roche）已经率先使用信息面试。这两家公司和其他公司都在使用一个去年刚刚问世名为"画出未来"（Canvas）的信息面试平台，招聘人员可以向应聘者进行文字对话。

First impressions
第一印象

Nicole King, an accounting supervisor at Braden Business Systems, says she wasn’t particularly surprised when a recruiter initially contacted her by text message.

金女士（Nicole King）是布莱登商业公司（Braden Business Systems）的会计主管，她表示最初有招聘人员用信息联系她时并没感到特别惊讶。

“After sending my contact information to the company through LinkedIn, a recruiter texted me in the afternoon and introduced herself and Canvas with a video. I didn’t think twice about it because I’d rather text than talk on the phone.” The recruiter asked her questions like, ‘I’m curious to ask what made you interested in a position with us,’ she says, and they texted back and forth, on and off, for about an hour and a half.

"我在社交网站领英（LinkedIn）上把联系方式发给了布莱登公司，下午的时候一个招聘人员给我发信息，做了自我介绍还发了段视频介绍画出未来这个程序。我并没多想，相比打电话我更喜欢发信息。"招聘人员问她"为什么想来我们公司工作"，双方来来回回发信息，发了大概1个半小时。

“People who are looking for a job are usually currently employed somewhere, so it was easier to answer her questions in real time over text than have to call her, or make her wait.” The next day, the recruiter texted again to find out King’s salary requirements and scheduled a call to discuss everything in greater deal, before inviting her to an in-person interview.

"应聘者通常都上着班，回信息比接电话方便，也能更及时，不用请对方等电话。"第二天，招聘人员发信息问了金女士对薪水的要求，约了电话详谈的时间，最后才是请她当面去面试。

OpenTable has replaced its initial phone interview entirely with text screening for hiring their sales team, says Scott Day, senior vice president of people and culture, who is also on the talent leadership advisory board at Canvas.

摆桌吃饭公司员工及文化部的高级副总裁戴先生（Scott Day）说，他们公司在聘请销售人员时，首轮面试已经不用电话而全不采用信息面试。戴先生也是"画出未来"程序人才和领导力顾问委员会的成员。

“We’re trying to ascertain early on if the candidate gets us. Do they get the nature of going into restaurants – have they worked in a restaurant, do they understand the roles?”  Aside from the basics, Day says the text conversation might also touch on cultural dimensions too, to gauge, for instance, if the candidate has already worked in a fast-paced sales environment.

"我们希望能早点确定应聘者是否适合公司，他们是否了解去餐厅就餐的本质意义，有没有在餐厅工作过，知不知道要干什么。"除了这些基本问题，戴先生说信息交流还能涉及文化层面，譬如判定应聘者有没有在快节奏的销售行业工作过。

Texting with multiple people at once is more efficient and allows recruiters to deal with time differences more easily, according to Day, who says he’s seen a recruiter hosting 20-30 conversations on the dashboard at once.

戴先生认为，同时跟多位应聘者用信息面试效率更高，招聘人员也可以更好地处理时差问题，他见过有招聘人员同时开着20多个对话框。

Although the text responses are reviewed by a human recruiter, the platform also uses machine learning to recommend responses to questions from candidates – or might automatically generate a link to the company’s benefits page, for example.

招聘人员会审核应聘者的回应，但"画出未来"招聘平台也利用机器学习的科技向招聘人员推荐如何回复应聘者的问题，譬如自动发送公司福利网页的链接。

Less authentic?
不够真实？

But not everyone is convinced.

但也不是所有人都认可信息面试。

Texting may be a useful way of getting in touch with a candidate, for instance, if a desirable candidate hasn’t actually applied for a job, says Katrina Collier, a social media recruiting trainer at The Searchologist, in London. However, she’d be hesitant to use it with candidates who have already applied, especially if screening for competency.

高力（Katrina Collier）在伦敦的搜索学家（The Searchologist）公司工作，负责为社交媒体培训招聘人员，她认为信息招聘只适用于并非应聘者主动申请的情况，如果是应聘者自己申请，尤其还要筛选工作能力的话，她不太会用信息面试。

“You can miss a great applicant by not having a phone call,” she says. “You can tell their enthusiasm by the tone of their voice, or find out if they’re a good communicator.” And, because texting is less spontaneous, candidates might research answers before texting back, which is less authentic. There’s also the possibility that someone will hand their phone to someone else to answer the questions.

她说，"不用电话面试可能会损失一位好员工，你能从声音中感受到他们的工作热情，也能判断他们的沟通能力如何。"发信息可以不必即时即刻回信，因此应聘者可能会先搜搜答案再回复，真实性不足。有些人可能还会把电话给别人代作回复。

So, what should you do if you’re a faced with a text interview? “You may want to answer quickly because you know they can see your response time, but don’t rush or make spelling mistakes,” says Sydney Finkelstein, a professor of management at the Tuck School of Business. Prepare for a text interview by practicing giving succinct but meaningful responses, and studying your past texts, he says.

如果你有信息面试该怎么办？美国达特茅斯大学塔克商学院管理专业教授芬克尔斯坦（Sydney Finkelstein）说："最好快点回复，因为招聘人员能看到你的回复时间，但也别太着急，别有拼写错误。"他说，要训练自己回复信息能做到言简意赅，并认真研究以前写的信息怎么样。

“If you’re serious about this and you’re the candidate, spend some time doing an audit and analysis of your own past texts and see if your style might potentially mislead or be misinterpreted. You kind of have to unlearn the way you communicate over text because you’re now in a professional scenario.”

"如果你重视这份工作，而且收到了信息面试的要求，那就花点时间分析研究一下你以前的信息，看看会不会引起误解。别用自己平时发信息的聊天习惯，信息面试是很专业的。"

Tread carefully, though.

也要小心谨慎。

While some may have no problem with emoji, they may be viewed as inappropriate for others.

有些人觉得表情符号没问题，有些可能觉得不合适。

“I’m a big fan of emojis. Some people think it’s too casual but I think it makes the conversation more interactive,” Day says. “But you have to be careful of shorthand text jargon so you don’t lose your meaning. Make sure you’re clear.”

戴先生说："我特别喜欢用表情符号，有些人觉得太随意，我觉得能增强互动性。但用简略的俚语时要注意，不要丢失语义，要保证意思清晰。"

Collier agrees, advising to use full sentences with correct grammar. And if all else fails, she says, try to get them on the phone.

高力也同意，她建议使用语法正确的完整句子。如果做不到，就打电话。

“Try to guide them to your preferred method of communication, the one in which you can make the best impression.”

"让招聘人员用你喜欢的方式面试，你用哪种方式给人留下的印象最好就用哪种。"

来源：纽约时报