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In the late 1990’s
NC State, Rutgers,
the University of
Tennessee, and the
University of Virginia
were among a number
of universities
that all subscribed
to a video interviewing
service for their
students marketed
by a company called
ViewNet, Inc., based
in Madison, Wisconsin..
ViewNet’s subscribers
also included several
hundred businesses,
nationwide. The
idea was compelling:
let companies interview
job applicants remotely,
using videoconferencing.
But the idea was
still ahead of its
time. After three
years, the company
closed its doors,
unable to generate
enough revenue,
and the service
is no longer offered
at those universities.
Today,
desktop videoconferencing
and IP-based videoconferencing
over the Internet
is gaining ground,
but questions remain
about its reliability,
cost, and practicality.
Despite past difficulty,
the time may now
be right for this
technology to succeed
at Universities.
Many
larger businesses
now use video conferencing
for meetings and
interviews, and
companies supporting
small businesses
(e.g., Kinkos, and
some of the larger
hotel chains) are
offering video conferencing
services at a growing
number of locations
nationwide. Net.Work.Virginia
makes broadband
ATM available to
all Virginia businesses,
and IP-based video
networking is also
highly competitive.
For example, Indiana’s
Higher Education
Telecommunications
System recently
adopted First Virtual’s
IP-based product,
“Click-to-Meet”,
for its statewide
education video
network. Finally,
the potential users
today, our students,
are all much more
IT-savvy.
If
you want to experiment
with video interviewing
at Virginia Tech,
there are now two
opportunities. Our
Career Services
offices is working
with VIDINT Corporation
to allow companies
to interview student
applicants asynchronously,
recording the interviewer
and the students
at separate times,
and subsequently
combining the results
and making them
available to the
employers. VIDINT
is a new venture,
founded in January
2002, a partnership
of National Corporate
College Consultants
and a group of pioneer
software developers
based out of Charlottesville,
Virginia.
Also,
with IIIT, Career
Services is experimenting
with live (synchronous)
interviews using
IP-based video.
Still in an experimental
mode, this system
is available to
a limited number
of students wishing
to take part in
these interviews
with smaller IT
firms in the northern
Virginia area. If
successful, the
next step could
be a kind of “virtual
job fair,” allowing
even small companies
to conduct campus
interviews as part
of a recruiting
effort, without
incurring travel
costs. Interested
students and employers
should contact IIIT.
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