In the tightest job market since 1969, employers are attempting to draw in workers - at times after only one phone interview - without having a face to face interview. Finding and hiring top talent is no longer limited by proximity or the coordination of increasingly busy schedules.

The practice has become most common in seasonal work, although it is spreading among in-demand white-collar roles, such as engineers and IT professionals.

The world of freelancing - known as the gig economy - is one area in which hiring workers unseen is not uncommon.

Remote.co surveyed more than one hundred companies with remote workers and as a result, Brie Reynolds - Senior Career Specialist at Remote.co and FlexJobs - stated:

“…….the vast majority use phone interviews—more so than video interviews—for hiring."  

Ira S. Wolfe - President of recruiting firm Success Performance Solutions in Wind Gap, Pa. - and an author who has emerged as one of HR's most visionary thinkers, said:

"The success of hiring sight unseen depends on the role. For a recent web project, I never spoke with the developer. All communication was via messaging."

He went on to suggest that - when hiring for traditional roles and full-time staff workers - consideration of whether the interviews should be conducted face-to-face; via video or teleconferencing, or without any visual interaction at all can be made based on very practical considerations - adding:

"If physical on-site interaction with employees or customers is required on the job, then a face-to-face interview is recommended. But if the job will be conducted virtually, then a video or phone interview offers an excellent assessment of how the candidate will conduct work.”

In Reddit - an American social news and discussion website - on a forum dedicated to Boeing Co, multiple users described being offered jobs for entry-level positions after phone interviews only.

Former Boeing recruiters said the company hired sight unseen, particularly for tough-to-fill technical positions and engineering roles and a Boeing spokeswoman stated that the company aims to hire a diverse workforce from the most qualified pool.

She said:

“With almost 1 million applicants a year, we strive to create a contemporary candidate experience that uses the most current practices in candidate assessment.”

However, Brie Reynolds commented that even when those being hired will have only slight interaction with others, there can be some potential drawbacks to remote interviews.

"One downside is the ease with which an interviewer can be distracted by an e-mail or chat message, or any number of things happening around them. Some people also miss the body language aspect of interviewing."

Denise Leaser -SHRM-SCP, President of GreatBizTools - an HR management company in Los Angeles, points to research carried out by job site Monster in which it was shown that:

"70 percent of candidates will turn down a job if they are turned off by their first impression of the company."  

She added:

"Remote hiring puts even more pressure on companies to be engaged and provide a great experience throughout the candidate and on-boarding processes."

Yet an elementary English language development teacher in Tulsa, Okla., had one phone interview with a school principal and received a conditional job offer days later. Getting hired sight unseen did not faze her because she had maintained plenty of relationships by phone and said:

“That’s what the 21st century is.”