The prospect of job interviews is *daunting enough, but some of us look forward to charming potential employers when meeting face to face. However, it’s *markedly more difficult to build that all-important *rapport when the “person” interviewing you isn’t a person at all.

Jake Rosen is a recent graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). After applying for a position at the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), Rosen learned that he wouldn’t be going to an office to talk to a human being about his skills, his interview instead being carried out via *webcam.

While Skype interviews are nothing out of the ordinary, some companies are now using a much more high-tech solution. The interview questions pop up on the screen, giving a limited amount of time to respond. This method requires that you deliver your answers to the webcam before they are sent to the company’s hiring manager after the session ends.

“It’s such a weird experience talking to a camera. It honestly was pretty horrible,” Rosen said. Not used to being in front of a *lens, he felt *flustered after just the first question, which affected the rest of his interview.

For many of us, this experience may soon be unavoidable - the human-free video interview is being more *commonplace. HireVue, one of a handful of American companies making video interview software, works with around 600 large organizations, including Deloitte, JPMorgan Chase and Under Armour.

This year, the company will handle 2.5 million interviews in the United States, up from 13,000 five years ago. Nearly 90 percent of those are “on demand” interviews, with nobody at the other end of the webcam.

For the job candidate, the benefit of “robo-recruiting” is convenience. Generally, a company will give a day or two for the interview to be completed, which can be carried out anywhere with access to the internet. That might sound like a plus, but for Rosen it only added to his stress.

“You start to think about things you wouldn’t normally think about in interviews. I started thinking about my surroundings,” Rosen said. “I had to find a blank wall to sit in front of. Should I put a bookshelf behind me? A plant?”

However, recruiters say that they don’t judge candidates on their on-camera performance, appearance, or *locale. “Judging is an interesting word,” said Heidi Soltis-Berner, managing director for talent at Deloitte in the US. “I would say the on-demand interview is truly for fact sharing.” That said, other recruiters say they do evaluate people on their communication abilities and eye contact.

The best advice for job candidates, however, might be to just relax.

“It’s OK to come across as uncomfortable in front of the camera, because everyone is,” says Scott Mitchell, a recruiter for the American Wedding Group, a wedding service company. “We all assume you’re going to be uncomfortable. We’re putting you in an uncomfortable position.”

However, we needn’t worry just yet-robo-interviews haven’t completely replaced human interaction in the US. Many companies simply use them as a replacement for first-round *screening, followed by the more traditional one-on-ones, meaning there’s still chance to turn on the old charm.