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In almost all the positions I applied to for my software dev internship, I always had a phone screen and an on-site interview.

I'm currently searching for full-time employment. For one application, the recruiter told me there will only be one interview, via Google Hangouts (though there was also a coding challenge to go along with it).

For another application, the interviewer had an initial phone screen with me, and then he mentioned that the company will hire based off of a follow-up phone screen.

This seems a little weird to me, though, but I haven't worked in the software industry long enough to know if this is normal. Do some full-time dev positions simply not require on-site visits? I'd like to at least meet the team and see the environment before considering any offers.

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This is perfectly normal

Most companies want to cast a wide net without incurring large expenses. You cannot do that with in-person interviews as that either limits the available people to those within driving distance or requires the company to spend a lot of money on airline tickets and hotels.

For most of my jobs, the interviews have been 100% remote simply because I didn't currently reside in the city where the software development job was.

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  • I suppose that makes sense in a way. Though on the other hand, is it not in the company's interest to meet a prospective candidate in person to see if they're really a good match, in terms of soft skills and culture match?
    – Aleksandr Hovhannisyan
    Commented Dec 4, 2019 at 20:43
  • @AleksandrH developers are not plentiful enough for companies to be picky about soft skills and culture match.
    – Matthew Gaiser
    Commented Dec 4, 2019 at 20:57
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    @MatthewGaiser I think that's strongly dependent on the hiring goals. I don't think it's accurate to write off soft skills or culture match, even in a competitive market. In fact, I would almost argue that they become even more important (since a person who is a bad fit culturally will just have to be replaced soon, which means another round of combing through slim pickings). If you get a so-so developer with a good cultural and soft skills fit, you can teach them the tech they need. It's harder to teach the soft stuff to a strong technical person.
    – dwizum
    Commented Dec 4, 2019 at 21:10
  • Many companies are increasingly remote/distributed, where how they can get along with you over a hangout is much more indicative of success potential than in person.
    – mxyzplk
    Commented Dec 5, 2019 at 4:31
  • @AleksandrH, It is in their interest to meet you, but it's difficult to really evaluate an intern during interviews anyway. Worst case scenario, they can always fire you during your probationary period (or if you are working in an "at will employment" State).
    – Stephan Branczyk
    Commented Dec 5, 2019 at 9:25
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I work in the Industry for about 20 Years, in Germany.

Just recently I also noticed more and more phone-interviews. So that seems to get more common nowadays. That said, If there was real interest it was always followed up by an in-person interview.

So from my perspective, deciding on an phone interview sounds unusual. This may vary with the kind of job and if it is a remote position or on site.

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