Written by Ash
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In the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, HR teams have turned to technology to make talent processes much more streamlined to provide an improved experience for both them and the candidate. This has made talent assessment providers find new ways to improve their technology, and video interviews are one such tool. Video interviews are rapidly being embraced by organizations globally when acquiring talent as it enables efficient, reliable, and engaging methods to connect with candidates.
What Are Video Interviews?
While recruiters, hiring managers, and candidates have all become familiar with two-way video interviews amidst the pandemic, the video interviews we explore in this article are one-way video interviews or also known as video assessments. Two-way interviews or live video interviews are when candidates and interviewers log into the same video call and have real-time interaction. One-way interviews are asynchronous in which candidates are invited to record their responses via a video interview platform, and interviewers can then view it at any point in time.
While two-way interviews serve to replace physical interviews, especially when candidates are geographically distant, a one-way interview is used earlier on in the recruitment process to screen candidates without having to clutter schedules. Typically, after the one-way screening, a second interview follows; however, these candidates have already been filtered through the process. One-way video interview platforms are also explicitly meant for assessing and have also become more technologically advanced with AI-driven features to help in recruitment.
One-way interviews will be referred to as video interviews hereon.
Why Use Video Interviews?
Think of all the accumulated time invested in welcoming candidates to your offices, offering them coffee, walking them to the meeting room, conducting the interview itself, and then escorting them out. The time spent in that may seem minimal for a single interview, but consider how it adds up with every single candidate who looks good on paper. Now take that, and add it into the time spent screening and rating candidates on top of daily work that needs to be done. It definitely adds up to a lot of resource time and cost which is where video interviews come in. Here are some benefits to using video interviews:
- Investing time into the best candidates: When you set out an hour for each possible new hire, your procedure becomes highly time-consuming. This is especially true when the vast majority of these individuals lack the required qualifications to be a good fit. Instead of spending time interviewing people that aren’t even near to what you’re looking for, use video interviewing software to swiftly sort through and determine who is a yes, no, or maybe. Then, only the most qualified candidates should be considered. As you get closer to the end of the hiring process, save your face-to-face time for more in-depth discussions with them.
- Reducing hiring cost: You save money by speeding up the hiring process. How? When you need a new hire right urgently, a lengthy hiring process can leave the position available for a long time, which can be costly for your business. When you screen prospects by reviewing their recorded interviews or review numerous candidates per day simply by login into a video platform, on the other hand, you may go to the next hiring phases and close the hire faster.
- Standardizing the hiring process: Even if a recruiter tries to screen candidates by asking the same questions every time, it’s easy to overlook something or get off topic. As a result, each candidate will have a unique interview experience. When it comes to deciding who is the best match for the job, it can be difficult to make a decision because the interview process was inconsistent. The use of video interviews help to solve this problem. It’s simple to maintain total uniformity across the board. When it comes time to make a selection, you ask each candidate the same questions and solely compare their responses.
- Eliminating Bias: We’re all affected by first impressions, of course. Consider the following scenario: a prospective employee arrives for an interview. You begin small talk as you walk together to the meeting room. How certain are you that based on that conversation, you won’t be biased in favour or against this candidate? Although video interviews cannot totally eliminate biases, they can aid in the impartial evaluation of candidates. With video interviews, for example, you may ask all candidates the identical questions – which have been agreed upon in advance by the hiring team – and analyse their replies without being swayed by extraneous small talk.
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What to consider when choosing a Video Interview provider?
The Candidate Experience
Is the platform simple to use and accessible to all stakeholders? The candidate is the most important stakeholder in your recruitment process. While a positive candidate experience can help you land the finest candidates, a negative candidate experience can stymie your efforts. Choosing a partner who prioritizes the candidate experience in their platform will help you develop your employer brand and deliver a positive video interview experience for your candidates. A straightforward and intuitive user interface, regardless of how extensive the capabilities, is critical to the success of your video interview process.
Flexible Functionalities
It’s clear that a platform’s appearance isn’t adequate. Keep in mind which functionality you’ll need to support your workflow and hiring goals when choosing a video interviewing platform. While any good platform will almost certainly have a slew of “nice-to-have” features, the most significant aspects of a platform’s functional offering are interview options and configuration flexibility. Because no opening or candidate is the same, the ability to build customized video recruitment projects is critical. The greatest way to successfully use video interviews – regardless of where in the process and for whatever vacancy – are platforms that offer several interview kinds and have highly flexible interview settings (such as answering time, question types, and a number of retries).
Support And Implementation
To make your video interview technology function, you’ll need competent implementation, on-boarding, and continuing support. When it comes to successfully adopting and using video in the hiring process, your chosen provider should be an expert. Do they offer training, documentation, and consulting to assist you in bringing your team up to speed and optimizing your processes, or do they merely deliver the product? Is the vendor known for being proactive and service-oriented, with quick and flexible support? Choosing an experienced provider who cares about your process success can help you get the most out of your video interviews.
Integration Capabilities
While some organizations choose to use their video interview platform as a stand-alone feature, the majority of businesses will require video interviewing to be tightly connected with their existing HR systems especially with their Applicant Tracking System. The ability to combine numerous tools and technologies improves process efficiency while also providing a better user experience for both recruiters and candidates. For current video interview providers who have a proper API in place, integrating with existing systems should come as an option for you as well.
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