How to Incorporate Video Interviews Into Your Existing Hiring Process
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, just over one in five organizations were using video interviews. Now? Nearly 80 percent of employers use video interviews, and more than half of them plan to continue using video once the pandemic restrictions are fully lifted.
As employers have learned over the last year, video interviewing has clear business benefits — but implementing it successfully does come with challenges. Let’s look at why so many employers will keep video interviews in place well into the future and how you can incorporate video interviews into your existing hiring process seamlessly.
The Benefits of Video Interviews
While lockdowns forced many employers to embrace video interviews out of necessity rather than preference, many organizations have come to see video interviewing as a valuable hiring tactic in its own right. Here are just a few reasons why:
- Save time:Video interviews allow recruiters and hiring managers to interview more candidates in less time, making interviews less time-intensive and more cost-effective.
- Cut your carbon footprint: No one needs to travel to the interview, cutting your company’s and your candidate’s energy consumption.
- Improve attendance:Interview cancellations can be hugely inconvenient for both hiring managers and candidates. Thanks to the convenience of video, neither hiring managers nor candidates will have much reason to cancel.
- Find better candidates faster :It takes a lot less time and effort to schedule a video interview, and you can open up your pipeline to workers from pretty much anywhere. That makes it easier to find those best-fit applicants faster.
With this in mind, let’s look at how you can bring video to your interviewing process in a way that maximizes the benefits and minimizes the challenges.
Get the Right Technology in Place
One of the most important steps when incorporating video interviews into your process is to get the right technology in place. You need several important tools for video interviews, and of course, you can always branch out to more sophisticated technologies if you have the need and budget.
On the most basic level, you need to make sure your recruiting team members have powerful enough desktops, laptops, tablets, or even smartphones through which to conduct video interviews. Make sure everyone’s device has a quality microphone and a clear camera. It sounds obvious, but you can’t run video interviews if your team members lack the necessary hardware.
Next, you need to choose your preferred video interviewing software. Some companies use standard videoconferencing solutions like Zoom, while others invest in recruitment-specific options like VidCruiter or Spark Hire. I recommend comparing solutions online to find one that best meets the specific needs of your business. Each company’s recruiting process is different, so be sure to select a software that suits yours.
Add Video Interviews at an Early Stage
Video interviews aren’t just for the later stages of the hiring process — they can be particularly useful during screening as well.
For example, you can use quick video interviews to further screen candidates after you’ve reviewed their resumes. Instead of scheduling a screening call, you can arrange a short video interview early on in the process to get a better idea of the candidate’s more intangible qualities, like personality and culture fit. Then, you can more easily determine which candidates are worth meeting in person and which aren’t quite right for your company.
Put a Standard Review Process in Place
As with face-to-face interviews, you need to put a standard review process in place for video interviews. This helps to ensure fair comparisons of all the candidates, and it keeps you in compliance with any relevant laws and regulations.
To create a standard review process for your video interviews, consider the following simple steps:
- Start by creating a list of specific requirements for the role and clearly defining every item on the list.
- Put together a set of interview questions designed to evaluate candidates for these specific requirements. Each candidate should be asked the same set of questions.
- Create a scoring system to rate candidates’ responses to these set questions. Again, it’s important to clearly define the rubric for your scoring system to ensure fairness.
- Take thorough notes throughout each interview, focusing particularly on candidates’ responses to questions.
- Be sure to compile your notes and write down your first impressions straight after the interview while they’re fresh in your mind. If you wait too long to do this, your impression may not be as accurate.
Review and Improve Your Process
No interview process is flawless, so be sure to continuously review your video interview process. Monitor every aspect of your video interview process, from the software you use to the questions you ask. Identify strengths and weaknesses so you can reinforce the former and mitigate the latter. This will help you consistently improve your hiring strategy with each cycle.
Follow these steps, and you can seamlessly incorporate video interviews into your existing hiring process to make finding the right candidates easier.
Andrew Fennell is the founder and director of Job Description Library and StandOut CV.
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