Three Reasons to Try Video Interviews

Sharon Boner, Vice President of Human Resources and Training at Padcaster, has an expensive experience helping companies of all sizes communicate more effectively and utilize video in all aspects of their business. In this article, Sharon explains why video is becoming such a valuables tool for recruiting.

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Video interviewing is one of the most exciting emerging recruiting trends today, providing candidates additional exposure to the company, culture and team early on in the recruiting process. Considering the rapidly growing global and dispersed workforce, utilizing video for interviews increases collaboration and provides an opportunity for greater employee engagement and transparency into the recruiting process.

Video interviews can be conducted either as a pre-recorded one-way communication, or as a live two-way conversation. In one-way video interviews, the employer sends the candidate interview questions and the candidate sends back video responses. Two-way video interviews expand upon this idea, cultivating a live discussion where both the employer and the candidate can interact with one another directly. Two-way interviews provide the benefits of face to face conversation, regardless of geographical location. Here are three reasons to experiment with video interviews:

1. Develop a human connection early in the process

With video interviews, both parties can effectively communicate and begin to develop a connection undeterred by geographical location, helping to determine if the job opportunity would be a good fit. Through video, the candidate gets to know the culture of the company and the personalities of the team including those team members who are working remotely.  Video can also reveal the physical office space along with other subtle aspects of the team and organization.

2. Expand participation and team engagement  

Video enables key employees the opportunity to meet and interview the candidate regardless of where they are located including situations where they are traveling. Using video candidates can be interviewed by multiple employees back to back even if they’re in different locations. These videos can also be shared after the interview with employees who did not participate directly, increasing both employee engagement and transparency into the process. Having the team more involved in the early stages of the recruiting process, drives greater employee engagement, buy-in and helps with successful new hire assimilation.  

3. Develop a strong mutual interest and connection first

Providing travel and lodging for candidates to interview in person is costly for the company and the candidate as they often have to take additional time off their current job. Conducting these initial interviews using video reduces this cost for both parties. In-person interviews should come after the candidate has already shown they may be a good fit for the role, which can easily be accomplished through video.

In addition to the financial benefits, using video saves time by screening candidates more efficiently and speeding up the hiring process. For example, Hilton Hotels & Resorts cut its recruiting cycle from six weeks to five days after incorporating video into the interview process (Deloitte’s 2017 Global Human Capital Trends).