Scanning through hundreds of CVs and solely relying on qualifications and experience for interview selection can be a tedious, time-consuming, and ultimately ineffective task. While the necessary skills and expertise are essential, finding individuals who align with your organisation’s values and contribute as collaborative team players are just as important. This is where video interviews can help.
What are Video Interviews?
Video interviews offer HR professionals a valuable pre-screening tool in the recruitment process. Using specialised software, you can create custom role-specific questions and request video responses from candidates. While not all recruitment platforms provide this functionality, Martian Logic offers two ways to implement this feature. Video interviewing can be used during the initial application or after reviewing the application and deciding to progress the candidate to the next step. By filming their answers, candidates have the chance to showcase their personality and skills, adding depth to their applications. This approach saves both time and money, while providing a three-dimensional understanding of candidates in the early stages.
Pros
Saves Time & Cuts to the Chase
By implementing these self-recorded video interviews, time that would otherwise be wasted on chasing down multiple candidates to organise a Zoom call, is avoided. Being able to watch a short video response in combination with a quick scan of that applicant’s CV helps HR professionals make better-informed decisions more quickly. You can immediately see what that candidate is like and based on first impressions, you can cut straight to the chase and progress the suitable ones onto the next stage of recruitment. This also helps reduce the risk of finding out later in the process, that you have wasted time, money, and effort on progressing candidates that ended up being a poor match for your organisation.
Helps in Weeding Out Candidates
Organisations often want an employee who is hard-working and willing to take on challenges to the best of their abilities. Having video interviews in the first few stages of recruiting helps set apart those who will persevere in a role and those who are not willing to try. In other words, those who demonstrate an attempt at these video responses communicate diligence and a thirst for success in their application.
Provides a Comprehensive Understanding of Candidates
Incorporating video interviews in the recruitment process helps HR professionals gain a three-dimensional understanding of candidates. This 3D understanding is important because soft skills, such as effective communication and ettiquette, are not shown in CVs. Being able to analyse a candidate’s measurable abilities in combination with their personal traits, help to provide hiring managers with a better picture of who they are and how they will thrive in their specific workplace.
Can Compare, Consult & Rewatch Answers
Having video interviews provide organisations with the opportunity to re-watch the recordings and understand the candidate in greater depth. They enable hiring managers to compare responses and seek input from other decision-makers within the company. This process also helps minimise potential bias by involving multiple evaluators who can collectively make more informed recruitment decisions.
Gives Indication of Person-Organisation Fit
Person-organisation fit refers to the compatibility between individuals and the organisations for which they work. Video interviews allow HR professionals to gain insight into how candidates match the values of that organisation. For example, if an organisation prides itself on compassion towards their people and maintaining a growth-mindset, video interviews can give an indication of how well the candidate will fit their company culture. Things like body language, positivity, and confidence can all be evaluated through these video responses.
Cons
Can Deter Potential Applicants
There is the possibility that potential candidates will be turned off by the idea of having to film their question response. It may be perceived as taking too much time or not working in their favour, even if only a few seconds long. When job-seeking, candidates will likely end up applying for a few at a time by uploading their CV and maybe filling in a few boxes. So being presented with this video interview component may lead them to stop their application and move on to the next job out of convenience. This may limit the intake of applicants an organisation may otherwise receive for their advertised role.
Can Provide Inaccurate Representations of Candidates
Due to video interviews being recorded responses to written questions, it lacks that human connection aspect that many individuals need in order to really be themselves. This can lead to an inaccurate representation of the candidate as they may act differently in this situation, especially if they are applying for a role that does not require public speaking as a core component of their job description. For example, in a sales or customer service role, using video interviews might be more useful than using them for a data engineering role in which verbally presenting isn’t as central.
Has Potential For Unconscious Bias
If video interviews are used prior to phone call screenings, there exists the potential for unconscious bias to exist. Seeing how an applicant looks may lead HR professionals to make broad assumptions without them even being aware of it. It is important to take note of this in any recruitment processes as it can seriously lead to poor decision making and discrimination. However, videos are better than photos as it does leave room for a few of those biases to be disproven.
Key Takeaways
While it isn’t a wise choice to rely solely on video interviews for selecting employees, they do help in providing a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of candidates. In combination with a CV and written responses to questions, video interviews can help enhance the entire recruitment process making it more effective, time-efficient, and reliable.
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