Human Resources Blog - Spark Hire

Video Interviews for Making Personal Connections with Candidates

Video Interviews for Making Personal Connections with CandidatesMore and more companies are coming to understand the importance of making personal connections with candidates. It allows them to gain valuable insight on a candidate to truly determine their potential as an employee. Furthermore, connecting personally with candidates earlier on in the hiring process can save companies the trouble of wasting time and resources when bringing people into the office who turn out to be less than stellar.

The traditional hiring method of conducting phone interviews doesn’t give hiring professionals or recruiters the ability to assess a candidate’s facial expressions, gestures and posture which are almost more important than the words being said, according to a 2013 Forbes article. Video interviews, on the other hand, enable employers to connect more personally with candidates even if they’re not in the same room.

A real-time live video interview allows hiring professionals and recruiters to determine how a candidate’s body language correlates to the words they are saying. If you want to know a person’s true feelings or emotions it’s best to study their face. Body language expert Patti Wood advises that while you are speaking you should observe a candidate’s responsive face. For example, if you explain that a position requires a lot of traveling and the candidate smiles before saying “That’s great,” they most likely really feel that way. However, if the candidate says, “That’s great” and then smiles, they may not be sincere, according to Wood. Moreover, if a candidate is fidgety when discussing their past work experience, he or she may lack the confidence to be a high performer.

The one-way video interview in particular is a great tool for streamlining the hiring process without sacrificing connecting personally with candidates. By inviting candidates to do one-way interviews, you allow them the opportunity to show off their communication skills, personality and charisma which will help you to make smart hiring decisions.

Enroll in our free e-Course, “From Chat to Video: What Video Has Done And Will Do For Us”, to begin implementing video interviewing strategies for making amazing hires!

Image: AndreyPopov/BigStock.com

Camelia Rodriguez

Camelia Rodriguez is the Digital Community Specialist for Spark Hire. She enjoys writing and editing, binge-watching TV shows on Hulu and Netflix, and eating foods she isn't allergic to. Born and raised in Chicago, she loves to cheer for the Bulls, Bears, Blackhawks, and Cubbies.