WorkBuzz Adopts a Modern Hiring Approach with Spark Hire’s Video Interviews

Based in Milton Keynes, UK, WorkBuzz is a start-up company that has created an innovative employee engagement survey platform to help companies build strong cultures and make smarter people decisions. No stranger to tech-forward solutions, the team began researching video interviewing platforms to tackle some of their more pressing hiring needs. Specifically, “we wanted to use a more modern approach that would enable us to actually ‘see’ people rather than judge them on their CV alone,” explains WorkBuzz Head of Customer Success and Operations, Melisaan Foster.

After searching the market, WorkBuzz landed on Spark Hire to help revamp their hiring process, and saw immediate improvements.

Better candidate insight earlier on

Before implementing Spark Hire, the team at WorkBuzz used a pretty traditional method of screening prospective applicants. They’d start by reviewing CVs, then conduct a 20-minute phone screening, followed by skill assessments and eventually interviews. The issue was, this method took far too much time and resources from the hiring team. Additionally, the pre-screenings were completely lacking in any candidate insight or connection. Foster and her team needed to streamline their screening methods and more effectively connect with candidates earlier in the process. 

Once they started using Spark Hire, the team at WorkBuzz realised inviting a high number of candidates to complete one-way video interviews was an effective screening tool of its own. “The drop-out rate from [one-way video interview invitations] helps us instantly filter our applicants down to those top talent candidates who are truly hungry to secure our role,” says Foster. From there, the team could devote more time to the candidates who were fully interested in joining the team.

What they really loved, however, was their ability to keep the human element in their human resources. Explains Foster, “Video interviewing is so easy to use. It gives teams the ability to give more candidates a chance rather than relying on awful HR automation and CV screening programmes. Not to mention we already know those tools are biased and not inclusive at all.” By extending their talent pool and maintaining a structured and fair screening process, the WorkBuzz team has been able to establish a more diverse and inclusive workforce. 

Improved candidate experience

As an added bonus, the team saw immediate improvements to their candidate experience. “[The candidates] love being able to see the hiring manager in a more human way and feel much more able to open up and share themselves over video with the ability to retake and practice… they LOVE the experience of one-way interviewing and Spark Hire makes it so simple,” explains Foster. Providing a more personalised and engaging experience resulted in more invested candidates from the start. Not to mention, Spark Hire adds structure and efficiency to the entire interviewing process, cutting down on lag time and allowing for a more open and transparent flow of communication. 

Making more confident hiring decisions

Hiring managers were quick to recognise the ease and convenience of one-way video interviews as well. “For the hiring team, we love being able to flick through the videos, rate them and leave comments to help our decision making. We use the ability to share videos to share shortlists and get second opinions!” says Foster. Being able to rate and review candidates on their own time without working out schedule syncs made it easier for the team to streamline their review process while improving team collaboration. Foster and her team immediately noticed more open lines of communication among hiring managers, ultimately resulting in more confident hires. 

Simply, straightforward, and fun

Spark Hire has successfully revolutionised WorkBuzz’s hiring process. Though initially looking for a tech-forward way to modernise their methods, the team was quick to recognise the additional benefits of implementing one-way video interviews. Now the team has a more structured and unbiased screening approach, as well as an improved candidate experience, and strong team collaboration. Overall, the WorkBuzz team finds the Spark Hire platform to be user-friendly, intuitive, helpful, and fun.