Hiring Like a Super Bowl Winning Team in the Video Interview

Are you ready for some football? Last weekend was Super Bowl XLVII, which pitted brother against brother and Baltimore Ravens fans against the fans of the San Francisco 49ers.

You don’t get into the Super Bowl unless you recruit the best players for your team. Like hiring for your company, recruiting a great football team takes time, effort and smarts.

After all, the Ravens couldn’t have clinched the win at Super Bowl XLVII without a talented team of players and coaches leading the way. Getting the big W on game day comes down to recruiting the right talent and trusting them to deliver. Similarly, when hiring for your company it’s important to find the best talent quickly and help them transform into the key players your company will need to compete in your industry.

The video interview can be a great tool for finding your MVP players faster and cheaper than ever before. Just how do you connect with great candidates in the video interview, though – and how do you know which job seekers have the potential to become your star players? Here are some video interview tips from Super Bowl XLVII:

Look for passionate job seekers in the video interview
If you want to hire like a Super Bowl winning football team, passion is the name of the game. Football players are passionate about their sport and willing to take on injuries and fight an uphill battle just to make it into the NFL.

For instance, in Super Bowl XLVII Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis wasn’t afraid to let his emotions show. With retirement right around the corner, Lewis realized this year would be his last Super Bowl as an active football player. This led to an outpouring of emotion, most often in the form of crying. Lewis might have been the butt of some jokes, most notably on Saturday Night Live, but his emotional outpouring came from a genuine love and passion for the game.

You might not be impressed with someone who cries in the video interview, but you should be hiring job seekers with passion for the position or industry. Ask job seekers in the interview why they want the job, what they like best and least about the industry, and how the position will help them achieve their career aspirations. Look for job seekers with plenty of passion and energy in order to hire a Super Bowl-worthy player for your organization.

Use video technology to appraise past performance
Past performance is important, which is why players are scooped up from one football team to the next. When it comes to trading players, past performance on the job makes all the difference. When recruiting players for the Ravens, it’s a sure bet coaches and managers looked at past performance before extending an offer.

Similarly, you should use the video interview as a place to find out about the candidate’s past job performance. Ask how they’ve brought value to former organizations and look for candidates who have concrete examples of successes. When hiring superstar employees for your organization, you want those with a proven track record of success. Job seekers who are willing to get specific about their accomplishments (and have references to back up these claims) are likely to become your organization’s future star player.

Focus on hiring team players
Without teamwork, no NFL team would ever get into the Super Bowl. Those who made it to Super Bowl XLVII were the teams that realized the importance of collaboration.

Using video technology, figure out which of your smart candidates will also be good at collaborating with others. Teamwork is just as important to your company culture as it is to forming a great NFL team. Use the video interview as a place to ask about the candidate’s previous experience in a team environment. Look for those who own their successes without trying to downplay the role others might have had in bringing a project to completion.

When hiring top talent for your company, take a few pointers from NFL’s best teams in order to stay competitive in your industry. You might not be winning a Super Bowl, but you can certainly win the war for talent!

What lessons can you learn from Super Bowl winning teams? Share in the comments!

IMAGE: Courtesy of Flickr Photo by Pat.