Human Resources Blog - Spark Hire

15 Advantages of Video Interviews You Didn’t Know About

This post was updated 5/13/2020

Technology has made the hiring process much more streamlined, providing an improved experience for both interviewer and job seeker. While interview scheduling tools can help take the back-and-forth struggle out of hiring, video interview software alleviates numerous other hiring headaches.

Video interviews have gained popularity over the years with businesses of various sizes because hiring pros, like yourself, have witnessed the benefits. They are especially useful during the initial stages of screening candidates, saving valuable time and resources, and streamlining the hiring process. Of course, every company and hiring department has its own unique needs. 

Find out what video interview software advantages could revolutionize your hiring process for good: 

1. Ease the scheduling burden

When you’re trying to bring 20 candidates in for face-to-face interviews, you can end up going back and forth via email for days or even weeks, trying to find a convenient time for everyone. The scheduling arrangement becomes like a Tetris puzzle.

Then you’re trying to juggle all of the conversations and get the proper personnel to sit in on the interviews.

This becomes both time-consuming and stressful — for both you and candidates. 

One-way video interviews, especially, relieve much of the headache associated with this aspect of the hiring process, as it allows candidates to answer questions when it’s convenient for them. Once they’ve responded, hiring managers and their team review the responses when it’s conducive to each of their schedules.

If schedules never sync up, it doesn’t matter. Collaboration is made easy because anyone on your team can leave notes regarding the interview and rate candidates. From there, they can schedule a live video interview or bring the person in for a face-to-face conversation if their video interview responses warrant further discussion. A greater number of candidates can be screened in less time, so more valuable time can be spent with the most qualified candidates before hiring.

2. Improve performance tracking

After implementing this technology and completing a hiring process, managers look at their top performers to more easily determine what they had in common.

What did they talk about when they gave their replies to similar questions? How was their body language? Where did they choose to record their interview?

From there, they can look for commonalities that may help them choose strong candidates in the future. For example, if all the top performers seemed to have mentioned experience with a particular computer program or shared a similar professional development goal, in the future, that could be a flag to interviews when candidates show the same interests, knowledge, and potential.

Looking back at particularly successful employees and comparing them to the video screens of prospective candidates is a valuable and far more efficient performance tracking resource than old notes, compiled from the perspectives of many hiring personnel.

3. Make your interviews more consistent

As much as a hiring manager tries to screen candidates by asking the same questions, it can be easy to forget to cover a particular point or to go off track. Therefore, each professional gets a different interview experience. When it comes time to determine the best fit for the role, it’s challenging to decide because there wasn’t consistency during the interview process.

One-way video interviewing technology helps eliminate this issue. It makes it easy to have complete consistency across the board. You set predetermined questions for each candidate, and therefore only have these responses to compare when it’s decision-making time. You also have one record of the responses, so everyone involved in the hiring process has the same experience.

This evens the playing field for all applicants and makes it easier for the hiring manager to make a better-informed decision regarding the final stages of the process.

4. Create a convenient interview experience for passive candidates

An individual might not desperately be seeking a new job, but perhaps they’re open to a new career opportunity — particularly if the benefits, perks, and salary are right. However, if they have to drive across town during the workday for a formal interview, they will likely decide it’s too inconvenient and opts not to pursue the opportunity.

Suddenly, you have lost a potentially great new hire.

One-way video interviewing addresses this challenge head-on. Because of this, it’s become a powerful way to recruit passive job seekers.

A busy full-time employee may not be able to rearrange their schedule to come in for a screening. However, they will probably have no issue with taking 15 or 20 minutes to record video interviews in the comfort of their own home. Therefore, they’re able to throw their hat in the ring, and you may just find your next best hire.

5. Get more insight before making big decisions

Those tasked with hiring quickly become aware of the cost associated with doing so, particularly when working with long-distance talent. If you want to bring these professionals in for an interview, you may need to fly them in, pay for meals and hotel rooms. Businesses that utilize video interviewing technology eliminate the high price point often associated with early recruiting.

If you have your eye on an applicant who lives in another part of the world, you can invite them to participate in video interviews. There’s no need to pay for a flight and a hotel just to get a feel for what they’re about. From there, you can gauge whether it’s worth a more in-depth, in-person conversation, and the cost that comes with this type of dialogue.

6. See the candidate’s command over technology

Regardless of the open role, you inevitably want a new hire to have some degree of understanding about technology. In a subtle way, video interviewing software enables you to gauge their level of familiarity with technology right off the bat.

If the interview they record has no audio, for example, or the picture is blurry or slanted or doesn’t get recorded, you might question whether they have the capabilities necessary to accomplish other technology-based tasks. 

Not to mention what this says of their attention to detail and preparedness. This is especially true when using Spark Hire’s dedicated video interview software because we have tech support readily available at all times. So, if a candidate isn’t willing to use their resources, you know there’s a red flag from the start.

7. Reduce the amount of small talk

When a person comes in for a face-to-face interview, there’s going to be some amount of time dedicated to small talk at the beginning or end of the interview. While this can be a nice way to get to know the candidate when the hiring manager is on a tight schedule and you want a more structured process, engaging in small talk is detrimental.

Video interviews cut down on the amount of chit chat that happens, thus keeping the initial screening process succinct for both parties and uniform for all applicants. Hiring managers then devote more time to speaking in-person with the most qualified candidates, making better hires, faster, and more efficiently.

8. Observe body language and nonverbal cues

Some hiring managers rely on phone interviews to vet candidates before deciding to bring them in for an in-person conversation. While phone interviews can be an effective way to determine whether this individual should earn an in-person interview, a phone discussion doesn’t give you a real-life look at the candidate.

Video interviewing enables you to see a candidate’s body language, facial expressions, and overall appearance. These clues can help you piece together a picture of how they would fit into your company.

This visual screening gives you a better idea of how well the candidate researched your company based on how they dress for the video interview. You can also note how poised or rehearsed they appear, and if they take the time to respond thoughtfully to the questions. If they take this screening stage seriously, they may be worthy of a call back to talk face-to-face.

9. Invest time and effort into the best candidates

Your process becomes extremely time-consuming when you’re blocking out an hour for every potential new hire. This is especially true when a large majority of these people just don’t have the qualifications necessary to be a good fit.

Instead of wasting your time talking to people who aren’t even close to what you’re looking for, use video interviewing software to quickly sort through and decide who’s a yes, who’s a no, and who’s a maybe.

From there, zero in on only the most qualified individuals. Save your face-to-face time for deeper discussions with them as you reach the final stages of the hiring process.  

10. Be on the cutting edge

Utilizing video interviewing technology sends a subtle yet important message to potential new hires. It shows that your firm believes in the importance of adopting new technology into its daily business practices. 

They know that if they accept a job with you, they won’t be stuck relying on old fax machines and other outdated practices to get their work done. Those candidates who are not afraid to take on new challenges, learn new tools and technology, and advance with the company will be more apt to apply.

11. Make your candidates more comfortable

When you’re sitting across from a hiring manager (or sometimes multiple managers, if you’re in a panel interview situation), there’s a lot of pressure to deliver a witty, intelligent response as quickly as possible.

This is nerve-wracking for many job seekers, particularly if the question is challenging. The stress of the situation can lead people to blurt out things they don’t mean or stumble, trying to clarify. In some instances, they may fail to deliver a response that’s as eloquent as they’d like. It may not even be a true representation of their knowledge or character — but there are no take-backs or re-dos in-person.

Video interviews help to eliminate some of these issues. It gives an individual time to consider their response, making sure they’re saying what they mean and offering the best answer to the question posed to them. Having the opportunity to position themselves in their best light in the screening process will give them more confidence to perform their best should they be chosen for an in-person interview later in the hiring process.

12. Save the candidate from transportation headaches

Candidates can record a video interview when and where it’s convenient for them rather than driving all over town, or even to another city for a job interview that might not pan out. Offering a video interview screening demonstrates that you respect the candidate’s time and resources, which is more likely to appeal to a greater number of top talent.

13. Enable after-hours interviewing

Many job seekers struggle to find a new career opportunity when they’re already employed because making time to head out on a job interview is a challenge, not to mention taboo. They may feel like they have to lie to their employer — faking illness, doctor appointments, or client meetings to get to an interview.  

Not only is this stressful, but sometimes, it’s just not possible.

Video interviewing makes it much easier to pursue new jobs since the professional can record their responses after hours or on the weekends instead of taking time away from their current employment to discuss future work.

14. Let the candidate set the scene

No matter how inviting your office design is, it’s unfamiliar to candidates. There are new visual distractions and a general sense of disorientation. Chances are they won’t have their bearings and feel at ease until the interview is well underway. 

And that can compromise their performance.

With a video interview, however, candidates can choose where they record their answers. Whether it’s from the comfort of their den or at their favorite quiet coffee shop, they’ll feel like they have home-field advantage. That boost to their confidence will allow them to truly shine to the best of their abilities.

15. Eliminate stressors associated with in-person interviews

Beyond the obvious pressures associated with heading into an in-person job interview, many candidates get nervous about other aspects of the process.

Will they be able to find the office? What will the parking situation be like? Will they have to meet other members of the company?

This only adds to the pressure they’re feeling and can cause otherwise qualified people to underperform.

Video interviewing technology provides many perks to both job seekers and hiring managers alike. It’s a useful platform that makes the hiring process more convenient for businesses.

Once thought of as something only major corporations could afford, video interviewing software has since become accessible to companies of all sizes. It makes it much easier for both large and small brands to incorporate it into the hiring process.

video interview software

 

Like some of these ideas? Want to see how video interviews can benefit your organization? Get a demo of Spark Hire’s video interviewing platform.

Lauren Levine

Lauren Levine is a copywriter/blogger who contributes to a number of magazines and websites including The Frisky, USA Today, and others. She also authors her own blog called Life with Lauren. She loves cooking, anything on the E! network, and is trying to convince herself that running isn't so bad.