Heather HuhmanDo you have a wrapping paper hangover? Have you eaten so many sugar cookies you feel like your stomach is about to burst? You might be suffering from a case of post-holiday haze.
The holidays can be a stressful time, but the post-holiday office can be a ghost town. It’s a good bet many of your coworkers are off on vacation visiting family and some of your best candidates might not be able to make an in-person sit down the week before New Year’s Eve. You might think this week is a great time to catch up on your Facebook news feed or finally get that high score you’ve been dreaming about on Angry Birds.
In fact, this week can be a great time to schedule an interview with talented job seekers. How? Utilize video interviewing instead of an in-person meeting. This way, even the busiest holiday bee can take some time out of recycling wrapping paper and donning 2013 glasses to connect with you about a great opportunity.
There are a few good video interviewing options you can choose from when it comes to connecting with the busy talent you need during the holidays. You can either choose a live video interview or a one-way video interview during this holiday dead-zone.
Here are some video interviewing tips for you to consider when deciding what video interview format to choose:
Use a live video interview to get personal:
Even if your candidate can’t make it into the office, you can use a live video interview to pose your interview questions in a more personal fashion.
Remember to choose interview questions that can tell you about how a candidate thinks through problems and finds solutions. One of the best video interviewing tips is to watch a candidate’s body language as they answer your interview questions to see if they are defensive or open about their prior experiences.
Use one-way video interviewing for the busiest job seekers:
It’s the holidays, so even the most motivated job seekers are likely to have minimal free time. This is the perfect opportunity to use one-way video interviews.
In one-way video interviews, employers pose written interview questions to job seekers who then answer these interview questions on camera. This can all happen around the candidate’s busy schedule, allowing video interviewing to happen even during the post-holiday week.
Following these helpful video interviewing tips, you might find that you actually have time to tackle the never ending to-do list you’ve accumulated throughout the year. With the time you’ve saved thanks to video interviewing, here are some projects you can tackle:
Organize your desk: Look at your desk. Is it clean? Probably not! When you’re organized you can find important documents faster and cut down on the time spent searching fruitlessly. This can lead to greater productivity, or at least more time to bond with your coworkers at the water cooler.
Finally watch those piled up video resumes: If you have resumes you haven’t sorted through, whether they are traditional resumes or video resumes, now is the time. Watching the video resumes of talented candidates can really help you build up a talent pipeline for your company. Even if you don’t have any jobs available at the moment, you’ll have some great candidates to contact in the future.
Rethink your recruiting strategy for 2013: With a new year approaching, it might be time to rethink your recruiting strategy. Maybe you want to optimize your mobile site so talented candidates can apply faster on-the-go. Maybe you want to branch out and connect with job seekers using social media. Perhaps you might want to consider putting together a list of video interviewing tips and tricks for your hiring team so everyone is familiar with best practices. After the holidays, when the office is quiet, might just be the best time to dream about the future of your recruiting strategy.
If you utilize video interviewing, you might just be able to use your post-holiday break as a time to organize and think up innovative new ideas. This way you can come into the office ready to find the best talent for your company in 2013.
What’s on your post-holiday to-do list? Share in the comments!
IMAGE: Courtesy of Flickr by torbakhopper.
Josh Tolan
Guest Post
