Effective recruiting in the future will require “going digital” with social networking, mobile technology, and online methods. But is video also the future of interviewing and recruiting? Here’s why video is increasingly being incorporated into the interviewing, recruiting, and hiring process, and how employers are using it.
Video Recruiting
Video is extremely attractive and engaging to job seekers, especially the younger generation, and can give organizations a competitive edge. Videos can capture what words can’t, the faces of your employees; how your company looks and feels; and the passion, authenticity, enthusiasm and culture that lives inside your company.
Many organizations are leveraging video by posting company and recruiting videos to YouTube, on social media websites, and embedding them on their career websites. Recruiting videos commonly showcase a company, its products and services, its culture, and its career opportunities. They also often feature employees and leaders, and include personal testimonials. Nowadays, videos can be produced at minimal cost, and can be very easy to create.
Video Interviewing
Video interviewing – via Skype, GoToMeeting, webcams, and other web conferencing technology – is a popular trend in 2013 to save recruiting time and costs during the hiring process, and to replace phone screening in order to narrow down a pool of candidates.
There are several benefits to video interviewing. It allows recruiters to evaluate candidates faster and cuts down the time to fill a position, and it makes scheduling and connecting with candidates much easier. When needing to evaluate out of town candidates, video interviewing can significantly cut down on travel costs. It also can allow others to review the video interview afterwards and provide feedback.
But, there are some legal concerns associated with video interviewing that employers should consider, including potential discrimination during the screening process since protected traits are more visible and making sure that video interviewing is accessible to disabled applicants. There is also potential danger that video interviewing may lead to more informal questioning. For now, however, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has been neutral on video interviewing and neither endorses it nor says that it violates the law.
Video Hiring
Videos are even being used in the hiring process for candidate assessment. Videos can simulate real-world experiences and scenarios on the job. They can provide a snapshot of the work. Some employers even create video-based games, exercises, and virtual job tryouts to test applicants’ skills. Video formats, as opposed to others, can create a much more engaging hiring assessment process for candidates.
Videos can also help candidates see what the job is really like and provide a job snapshot. “Day in the life” videos, specifically, are not uncommon and can greatly aid the hiring process by showing employees realistic features of the job. Such videos can also cut down on new-hire turnover from poor fits because they set realistic expectations of the job upfront.
Organizations looking to attract and engage job seekers are building digital formats like video into all three stages of their recruiting and hiring process, and finding that it gives them a competitive advantage.
Additional Resources
Hiring Trends & Practices Survey
Reports trends in local hiring practices and trends, including sourcing and hiring. The survey also reports trends in digital recruiting, including video, mobile, and social media-based recruiting.
