Following this year’s annual CIPD HR Software & Recruitment Exhibition, it would be safe to say that video interviewing technology is taking centre stage as a likely suspect to be included in any recruiter’s technology tool kit. There are strong indicators that this trend will continue, as more and more recruiters adopt the technology. After all, if video interviewing saves you time and money and is very cost effective, you’d have to ask, ‘why wouldn’t you use it?’
But there seemed to be a number of misconceptions about video interviewing. In discussions it became clear that some recruiters had genuine concerns about which roles would suit video interviewing and which wouldn’t – so much so that some were still waiting for ‘the right role’ to come along so they could test the water. The same concerns were raised about different industry sectors.
Many vendors have had success selling video interviewing into graduate recruitment programmes and volume recruitment campaigns, but there was still recruiter uncertainty about branching out into higher end roles. One point of view was that ‘younger’ candidates can manage the technology better than ‘older’ candidates simply because they have grown up with mobile and video technology and it is like second nature to them.
Some ventured that experienced candidates might not want to take part in a video interview because they possibly felt it was ‘beneath them’. Speculation however, is no match for actual results. We wanted to share some facts about what’s really happening in the video interviewing space.
Measurable results
Let’s start with the two charts overleaf covering the various sectors and then the level of jobs currently being recruited with video interviewing.
The first chart illustrates the current breadth and depth of sectors throughout the private, and increasingly public sector. This range is expanding day by day based on growing confidence and a deeper understanding of the benefits of the technology. The second chart shows video interviewing being used across the full spectrum of job levels, not just graduate and typical volume job types.
If we take a closer look at IT, Engineering/Manufacturing and Accountancy & Finance, these sectors are growing in popularity. Secondly, over 75 percent of the roles where video interviewing has been used are seeking candidates with at least five years of industry experience.
Two major factors are driving this growth. Accountant, Engineer and Software Developer roles all share a common thread. They are all highly technical jobs by nature. Technical skills are one of the most difficult areas to assess at the early stages and often it is an HR professional who is conducting the early stage assessment through telephone interviews and CV sifts. Line managers are often relying on the note taking of the HR department who are generally not practitioners in the discipline, which is risky. Using video interviews, line managers can work with HR to define a specific set of questions that assess if the candidate can ‘walk the walk’ and there are no issues with note taking because they have a recording of the interview.
It’s not only about technical ability however. One of the most important factors of a successful and cohesive team is how well the team works together. Typically know as ‘team fit’ this can also be evaluated with the right line of questioning. A video interview can hone in on an individual’s values, and look at their alignment with company values.
Digital communication
A study done by The Needle and the CIPD showed cultural and team fit ranked as high on the agenda as technical skills, when employers were considering a candidate for a role.
Most higher level role requirements are aligned with skills and attributes such as gravitas, communication skills, interpersonal skills, stakeholder engagement and commercial experience. These can also be assessed through the video interviewing process.
The feedback from managers receiving video short lists is that video interviewing is actually saving them the hassle of interviewing the wrong candidates further down the line and that’s saving a lot of time and unnecessary recruitment cost. The quality of the recruitment process that follows is improved, the pool that moves to the next stage is smaller but of a higher standard.
Other sectors such as sales and marketing, media, recruitment, retail and customer service all get a mention as obvious contenders for the use of video interviewing and they work well. But one thing is for sure; any role with a clear career progression is a prime target. Chart 2 illustrates this.
The bottom line is that sourcing and assessment techniques have changed dramatically to cater for an increasingly competitive and global market. For recruiters to be successful, they need to learn about new tools such as video interviewing, and how they are used. Forget the misconceptions about specific roles and sectors – the facts speak for themselves. Add video interviewing to your recruitment tool kit today.
Christine Tautari is director and co-founder at The Needle.
The Needle, was created and fuelled by a passion to provide a technology platform to help recruitment teams save time, improve their time to hire and reduce recruitment costs for the recruiters and the candidates.
The Needle provides a unique, cloud based, on asynchronous video interview platform that helps recruiters gain a more comprehensive understanding of candidates at the early stages of the recruitment process, adding speed and quality to their short list selection. Candidates can also enjoy a new opportunity to sell themselves to employers, in the convenience of their own time and environment.
