The pandemic has changed many things about the employment world. For many hiring leaders and job seekers, navigating these new waters can be tricky. With so much up in the air, it’s hard to know what the next week holds for your operations, new roles, interviewing, etc. –let alone what those things look like a year from now.
What we do know for certain is that technology will play a big role in shaping the future of the employment market, but it’s not quite clear what that will mean for modern-day job seekers.
Automation has always been a hot topic for recruiters and hiring managers, but now with the announcement of Tik Tok’s “Tik Tok Resume” program, employers are seeing the video format in a whole new light.
With any medium there are, of course, positives and negatives for both candidates and employers; video interviewing is no different. So, could this new medium be a boon for businesses looking to attract the more media-savvy job seeker?
Well, maybe. Let’s take a look:
The Pros
Less Time to Hire
It takes a lot of effort and time for businesses to build their candidate shortlist from the general pool of applicants. Not only does tacking a one-directional video interview onto the application process cut down on your time to hire, but it also helps get to know the candidates outside their resume a little better –meaning you can select the best candidate faster.
Furthermore, by adding video into your screening process, candidates can effectively interview for your position on their own time.
Virtual Interviews Give Candidates More Flexibility
Whether you’re conducting interviews over Zoom or in person, it takes time. Between checking (and coordinating) hiring manager schedules, confirming availability with your interviewee, and the time spent actually interviewing, it could take weeks before you’re able to move past this process and make the best hiring decision.
In contrast to in-person interviews, a virtual interview demands less of the participants’ time immediately before and after the appointment –making video interviews easier to accommodate. This opens up more availability to interview, making it a more convenient process, overall. Because commute is taken out of the equation, your applicants who are employed can interview on their lunch break, for example.
While video interviews won’t fully automate your interview process, it does allow for more flexible interview options, which can cut down the time spent on this step of the hiring process substantially.
A Wider Talent Pool
If your business has decided to move part or all of your workforce to remote roles indefinitely, the question when hiring now becomes, “If this role will be performed 100% virtually, why should the hiring process be the same?”
Although it can be tempting to want to meet your team in person to get a feel of what they’re like, if this position interacts with your customers, colleagues, and decision-makers remotely, their in-person skills don’t really matter –it’s what comes across on screen.
When you fully commit to having a remote workforce (and hiring process) be virtual, it broadens your talent pool exponentially –giving your business access to many more top performers –increasing the chances that you can find (and hire) top talent faster.
Show, Don’t Tell
If your business prides itself on being current with job seeker needs and listening to employee feedback, your use of technology is a big part of showing prospective employees that. Your ability to conduct interviews and communicate digitally is a litmus test for job seekers to see if your actions match your words.
The Cons
Technology ⚙
When you shift large parts of your interviewing process to rely on technology, the ability for that technology to function is a must. This is true for candidates as well as employers – you need to know how to use that technology to make a good impression. Camera framing, internet connection, microphone quality, a slew of other things need to be considered for your interview to go smoothly.
Making the Right Impression
If you haven’t perfected your virtual interviewing process, you run the risk of not things being perceived as they’re intended. This is true for both employers and job seekers. It’s easy for video interviews to slip into a rigid question-and-answer, interrogative format. Furthermore, it can hinder your ability to get a feel of your candidate’s personality and overall conversation style.
What do Candidates Think?
Even if you don’t consider your screening process to be within the scope of interviewing, your applicants may have a different opinion. If at any point in the hiring process you’re asking candidates to answer questions outside of information on their resume/work history, you’re interviewing them. If you’re using video as part of a screening/application process, this canned, one-directional, approach to interviewing might turn off top performers.
Remember, as much as you’re trying to find a job seeker that is a match for your open role, job seekers are searching for a company that matches their professional needs. Even if it is part of the screening process, automating any part of your hiring process that would otherwise be a conversation, means you’re taking away a crucial element of interviewing for job seekers.
This action can be a red flag to job seekers that your team doesn’t care about employee needs, or is so disorganized that you couldn’t find the time to give your candidate selection process the attention it deserves to ensure the best decision is made.
Reviewing Your Interview Process
The job market right now is HOT and candidates are moving fast! Using video to help streamline your hiring process can help you create efficiencies and make job offers to top performers before the competition has time to do the same. But streamlining your hiring process can come at a cost.
When deciding how you will use the medium of video, it’s important to think about how you can use that technology without losing a personal touch. As with all things, there is a happy medium and businesses must decide for themselves where the balance between technology and the human aspects of hiring lies.
But by fully understanding how video interviews impact your hiring process both positively and negatively, team leaders can build a modern and effective hiring process that appeals to jobs seekers and keeps them engaged until the time of offer.