With 2017 right around the corner and job opportunities at an all time high, hiring managers are looking for better ways to improve recruitment and fill jobs fast. Virtual interviews, also known as video recruitment, is a new trend companies are beginning to use to streamline the interview process, cut costs and speed up time-to-fill rates. Although not a new method, more businesses are seeing promising potential to incorporating it into the hiring process for the benefit of both applicants and employers.
Video Is King Of Internet Traffic – A study conducted by Cisco in 2014 estimates that 70% of internet traffic comes from video streaming. That number is estimated to skyrocket to 90% by the year 2020. Another source reports that 500 million people watch Facebook videos per day, while a whopping 10 billion videos are watched on Snapchat each day. Recruiters can take advantage by creating and posting videos to free platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and LinkedIn to reach that major source of traffic and get your videos noticed. Video content can range from job opportunity promotion to fun and creative videos showcasing company culture and industry. Regardless of the type of videos you choose to make, chances are high they will be viewed and shared among a world-wide audience, attracting job seekers who are best suited to work for the company.
Source: QZ.com
Prerecorded & Live Video Interviews – There are two methods companies use to conduct interviews using video: Live and prerecorded. Live interviews enable hiring teams to talk with job candidates in real time as if it were an in-person interview. These sessions can be recorded and sent to team members to review at a later time and can be a convenient way to include busy coworkers who are a crucial element in the hiring process. Prerecorded interviews allow applicants to answer questions posed by the employer on video and provides recruiters the flexibility to evaluate submissions on their own time. Talent Acquisition analyst Kyle Lagunas of market research firm Brandon Hall Group commented on the benefits of incorporating video citing, “The amount of time recruiters spend scheduling and executing screening calls is exorbitant …when you automate that — especially with on-demand, so videos can be recorded and viewed at their leisure — it frees them up from spending time on the phone trying to chase candidates … [and] hiring managers [down] and get everybody’s calendar synced up just for that first call.”
Save Money & Time – General Electric (GE) provides a great example of how virtual interviews can cut company costs and save time. GE implemented video interviewing to their hiring process for hard to fill positions. GE is stationed all around the U.S. and were spending a fortune on travel costs for candidates who lived far distances but were highly sought after. Video gave them the ability to meet job candidates no matter where they were physically and hire top talent easier while saving money. Virtual interviewing was initially implemented only for the healthcare headquarters, but with the high demand for technology and promising results, they decided to make it a company-wide standard for interviewing new candidates. GE’s Global recruitment technology leader Shahbaz Alibaig said, “Getting the candidates and the hiring managers in one location can take weeks and months to schedule. So it [wasn’t] just the cost but [also] the cycle time of interviews which [was] a challenge.”
Virtual Interviews can be great for businesses looking for cost-effective hiring strategies that also assist in sourcing top candidates for hard to fill positions. Video adds innovation and forward-thinking aspects to the hiring process that will impress candidates and leave them with a lasting impression. With video serving as the king of internet traffic and tons of free (and paid) platforms available, any company regardless of size and budget can take advantage of video and get noticed. With major companies like GE paving the way, it is only a matter of time before competitors realize the benefits and jump on trend. Stay one step ahead and become the first in your industry to implement video–because virtual interviews are the future of recruitment!