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Pre-Recorded Video Interviews: Key to Modern Recruiting Success
Are you a recruiter looking to find out more about Pre-recorded video interview tools? Then Congratulations! As you have taken a step in the right direction in improving your recruiting productivity and quality of hire! Video interviewing is on the way to becoming a vital tool in recruiting. The COVID-19 Pandemic only serves to accelerate this sentiment, especially for pre-recorded video interviews. To add to the list of “Why should you adopt video interviewing in your recruitment process?”, today’s article will provide an in-depth look into Pre-recorded video interviews and how they can be the key to the success of modern recruiters! What Is a Pre-Recorded Video Interview Tool? While live video interviewing connects two parties in real time through video calls, pre-recorded interviewing allows candidates to send their pre-recorded videos to recruiters for review. Why Is Pre-Recorded Video Interviewing the Key to Success for a Modern Recruiter?Increase Hiring Efficiency/Lower Time-to-Hire and Cost-to-Hire With a pre-recorded video interview tool, recruiters can eliminate time-consuming tasks such as scheduling a live or phone interview or sitting through the entire interview time for each screening. Impress your candidates with your effectiveness and professionalism! You can screen more candidates at a time than phone interviews. Also, unlike phone interviews, you can make your decision to hire, pause the video, and move on instead of finishing the conversation for the sake of courtesy. If you have experienced having test results submitted through email, a pre-recorded video interview tool can elevate your experience. Most available solutions on the market can manage candidates’ emails for you. You won’t have to worry about mismanaging emails. Some solutions can even generate comprehensive evaluation forms or manage data, helping recruiters to compare and compile results faster. Last but not least, you can say goodbye to logistic costs. You do not have to fly out a candidate to your office for an interview nor spend money to arrange a venue and logistics on the interview day. This image is designed by Freepik Prevent Bias Through the removal of inconsistency factors such as interviewers’ tone and behaviors, making every session the same for every candidate. Limiting the chance of interviewers asking irrelevant questions Removing external interference: everyone will receive a fair assessment without outside elements such as a noisy environment changing the assessment. Reach Global/Unique Candidate You are missing out on great talents if you only recruit in your region. Go global with pre-recorded video interviewing! Also, some outstanding candidates may shy away from a direct meeting for several personal reasons. Using one-way interviewing can portray an inclusive and positive picture of your company. Eliminate Time and Space Barriers The main charm of one-way interviewing is that it does not need real-time interaction. Candidates can send their videos at any given time within the designated deadline. Similarly, recruiters can view, comment, and make the decision even when they are on the move. Improve Your Hiring Decision Through Collaboration In a phone or live interview, the interviewer will usually be the only person to evaluate an applicant. With Pre-recorded interviews, you can forward the candidate’s video to your colleagues, providing additional perspectives and opinions. For Candidates, a Pre-Recorded Video Interview Is a More Forgiving Experience With pre-recorded video interviews, you have more control over how your ‘first impression’ be. A candidate can do multiple takes, this process can be repeated until they are satisfied with the video. Are There Any Potential Downsides? Like any interview solution, pre-recorded video interviewing is not perfect. As pre-recorded video heavily limits real-time interaction, a candidate can go through the whole process without talking to a person. Lack of human interaction makes it hard for recruiters to build a relationship and promote candidate experience/impression toward the company. This image is designed by Freepik How to Mitigate This Potential Problem? Chad Harrison International’s managing director, Luke Robbins, suggested that using pre-recorded video interviews requires balance. Automated interviews are indeed very helpful in getting through a large applicant pool. However, once you have chosen your talents, a different, more personal approach is required to retain them. A potential solution for this problem is the adaption of both pre-recorded and online video interview. Even at the initial stages of recruitment, there are still ways for you to interact with your candidates: Provide written instruction before the interview: adding a little personality in the message is an excellent way to let the candidates know that someone spends their time writing the instruction. You can also include a short video of your recruiting staff explaining or giving out tips relating to pre-recorded interviews. Especially in the rejection process, when some candidates are in a negative mood: providing genuine consolation will always elicit a better reaction than a soulless “noreply@” email. They might even be willing to go for a different position. Provide candidates with a contact to reach if something goes wrong: similar to the previous idea. It shows that you care. It could be your business’s IT department or the support team of the interview solution. Examples of Successful ImplementationWalmart Arguably, the most proponent users of automated video interview solutions during the Covid 19 Pandemic are retailers and grocery stores. According to Business Insider, earlier this year, Walmart and Amazon were on a “hiring spree” due to the increase in online shopping. Amazon was planning to fill 100.000 positions, while Walmart was aiming to fill 150.000. In a November article, BBC revealed that the usage of pre-recorded interviewing plays a crucial role in helping Walmart fill hundreds of positions in a matter of days! In the same article, another example was given by HireVue’s CEO – Kevin Parker of a grocery store chain in the Southern US. The chain reportedly made as much as 15,000 automated interviews per day. Uber Andrew Kim, former Asia-Pacific (APAC) recruiting manager of Uber, briefly describes Uber’s APAC situation during his time, which involved having to cover 11 markets. With 11 markets pooling candidates simultaneously, Uber APAC has to work with 11 languages and cultures to pick its candidates. The company also highly values language ability and wants to understand the culture of their hires. With all these criteria, logically, the best option would be for Uber to use phone interviews, which is very time-consuming. However, instead of adapting phone interviewing, the company opts for a pre-recorded video interview solution. With the help of the solution, Uber witnessed a drastic improvement in the hiring process. Candidate screening time also decreased drastically. Uber APAC identified language ability and thought process at an increased speed. Hiring managers also got a better understanding of their hires even before the in-person interviews. Conclusion Understandably, like any interview solution, the pre-recorded video interview solution is not perfect. With some ingenuity on your part, you can avoid the drawbacks of using this method to elevate your business’s hiring process to an unrivaled level of effectiveness! If you are eager to adopt pre-recorded video interviews, you can read this post to learn how to set up your very own pre-recorded video interview session.
3 Ways to Build an LGBTQ+ Inclusive Workplace
If you have been following the LGBTQ community’s victories, you have probably heard of the recent ruling that protects LGBTQ workers from discrimination in the workplace. After the Supreme Court passed this ruling, we would expect that LGBTQ workers would be safe in their respective work environments, but there is still a lot of work to be done in building an LGBTQ friendly workplace where the community feels secure. Some studies show that more than 35% of LGBT workers fear discrimination should they come out to their work colleagues. This doesn’t seem right, and if your company is interested in building an inclusive work environment for your staff, Rakuna has some tactics that could help you. But first, you need to understand the challenges most LGBTQ members face and why it is vital to embrace a friendly LGBT work environment. Challenges of LGBTQ in Workplaces With almost 46% of LGBTQ employees in the USA alone not coming out at work, you might be asking why LGBTQ employees hide their identities. Here are some reasons: They fear sexual discrimination: A large population of people still see LGBTQ relationships as something immoral. So, it’s not surprising that up to 35% out of 3,213 LGBT employees in the UK fear sexual discrimination when they come out. LGBT staff fear workplace harassment: 18% of LGBT employees have been victims of bullying because of their sexual orientation. Loss of job opportunity anxiety: Even before they get a job, their sexuality could work against them. Some studies have shown that at least 20% of LGBT job seekers feel like they experienced some form of lost job opportunity due to their sexual orientation. Transgender staff abuse: As much as 90% of transgender staff have experienced mistreatment in their workplace after their outing. These are just a few challenges stopping LGBT workers from coming out in their workplaces. Why is It Essential to Embrace an LGBTQ-Friendly Workplace? Now, if reading about some of the challenges LGBT staff face isn’t enough reason to adopt a friendly LGBTQ workplace, here are some more reasons to convince you: Improve employees’ safety: An LGBTQ-friendly workplace will result in less discrimination of LGBT members in your workplace. This, in turn, will help increase the openness of LGBTQ members because they feel safe and secure. Improve your employees’s health: A survey carried out by business Impact showed that when LGBT employees spend time and effort hiding their identities in the workplace, they could experience higher stress and anxiety levels. This could then result in health and work-related problems. But, if your company embraces inclusion, LGBT workers will feel less stressed, resulting in improved health, better employer-employee relationships, significantly increased work commitment, and even job satisfaction, Prevent legal actions: Another essential reason your company should adopt an LGBTQ-friendly workplace is that this practice will help your organization avoid lawsuits due to discrimination. Improve the company’s public image: Embracing inclusivity in your workplace will create a positive public image for your company. From this action, your company could get more clients interested in doing business with your company. Low turnover: Another very fundamental reason why your company should adopt an LGBTQ-friendly workplace is that LGBTQ staff who can be themselves in their work environment will be more likely to remain in their current jobs. This will save the company money in talent recruitment, training, etc. Top 3 Tactics to Effectively Build an LGBTQ Friendly Workplace Now that you have more insights into the challenges LGBT employees sometimes face let’s look at the three tactics you can use to build an inclusive working environment effectively. Improve Your Hiring Process Sometimes, we are oblivious to the hiring practices we have that prevent minority groups from joining our company. Your company might not be actively discriminating against the LGBTQ community, but there is such a thing as unconscious bias in the recruitment process that most minority groups face. Here are some tips for creating a more inclusive hiring process: Try setting up LGBT-friendly policies and a baseline for LGBTQ+ recruitment. For example, your company setting up a non-discrimination policy that includes sexual orientation will tell every employee where you stand on such matters. It will also protect members of the LGBTQ+ community. An extra but much-needed step is to set up a baseline with set repercussions should employees not adhere to the aforementioned policies. Once you create your hiring ad, use various writing tools like Textio, ProWritingAid, or Grammarly to ensure you aren’t sending the wrong message. Ensure that for every job ad you publish, you explicitly state that your company is an equal opportunity company committed to diversity hiring. Highlight your company’s values to promote inclusivity, and if you provide any benefits that show your commitment to your value, reference them. Also, publish your job ad on LGBT-focused job boards. Solutions like using Rakuna software – a recruiting operation & marketing platform, provide a great source for diversity recruitment for companies to take advantage of. During the actual recruitment process, ensure that you create a transparent selection process free from personal bias. Sensitize Your Employees Changing your hiring process to include minority groups like the LGBT community is a great step in the right direction. But what happens when LGBTQ + recruitment is complete? Do LGBT employees come into a work environment where their colleagues are sensitized on issues about them? Train your employees on how to treat their colleagues with respect. Some tips on sensitizing your staff: Hire professionals to come in and train your staff. Ensure the training on sexual orientation and gender identity. Training should also focus on LGBTQ rights, the values and responsibilities of your company as they pertain to these rights, and the responsibility of every staff member to uphold them. Note that if your staff are extremely desensitized, they might need frequent sessions to fully comprehend the training. Take time, and be patient with them. Encourage Internal LGBT Networking Lastly, within your organization, you can encourage LGBT staff to form internal networks that can help them attain mentors and build solid friendships across the various sectors of the organization. There are many big companies like Microsoft, Google, Uber, IBM, etc. who support equal rights for LGBTQ in their own way. Simmons & Simmons LLP, for example, set up an LGBTQ network in 2006. The network encompasses all its partners and employees. With a singular aim of providing support to members of the LGBTQ community, their employees are quoted as loving the company’s supportive and friendly environment. You can study what other big companies are currently doing to create an inclusive environment for the LGBT community and craft something for your company. Final Thoughts After reading this article, we believe you would see why the fight for equality in the workplace is significant. Ensuring there is inclusivity in your company is not a one-day thing. Baby steps make big changes! Let’s get start now! Bio This article was written by Ana Mayer, a project manager with 3+ years of experience. While projects can do without her participation (which means almost never), she likes to read and create expert academic materials for the Online Writers Rating, Best Writers Online review website. Such work gives her the opportunity to write articles on the most relevant topics of today.
Setting up Your Company’s First Video Interview Session
When was the last time you worked in the office? Probably several months ago. The arrival of the global Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way we work and made working from home become the “new normal”. Turbulent times call for adaptive and digitized measures, and thus, conducting video interviews is the way to go to continue with your recruitment. However, organizing video interviews is not as simple as making calls to your candidates or asking them to send several recorded videos. If video interviewing is emerging into your recruitment process or you have been a bit confused while dealing with it, great, this article is probably your go-to resource to set up your company’s video interview session. What Are Video Interviews? In general, there are two types of video interviews that every modern recruiter should consider while planning virtual recruiting. Two-way or live video interview: Recruiters conduct one-on-one or panel live interviews with candidates. These interviews are organized via free and easy-to-access platforms such as Skype, Hangouts, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams. Due to its interactive nature, this type of virtual interview can create engaging conversations for both parties. Along with these platforms, recruiters can also take a further step towards adopting new technology to optimize live video interviews. They can work with third-party vendors who provide advanced features such as games or quizzes to test candidates during interviews. One-way video interview or on-demand video interview: Interviewees receive predetermined questions and send recorded video to interviewers for further assessment. The two common practices of submitting these files are uploading to YouTube and sending the link to recruiters or recording and uploading videos to third-party recruiting platforms. Small projects and businesses often use the former as it’s free and convenient. However, it’s also hard to manage because videos are not centralized in one platform with supporting assessing tools such as integrated evaluation forms. Using open solutions also raises concerns about confidentiality and security among interviewees as accounts can be easily hacked, or a setting mistake may cause candidates’ videos to be published to unexpected audiences. Tech-savvy enterprises and organizations often use the latter solution with a big pool of candidates and certain budgets to invest in talent acquisition technologies. How to Choose a Suitable Video Interview Format? In general, video interviews can help you reduce costs and increase efficiency. Conducting video interviews can cut the cost of setting up meetings, traveling to different locations, and saving your precious time from switching between meetings or organizing proper logistics. It is also convenient as you can conduct multiple interviews from your working desk and expand your recruiting pool with remote talents. In terms of optimization, different types of video interviews can fit into different stages. The one-way video interview can be used in the early stage of your recruitment process when you have multiple candidates to screen. Using a self-recorded video process allows candidates to complete the recording at their own paces while modern recruiters can speed up the hiring process and manage your time effectively. Additionally, some innovative HR technology vendors have also introduced advanced features such as automated evaluation or AI-powered solutions to screen and evaluate a great number of candidates promptly. The latter option can analyze videos and rank candidates objectively based on their facial movements, word choices, etc. Two-way video interviews are often scheduled later when star talents are shortlisted to save the valuable time of both parties before making decisions. Live video interviews also become necessary when the team is scattered and it’s better to have all stakeholders in one video conference. Source: This image is designed by Freepik 10 Best Tips When Setting up Your First Video Interview01. Setting up the Process and Communicating Clearly Adopting video interviews may result in several changes in your recruitment process. Thus, it is advisable to communicate clearly to both candidates and other team members and keep them updated. 02. Scheduling Properly Scheduling interviews effectively is not as simple as making a phone call or sending an email, especially when you are having multiple candidates or are recruiting for remote positions. Don’t let the candidate’s experience be affected by mistakes like inadequate information and back-and-forth communication. Some minor flaws include forgetting to mention the interview platform or sending out wrong links to different meetings. 03. Using Accessible Platforms Let’s keep it simple, convenient, and risk-free. Candidates are more likely to have a positive experience when recruiters use common interviewing platforms or anything that does not require downloading or filling in a long registration form. Using accessible platforms can also help both parties avoid unnecessary technical issues. Thus, it is advisable to communicate clearly to both candidates and other team members and keep them updated. 04. Giving a Technical Test Run Beforehand You should check all possible technical problems before organizing and conducting interviews. Issues are varied based on your working environment, but a short suggested checklist for you includes wifi connection, webcam, microphone, and speaker. 05. Providing Materials and Appointing Contact Person If it is an on-demand video interview, make sure that you will send clear guidelines and materials so that your candidates won’t feel lost when they start the interview on their own. Furthermore, as pre-recorded videos can be made anywhere at any time while technical problems may happen at odd times, recruiters should also include information on a contact point for technical support. It’s better to let candidates know that there is someone to ask for help. 06. Inviting the Candidate Early With Live Video Interview If it is a two-way video interview, make sure that you invite interviewees at least 10 minutes early to perform technical testing to avoid any problems coming from either party. 07. Preparing a Clear Instruction If you have a complex process or use a third-party platform, it’s advisable to include a guideline in your email for candidates to go over before starting the interview session. The instruction should include the interview process, features of the platform, and what candidates should know in order to avoid technical issues. 08. Setting a Professional Space You can set up the interview space to give candidates a professional impression for a two-way video interview. Clearing scratch paper, arranging the fallen objects, or moving your tools to the proper place may help you create a clean, sleek, and distraction-free background for live interviews. This practice will also be worth notice if you plan to record question videos for on-demand video interviews. 09. Checking With Interviewers for Setting Up If it is a two-way video interview, you should check with interviewers to know whether they would like some help to set up a room for video interviewing or they want to handle it on their own following your written instruction. 10. Asking for Feedback and Improving As you are just implementing a new assessment method, make sure that you will prepare surveys for your candidates and interviewers to evaluate after the first video interview session. Many third-party solutions have this feedback form as a feature of the solution to allow you easily capture candidates and interviewers’ feedback. If there is anything wrong, let’s improve it next time. Source: This image is designed by Freepik 3 Tips to Stay Attractive and Competitive01. Having a Company Culture Pitch It’s likely that you won’t be able to invite talents to the office and get them interested in your exciting working environment and culture in the near future. No worries. You can get them hooked and stand out from the crowd with a well-prepared, interesting company culture pitch during interviews. If your video interview platform allows uploading videos and/ or slideshows, you definitely should consider adding one of your company cultures. If the platform does not offer this feature, you should at least provide them to your emails to the candidates prior to their interviews. 02. Keeping It Engaging Imagine that you are looking at your digitized version on the screen and talking to yourself. That’s the experience of candidates who are recording videos for one-way interviews. However, you can make it more interesting by having videos about the company and teams before and after the interview questions. Visuals and sounds are more appealing compared to plain text. 03. Use Advanced Technology for Efficiency HR Technology is your great teammate in this digital era. Check out our article on virtual recruiting for more ideas. Final Thoughts In these uncertain, unprecedented times, adopting HR technologies and digitalizing the recruitment process are your go-to strategies to keep the business going. Don’t be afraid to test new methods or adopt new technologies into your process. Organizing your first video interview session or dealing with a surging number of virtual interviews may be a bit tricky, but we are here to help. Along with this article on 10 things to know when setting up interviews, check out our blog for more tips to rock virtual recruitment!