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- Jo Faragher
After years of reining in expenses, it came as a surprise this week that more than half of companies have never used video interviews to assess candidates.
A survey by Foosle found that 51% of those surveyed were always looking for new ways to reduce recruitment costs, yet two-thirds of respondents rejected up to 75% of applicants after the first face-to-face interview. Because shortlisting candidates, managing interviewers’ diaries and the time taken for the interview itself all cost time and money, they’re effectively throwing that investment down the drain.
Foosle reckons UK companies spent on average £6,000 during the recruitment process in the last year, but despite being savvy about technologies such as FaceTime or Skype, they’ve not really made the connection to how this could streamline their recruitment processes.
In the US, where video interviewing is now well established, companies have found it a useful screening tool – richer than the CV because you can see the person behind it – and if they wish to take it further they can build a smaller, more relevant shortlist for a second, face-to-face interview.
Most laptops are equipped with webcams, and apps such as Skype and FaceTime are available on tablets and smartphones, so candidates will also become more and more comfortable with conducting at least some stages of the recruitment process over a video link.
Not only can it help you to ‘have someone in the room’ who might not have been able to travel to an interview otherwise, video interviewing can also give you a much more rounded view of a candidate and allows you to see how they respond to questions. When it comes to seeing if someone is a good personal or cultural fit for an organisation, this can be invaluable.
It’s not just about cost-cutting, and it doesn’t turn interviewers into robots. Using video can enrich and broaden the recruitment process too, so it’s time the trend gained traction here in the UK.
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