Hiring Your Next Employee with Video
The movement toward video recruitment and interviewing is being heralded as a much needed change in the world of hiring. And if you ask many of my Human Resources colleagues, it can’t come fast enough. The incredibly high recruiting costs of finding that ‘right’ person, the vast amounts of time spent on the phone, and the numerous awkward and painful personal interviews – any one of these reason enough for them to lament, “There must be an easier way!”
According to recruiter.com, hiring via traditional methods can cost anywhere from $1500-$5000 and 45 days per hire. Any of us who’ve ever worked in HR know how closely those dollars get scrutinized and have felt the pressure from the hiring manager to ‘get someone in the door’ for his/her open req. And in the unfortunate cases where the hire doesn’t work out, companies are confronted with having to begin all over again. In a world where it’s now imperative to reduce costs while also increasing speed, these expenses and time investments are just not acceptable anymore. Managers and HR departments are not only asking for, they are demanding, better methods of recruiting that are efficient and more aligned with their schedules and budgets.
Video recruitment is swiftly transforming the sourcing, recruiting and hiring process for businesses of all industries and sizes. Companies are realizing that video presents a wide range of benefits as a ‘two way street’ of sorts for both the employer as well as the candidate. Organizations can use it from the outset to showcase their “brand”: the company, products/service, people, culture and while also presenting a more detailed and comprehensive job description. “This is who we are. This is what we’re about. Here is what we are looking for. Are you the person we need?” The company can even post some initial interview questions. In turn, prospective candidates can put together a quick overview of themselves – work history, skills, and even respond to the recruiter’s interview questions. All of this can be done at the convenience of one’s schedule. No trading emails or phone calls to set up an initial discussion. A recent graphic presented by ‘Undercover Recruiter’ shows the average phone screen takes 30 minutes yet it takes most recruiters only 90 seconds to determine if someone is a potential fit. Using video allows recruiters and managers to assess a far bigger pool of candidates in a far more compressed timeframe. It’s an ideal way to step through the first few rounds of the interview process, even if the candidate is local, but especially if he is remote or located across different regions and timezones. And the video is searchable, viewable at any time, with multiple people able to review the content and provide feedback.
According to comScore’s 2012 US Digital Future In Focus report, 105.1 million Americans are watching online videos every day while another recent study showed 56% of people are watching online videos at least once a month on their mobile devices. We are on the threshold of an incredibly exciting shift in the market. The days of viewing paper resumes, conducting phone screens and the painful process of scheduling in person interviews is already seen as inefficient. It is now trending to become archaic and obsolete as the movement toward video grows with ever increasing speed. Companies looking to gain a competitive advantage and attract top talent would do well to start embracing this change now or risk being left behind.