"On Demand" Interviews. A Good Idea?
I spoke with a contact yesterday. A very experienced and talented professional, whom I both respect and admire.
She told me that she had interviewed for a position with an international corporate. They employed a new form of interviewing called “on demand”.
I asked her what this involved, as this is not a term I am familiar with. She explained that she was asked to sit in front of her laptop, and answer a series of questions given by a pre-recorded message.
She was given 30 seconds to prepare and then an allotted time to answer each question.
She confessed that she found the whole process very alien to her and as a result she did not give her best. This is a very senior level individual who has managed very challenging change processes in multi-national PLCs, with turnover in the billions and leading stakeholders in complex, matrix structures.
I found this method very concerning for a number of reasons:
1. Any methodology utilised in a recruitment process should be chosen not just to make the employers life easier, but to get the best from the candidates being interviewed. This video interviewing seems to me to only favour the hiring business (in theory) as it reduces the amount of time needed to interview.
2. Recruitment processes should be created to get the best out of a vast array of professionals. To me, this method of videoing candidates only favours those who are comfortable in front of a camera. From my experience, this supports the candidacy of a very small section of individuals who are used to the technology that allows you to feel comfortable in front of a video camera – to speak to a disengaged platform who doesn’t talk back.
3. It’s a fact that non-verbal communication is a major form of how we decide whether our audience is engaged with us. Pre-recorded video interviews do not allow for this type of communication and therefore ignores a significant part of what makes an individual effective at leading and influencing others.
I believe that this style of interviewing is yet another example of how technology that purports to enhance our ability to interview, is actually undermining the process – both in terms of attracting the best candidates, and identifying who the right person is for the job.
We need to stop looking for ways to reduce the time it takes to recruit the right person and instead consider what methods actually assist us to attract and employ the best professional for the job.
There is no point reducing the “time to hire” KPI, if this results in businesses rejecting better talent, in favour of people who can perform in front of a camera, for example.
Our recruitment processes need to allow candidates to display their ability in line with the vacancy they are being considered for. Unless they are going for a job as a TV presenter, or the next YouTube blogging sensation, I fail to see how a video interview is productive.
I would like to make it clear that I CAN see a place for video interviewing. If you are trying to source an individual to work in an environment where this type of communication is commonplace, recorded online interviews are absolutely relevant.
Where this method falls short is when it’s employed as a standard technique, regardless of the role being recruited.
I have said it many times and I will say it again. If you are a business who has many departments looking for many different skill sets and attributes, a “one process suits all” approach will not work.
To maximise your chances to attract, engage and employ the best professionals for your business, you need to have a varied, flexible and dynamic recruitment toolbox.
When we have a vacancy, we have a vision of what the person we need to fill that role looks like. We have a specific set of circumstances which changes the requirements of what we are looking for from an individual, even if the job title is the same as other employees within the business.
Why, then, do we insist on utilising the same methods to recruit every single role we recruit for?
When you spend time putting together a job specification, dedicate further time to create a plan as to how to maximise your chances of finding that individual.
This extra couple of hours will actually save you time in the long run.
It is too easy to blame talent shortage as the reason we fail to find the right people.
We fail because we don’t give it the time and the thought it deserves.
Quarter Horses
7yThese interviews on their own aren't a great idea however as part of a process involving various techniques if you are seriously looking for a candidate have a use. Thinking quickly, on the run & split second decision making is a requirement for a lot of positions from the top to the bottom of the job market. I'm not a ceo or a manger however quick, split second decision making is something that is required in my job. If not then that can cost my employer considerably, jeopardise the supply chain & even cost lives in the event something goes wrong.
Global Supply Chain & Logistics Professional
7yI'm not a fan, most definitely not. It creates a false environment, in my opinion. Unless one has thespian training and is therefore used to monologs and soliloquy.
Project Leader
7yAgree that video interviews are not ideal, and my experience as a candidate once was unsettling. Ironically the organisation took a month to invite me to the one-way recording video interview with about 5 days to complete and then over a month to provide feedback that I was unsuccessful.
Business Development Director @ Rainbow HR Ltd
7ySimilar to the crappy video interviews of old (actually some still swear by them) where candidate records their answers to a series of questions which flash up on the screen. One job board still peddles it as the “future”, in reality it loses more people from the process than any other method, also when you are sent the link you normally only have 24 or 48 hours to complete otherwise you are automatically de-selected, candidates who could not access are therefore penalised.