Best Practices for video interviewing- Tips to Improve Your Online Interview

Video interviewing is quickly becoming a popular way to evaluate job candidates and screen applicants for an interview, however, many companies aren’t sure how to successfully implement video interviewing in their hiring processes and if you’re wondering how to stick out as a company that is willing to take the necessary steps to improve your hiring process, then read on; in this blog post, we will discuss some practices for video interviewing that will help you improve your online hiring process, we will also explain why it’s important to have a specific process for different applicant types, and not just anyone can be used as an example of best practice with any company.

Have a specification for video interviews

Before you begin using video interviewing, make sure that your hiring manager understands and supports the idea before you start screening candidates, it’s important to have a specification document that describes exactly how you want to use video interviewing in your hiring process, and as you start screening candidates, it’s easy to get carried away and use video interviewing as a replacement for all your other processes- this is especially true when you’re screening for an SVP of Marketing and Sales.

If you have a process that’s been in place for years and has been effective at finding good candidates, it can be easy to get caught up in the excitement of change, it’s important to remember that you don’t need to start using video interviewing right away, instead, start by using it only for select candidates in a pilot program, use a hybrid process for the rest of your hiring needs and then use video interviewing as a complement to your current hiring process- this will give you time to see how it works in practice and see any challenges that come up.

Use a Trained Interviewer

Hiring a trained interviewer to conduct your video interviews may be your best option if the thought of conducting an online interview makes you uncomfortable, many employers are hesitant to use a trained interviewer because they are concerned that it will appear as though they are outsourcing the entire interviewing process to an outside company; however, hiring an interviewer is a crucial step in moving from a paper-based hiring process to an online one, and by hiring an interviewer, you can avoid this.

Let Candidates Schedule their Own Interviews

While it’s important to use a trained interviewer for your video interviews, it’s also important to let candidates set up their interviews, this gives candidates the freedom to schedule their times and dates, which can be helpful for certain career paths; for example, a marketing-focused candidate may be best suited for a specific time on a certain day of the week, you can also let candidates schedule their interviews if you have special criteria for your C-suite hires.

Be Clear About How You’re Looking for a Match

The most crucial thing is to communicate with your hiring managers and executives on the decision to start using video interviewing; make sure that they understand and are on board with the idea of switching from a paper-based hiring process and if you’re curious to see if video interviewing will help you attract the right candidates and you don’t know how to explain the process, then you’re already in trouble.