Lights, Camera, Action: How Video is Changing Online Candidate Screening

There’s no question that hiring teams have had to drastically change their recruitment marketing strategies over the past two years. With the initial inability to conduct in-person interviews, companies turned to online candidate screening processes to close the gap, with the number of companies using video increasing 67% over one year.

With virtual hiring here to stay, what should employers expect when it comes to future innovations in video technology?

Phenom’s Ljuba Bogdanovich, Senior Director of International Premium CS & FS SME, and Sebastian Hust, Sr. Director of Talent Experience Strategy, discussed the undeniable impact video has on recruiting — and how employers can better leverage it to hire best-fit talent faster.

“Video is a key component of the recruiting experience,” Bogdanovich said. It enhances the candidate experience, streamlines the recruitment process, and saves time on the hiring manager’s end. The bottom line: video isn’t going anywhere.

Why Video for Online Candidate Screening?

“Just think about it,” Hust said. “There is so much stuff you [notice] when you hear someone talk, when you see someone move, which you cannot convey in a motivational letter or CV.”

And he has a great point. When HR and TA teams incorporate video into the screening and hiring process, they are getting an authentic view of candidates that they wouldn’t grasp as fully from traditional cover letters.

Consider how many times you’ve scheduled an interview with a potential candidate based on a promising resume, but can tell early on it’s a poor fit. “One-way video interviewing has been tremendously successful for us in the past couple of years… [because] it saves a lot of time and money,” Hust explained.

When recruiters and hiring managers can sit down and review a video together — or separately — then compare their rankings, it saves time screening and evaluating candidates they may or may not end up moving forward with. It also allows for faster turnaround in providing job offers to top talent.

This streamlined online candidate screening process is critical when reducing time to fill and time to offer. “If you fail to have a video strategy, you might lose candidates because you won’t get them in time,” Hust added.

Video is great for the candidate, too. Using video to record answers to interview questions allows candidates to “pitch” themselves more genuinely. Video also provides ease of access for candidates, which can’t be stressed enough.

By utilizing video as the first step in the online candidate screening process, HR teams give candidates the relief of not having to take a vacation day at their current job to travel to an interview or find childcare. This flexibility boosts the candidate’s view of your company, too — a win-win.

“We see that video has become a commodity to a lot of people,” Hust said. Candidates expect more from the companies they're interviewing with. They have high standards on quality and they aren’t afraid to put themselves out there — on video.

What We Can Really Gain from Video

How can we measure success by using video in the hiring process? Hust walked through the following advantages:

Face-to-face interviews can be expensive & inefficient. They require time to travel, cost to travel, and other opportunity costs.
A candidate’s personal pitch may be stronger than their resume. “Once you’ve seen them on video, you get a completely different picture of who they are," Hust said.
Video gives hiring managers information faster. Recruiters and managers have the tools to collaborate with automated feedback and communication, which drives better alignment on hiring needs.
Video improves the candidate experience. Candidates don’t have to take time off or spend money to participate in your company's online candidate screening process.
A round 1 video interview can make a face-to-face interview increase in value. The candidate has a better chance of getting the job if they’ve already submitted a video and been invited to move on to the next step of the process.

Companies can save 60% or more effort on selecting candidates

What HR Teams Need to Know

Though HR is still in the early stage of recruiting technology, it’s only improving from here.

Hust stressed that HR teams must have a quality user experience if they want to be successful in using video when screening and evaluating candidates.

“A lot of companies don’t walk the extra mile when it comes to user experience. They underestimate that people [might not] have great internet connection… they might have older technology. Put yourself into the shoes of your candidates and ask if that’s how [you] want [your] employer brand to be represented.”

Because video recruiting isn’t something learned in school — at least, not yet — Hust urged companies to walk their candidates through the process. Provide them with tips to prepare, offer support via a chatbot, and allow them to check their video before hitting send.

Hust’s last piece of advice? Talk to your IT department about simplifying your tech stack with an integrated video solution to ensure a smooth user experience for online candidate screening. “There’s no way around considering the process from end-to-end. If you use video as part of a technology lifecycle like Phenom offers, then it’s much less error-prone.”

The Future of Video

“Nobody is terrified of videos any longer,” Hust said simply. Because of that, he predicted that the future of video recruiting will look something like this:

Video will become the #1 communication channel. We’re already seeing this in short videos that are incorporated into job ads, videos from employees that are displayed on company websites, and more.
CVs will become a thing of the past. Video will become much more relevant in how candidates present themselves and how they sell themselves. Screening and evaluating candidates is easier with video!
Video messaging will become the norm. Candidates will submit applications via video and receive video responses from company administrators in return. This will personalize the process and show that the company appreciates candidates’ efforts.

Key Takeaways

Bogdanovich and Hust ended their conversation with three key takeaways that HR and TA teams must consider when incorporating video into their hiring process:

Do not compromise on user experience and candidate support
Make sure you can automate online candidate screening processes
Involve hiring managers early in the hiring journey

“At the end of the day… it’s all about that candidate experience. What is that experience for that candidate and how efficiently and quickly can you get them through that process while learning as much as you possibly can about them?” Bogdanovich said.

Want to learn more about all video has to offer? Check out our blog:

What You Need to Know About Video Interviewing Candidates

Kevin Binko