Hire the right candidate…
Hire candidates quickly…
Hire candidates with limited resources…
These were nothing but the dreams of recruiters a couple of decades ago. Back then, recruiters had to go through thousands of resumes, pick hundreds that match the required criteria, and call all of them for an interview. And the worst part – it wasn’t pretty uncommon to find interviewers not selecting even one candidate when none of them were a good fit.
But today, things have changed. Modern-day recruiters have started converting these dreams into reality through a smart hiring process – pre-recorded interviews. A pre-recorded video interview or simply pre screening interview helps to evaluate the quality of the candidates much before actually calling them for a direct interview. The entire pre-recorded video interview process can be summed up in 5 easy steps –
- Recruiters add their questions to a software
- The questions are answered by the candidates through a recorded video whenever they have time
- The submitted answers are sent back to the recruiters
- The recruiters view the answers directly from their inbox
- The recruiters then decide whether the candidate should be called for an interview or not
How can pre-recorded video interviews improve candidate screening?
Here are some ways in which a pre-recorded video interview can elevate the overall candidate screening process –
Saves time to hire
A pre-recorded video interview eliminates the need for a recruiter to interview every candidate who passed the resume screening level. This translates to a lot of time saved. Also, you can define the timeframe before which the candidate has to answer the questions. For example, if you are really short of time, you can just give a couple of days for them to answer, thereby speeding up the whole process.
Access to more candidates
In the past, recruiters were always skeptical about calling candidates from distant places for an interview. The reason was quite obvious – a lot of no-shows. Not all candidates wanted to travel long distances without knowing they stood a good chance for getting hired..
As a consequence, most recruiters ignored people who were not from the same area as the interview location. This meant even the candidates who were willing to travel for the interview didn’t get a chance.
With a pre-recorded video interview in place, only the candidates who stood a good chance of getting hired are called for a direct interview. Also, this meant candidates, irrespective of their geographical location, got calls for interviews. Recruiters, on the other hand, no longer had to experience no-shows.
Helps to understand candidates better
With a pre-recorded video interview, recruiters would have more data to work on when they are conducting the actual interview. The interviewer will already have a fair idea about multiple dimensions of the candidates, such as body language, facial expression, confidence, and much more. This makes picking the final candidate much easier.
Multiple people can collaborate
Since the entire pre-recorded video process is conducted via software, recruiters can easily share the answer with other hiring managers and seek their opinion. This greatly reduces bias as more than one pair of eyes can give an opinion about a candidate.
What to ask in a pre-recorded video interview?
Remember – candidates have a limited time to answer the questions. So you must frame the questions in such a way that you can gather all the relevant information about the candidate in that short time. Here are some of the best pre screening interview questions that you can try asking –
- What makes you a good fit for this role?
- How do you manage your work efficiently?
- What steps can your present employer take to keep you from leaving the company?
Wrapping Up
A pre-recorded video interview makes sure no one’s time is wasted, and only the right candidate is hired. And the best part – the talent pool is widened, and multiple recruiters can easily collaborate and work together in perfect sync while selecting a candidate. All these make it very important for a company to embrace pre-recorded video interviews in its hiring process.