Video Interviews- 5 Reasons Why They'll Be The End Of Telephone Interviews

As video interviews become more commonplace they are beginning to solidify their space in the hiring process. Previously used more towards the later stages of the process, video interviews are increasingly being used to replace the telephone screening stage . Along with providing a greater depth of information, here's 5 reasons why we'll see 'automated video interviewing' applications in particular begin to replace telephone interviews:

No scheduling- this means no back and forth emails between candidate and employer. If you're recruiting internationally, you don't have to stay up until the early hours to see a sleepy picture of someone on the other side of the world.
Consistent responses- it's been scientifically proven in 7 papers over the past 30 years* that asking every candidate the same questions and not being biased by follow-ups, provides a much more accurate predictor of aptitude.
Candidate comparison- even the most resilient of phone interviewers will admit they begin to get fatigued after 7 or 8 interviews and this can bias the way they evaluate candidates. Having candidates record their responses, means you don't have to ask the same questions over and over again and you can evaluate the candidates side-by-side.
Time saving- not having to perform the interviews manually saves a lot of time, rather than 30 minutes, you can evaluate a candidate in 10. You can skip to the responses to your killer questions and see whether the candidates trip up.
Sharing with colleagues- recorded responses allow you to get the opinions of colleagues without them having to be there, this can give you a much more rounded opinion of a candidate while avoiding the difficulty of getting everyone in the same room.

With most people now having a reliable internet connection and access to a webcam, the convenience and relative low cost of video interviewing make sense on both sides. With the introduction of front-facing cameras on most smart-phones and the everyone becoming more accustomed to communicating through webcam platforms like Skype, it's only a matter of time before more organisations beginning using video interviews for candidate screening.

Comment by Ryder Cullison on November 24, 2010 at 10:30am: Hi Kes:
I agree with all your points on video interviewing! I've been blogging as well on the same points. We always encourage a final face-to-face interview but how great is it for the hiring manager to only have to interview candidates he knows in advance are of interest to him? No more wasting 30-40 minutes of your day interviewing a candidate you know in the first five minutes is not a good fit for the job. Every point you mention is excellent and are benefits I have mentioned in the past!

Comment by C. B. Stalling!! on November 24, 2010 at 10:36am: Not sure I aggree or may if I am ready to have my clients do this or not

Comment by Hung Lee on November 29, 2010 at 1:03pm: The application of video technology in recruitment will almost certainly happen - the efficiency gains are too obvious for both employer & job seeker alike for it not to. The question is which part of the recruitment process would it replace?

Kes, in my view, it may not be ambitious enough to say that it will end the telephone interview - surely it is more likely to replace the 1st stage face 2 face?

As Jason mentioned, a telephone call has advantages over pre recorded video i/v because for simplicity and speed of response, its hard to beat. We overcome the poor quality of information captured by inviting the candidate in for a 1st stage interview. As video's primary selling point is the quality of the information, it follows that Ovia.me's model is an alternative to this stage, rather than the initial telephone screen.

It could look like this: 1: CV screen 2. Telephone screen. 3. Ovia.me or alternative video tool. 4. Final stage face 2 face i/v/ 5. Offer/Reject.

That will certainly speed up the recruitment process, especially if there are multiple roles / candidates / stakeholders in the i/v process.