Screening candidates online can be very effecient and cost effective. In the past, phone interviews were the only way to screen candidates early in the hiring process. But with new technologies, things have changed for the better. Now recruiters and organizations have the ability to effectively screening candidates with a few keystrokes and a click of a button. Oh, bless you technology!

Multimedia interviewing is a great way to effectively screen candidates. Recruiters have their choice of several different question types to make it easy to customize an interview to their needs. Simply create an interview by typing out a question and selecting a response format: video, voice, written, and multiple choice. You pick and choose the format for each question, so it's easy to customize your interviews to the position you are recruiting for. And candidates get a chance to give you more info at the beginning of the process, which helps the sharp ones rise to the top!

So what's the right format to use for your interviews? What you use can depend on the type of industry you’re in or the kind of applicant you’re looking for. Let’s take a look at the different methods.

Written Answers

This form can include a short answer or even an essay response. You have the ability of testing out a candidate's writing skills up front!  In almost every industry, you have to have some degree of writing and communication skills. This is the best way to find those out. And you gain very insiteful information on the candidate that isn't found necessarily on a resume. Since you make up the questions, you control what you want to know about the candidate.

Multiple Choice

Sometimes all you need from a candidate are a few key facts to determine whether you bring them in to interview or not. Creating multiple choice questions can be a quick solution. This is a great way to get the “deal breaker” questions out of the way. And each correct response ranks the candidate higher in your dashboard. So if you are screening lots of candidates, the most qualified will rise to the top of the list. You simply review and schedule in-person interviews!

Voice Response

A mock phone interview is also a great first step to learn more about a candidate. It’s also fast and easy. If you’re just doing preliminary screenings and simply want to find out a few key things about them, this could be your best bet. Candidates answer questions using audio responses that are recorded straight to their computer mics. This is great for all kinds of industries, especially if you’re looking for someone in sales. A strong voice presence is gold in the marketing/sales industry.

Video Response

Recorded video interviews are a great way of interviewing and screening candidates. Candidates answer your questions via webcam from home. This saves everyone in the process time, and makes it much easier for you to interview more candidates. Video interviewing gives you the ability to assess presentation skills, view body language, and get a great feel for your candidate. An interview like this can “tell” you much more than what’s being spoken. And because it's recorded, there's no scheduling and you review results at your convenience.

A Little of Everything

Multimedia interviewing allows you to pick and choose between each of these four options. With each interview you create, you have the ability to pick and choose which format you prefer for each question. And that’s what makes the multimedia interview so powerful -- the ability to choose which interview method works best for you for each question you ask!

Have you used any of these methods? Which do you prefer?

Author:

Ty Abernethy is founder and CEO of ZuzuHire, a multimedia screening & interviewing tool. He has a background in executive recruiting, and currently manages the finance/accounting recruiting division of Chase Professionals.