It’s astonishing when you think about it, how far we have come so far in such a short space of time. The size of the change we have already made.

One of the biggest changes to working practices and career progression has taken place in the past 12 months, however we need to go further.

What am I referring to?

The virtual interview process.

Virtual interviews pre-covid were used so sparingly. Whether it be to hire in volume, or to include a member of the team who needed to dial in from another country. They were certainly not the norm and hardly ever used to make final decisions on a hire.

Virtual interviews are now the norm, and as the world continues to evolve into whatever the new normal looks like, they show no sign of going away.

Personally I think this is a fantastic step forward for all involved in the hiring process, having spent my recruitment career advising on the benefits of virtual interviewing. That being said, I think we need to remember this change has been quite sudden and we are still finding out feet and learning with this approach.

With resources such as Zoom, Microsoft teams and Google hangouts not existing a decade ago, we now have everything we need at our fingertips. Change is happening right in-front of us, we must keep going and evolving now. Lets not go back.

For most the introduction of virtual interviewing have been based around the need to social distance, not the appeal of attracting the best talent efficiently. This mindset must now change and we must see virtual interviews as an asset; the ability to move quickly and adapt to the needs of those involved in the process.

The benefits of virtual interviewing are now clear and tested, but there is so much more functionality we can and should be using.

Interviews on demand anyone?

Take 1st stage interviews, now pretty much exclusively competed via face-to-face video interview. Let’s do away with this and move to a pre-recorded 1st stage interview, an interview on demand.

Interviews on demand would see candidates given the chance to login to their portal at a time convenient for them and record their responses to pre-set questions. We consume our television via on-demand services now, why not do the same with video interviewing?

Not convinced? Here are further benefits interviews on demand could provide:

  1. Pre- populated questions and briefs, which save time, allow candidates to properly prepare and no variances of questions create a fair interview process.
  2. Increased collaboration on interviews as more people can watch the recording.
  3. The ability to re-watch interviews and compare interviews directly.
  4. Not missing out on the best talent due to time/ location restrictions.
  5. The interview feels mutual, with candidates being able to take partial control over their process.
  6. The ability to complete the interview in a time where people feel most comfortable.
  7. Not missing out on the best roles for due to time, location and expense restrictions.

 

The change in recruitment process over the past 12 months has been impressive, but it’s the first step, not the final destination. Our eyes are now opened to what is possible, lets move forward, towards the camera and make sure we are off mute!

Interviews on demand are coming, it will be the future and we believe this is your chance to lead that change, are you ready?

This article was written by Adrienne Howlett. Co-Founder and Product Partner at Digital 51. To speak to Adrienne about how she can support you with video interviewing drop her a line on