7 Benefits of Video Interviewing

July 12, 2021 Updated: March 21, 2024 9 min read

The recent shift to remote work brought a shift in employee priorities and preferences. Many remote workers found a renewed sense of work-life balance, and others even found themselves more productive in a remote work environment.

Remote work also forced companies to quickly adapt video meeting platforms to support their hiring process and conduct interviews virtually to continue filling roles. This acceleration put video platforms to the test and demonstrated the power of conducting interviews online. Both companies and job seekers saw the benefits – from time savings to significant cost reduction.

Now, as companies continue to adjust to life post-pandemic, they’re bringing employees back to the office, providing a flexible hybrid schedule, or allowing them to work completely remote. With all of these options for work becoming widely available for many companies, the ability to deliver video interviews is no longer optional, it’s a must.

For companies to compete, they need to meet the employee expectations for flexible work schedules and virtual interviews provide companies the ability to quickly scale these efforts to attract top talent.

What are video interviews? 🎥

A video interview is when a job interview is performed virtually (or remotely) and uses video conferencing tools to support the interview. They consist of the same interview questions as an in-person interview and oftentimes are recorded to ensure legality.

Video interviews are used when companies are hiring for remote workforce positions or as a matter of convenience for both candidates and hiring teams as they are easier and faster to facilitate and deliver. 

Video interviews can be delivered in two ways, live where candidates are talking to hiring managers in real-time or asynchronously (or async) when questions from the employer are recorded for candidates and candidates record a response in return. 

What is the advantage of video interviews? 🧑‍💻

Video interviews aren’t new to recruiting, but the mass adoption of video interviews due to the pandemic revealed many of the key advantages for both companies and candidates. Video interviews have dramatically improved the hiring process because they are convenient, flexible, and efficient. Not only that, many of today’s intelligent interview solutions allow for:

💥  More insightful interviews
💥  Enabling a positive candidate experience
💥  Providing a more equitable experience for each applicant

In any situation, the benefits of video interviewing cannot be overstated. Let’s explore some of the biggest advantages of video interviews for both employers and candidates.

7 biggest advantages of video interviews

1. Convenient

Taking interviews from in-person meetings to virtual ones is, at the very least, incredibly convenient. The ease of signing onto the internet and chatting over a webcam is much easier than hopping in a car, facing traffic, and the stress of getting lost on the way to an interview.

The costs required for in-person interviews are essentially eliminated—there are no more fees for gas, tolls, parking, or, in some cases, flights and hotels. The interview experience is improved from the get-go with a decrease in both cost and hassle.

By using video interview solutions that take place over already-popular video conferencing platforms—think Zoom or Microsoft Teams—there’s no need for the interviewer or interviewee to fuss with new downloads or remember new passwords. The only requirement is a comfortable environment and access to the internet.

2. Flexible

Companies shifting to completely remote or hybrid workforces have the benefit of an expanded candidate pool that’s not required to be located in any specific geographic location. In order to support these new workforce dynamics, they will require the flexibility that video interviews offer.

By removing the time-off requests and commutes for candidates, and the dreaded conference room scheduling, you can more easily find time to interview more candidates. And with more candidates applying and being considered for jobs because the location is no longer a barrier, recruiters will increase the odds of finding great talent with the expanded talent pool.

Even if your organization is going back to the office, recruiting teams can enhance initial interviews by replacing the traditional screening phone calls with video interviews. With the ability to share interview recordings, hiring teams can better evaluate who should proceed to the next step in the interview process.

3. Efficient

Not only are video interviews more convenient than traditional in-person interviews, they are also more efficient and reduce your company’s time to fill. Interviews take less time to schedule and are accessible to out-of-town applicants. This means that they can take place sooner, rather than later. And when interviews are scheduled quickly, hiring can be done quickly too.

Interviewing virtually also allows for easier communication with all on the decision-making team, especially when using video interviewing technology that allows interviews to be recorded and shared. Using an intelligent video interviewing solution like Clovers that integrates with Zoom and Microsoft Teams, organizations can also easily consolidate and assess feedback across the hiring team to further accelerate hiring.

4. Insightful

While the thought of being recorded might be intimidating, the ability to capture a virtual interview actually benefits both the interviewer and interviewee. Recording interview questions ensure that the interview is a safe, compliant, and consistent experience for each applicant. The recording also allows for interviewer feedback from peers and managers, which supports improved interview delivery in the future.

With recorded interviews, video segments can be rewound and rewatched then better assessed for nonverbal cues like body language and tone. Video interview solutions that leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) are also able to transcribe interviews for even greater insight. Key themes and candidate sentiments are made clearer and important interview moments can be highlighted and shared with the hiring team. With these added data points, decision-makers are better able to find the right fit for the job.

5. Positive candidate experience

In 2014, over 65% of surveyed candidates preferred virtual interviews—well before virtual work was adopted as the norm. Now, the ability to work virtually is an expectation. An organization that offers video interviews, as well as remote work, will have a leg up on its competition. At the very least, potential employees will be pleased by the flexibility and convenience of scheduling interviews virtually.

65% of surveyed candidates preferred virtual interviews—well before virtual work was adopted as the norm.

Without the stress and cost of a commute, candidates are also more likely to perform well in interviews. As most of us know, we act more naturally and communicate more effectively when relaxed, especially when we’re in a familiar environment. A relaxed interviewee who feels comfortable in their home office or local coffee shop will give the interviewer a more accurate picture of who they are as a person and professional.

6. Consistent

Consistency is key, especially when it comes to delivering quality interviews. All questions asked during a virtual interview are both monitorable and trackable, which means that interviews are as similar as possible for each candidate. With question consistency and interviewer performance tracking, applicants are more likely to be assessed fairly.

Video interviews also serve to level the playing field by making interviews accessible to more people. Candidates who couldn’t make it to an in-person interview—due to travel restrictions, caregiver responsibilities, or work hours—might have once been overlooked, but no longer. Anyone with access to the internet can engage in a virtual interview.

7. Cost Savings

Video interviews don’t just save time for recruiters and candidates—they also save them money. And in today’s economy—where many consumers and businesses alike are tightening their belts—cost savings is a big reason to consider video interviews.

With video interviewing, local applicants don’t have to incur travel costs like gas, tolls, parking fees, and public transportation fares to get to an interview. Considering many companies conduct multiple rounds of interviews—those travel costs can quickly add up for a candidate. Video interviews also allow organizations to eliminate significant travel expenses like airfare and lodging associated with bringing non-local candidates in to participate in on-site interviews.

 


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Video interviewing is the future of the recruitment process 🦾

The workforce has changed and recruiting needs to change with it. Whether you are fully remote, in a hybrid workforce, or heading back into an office, your approach to recruiting should focus on the needs and expectations of candidates. Companies that want to attract top talent need to provide exceptional candidate experiences that include video interviews.

Video interviews allow companies to expand their talent pools and assess each applicant with increased accuracy—which means that the best candidates are placed in the right positions, every time. Video interviews are able to get both interviewers and interviewees exactly where they want to go: towards a modern workforce where everyone’s needs are met.

 

Wondering what an intelligent interview platform can do for you? Try Clovers for free for 30 days

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Doug Leonard

Doug is constantly working to make the hiring process more objective, insightful, and informed. As a trusted leader in the recruitment industry, Doug is always ready to guide candidates and companies to (and through) a person-first hiring experience.

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