How to Use Video Response Interviews For Hiring

As organizations rethink talent acquisition strategies in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, many are focusing on the strategic implementation of video interviews. While most human resources (HR) professionals have used “live” two-way video conferencing applications like Skype to conduct interviews, the process lacks the framework of an objective, structured approach. However, on-demand video interviews, provide organizations with features designed specifically for employment. When added to the hiring process, eSkill’s on-demand video response interviews enable organizations to quickly scale hiring efforts while mitigating bias and improving hiring outcomes.

Rapidly Scale Hiring Efforts

Technology can drive talent acquisition efforts forward, scale them as needed, and embed efficiency into your workflow. With unemployment in the United States at the highest rate in decades due to coronavirus, developing systematic processes for evaluating candidates en masse is critical.

eSkill provides organizations with a suite of hiring tools that make this possible. While on-demand video response interviews are much faster and more objective than phone or in-person interviews, implementing a comprehensive approach to screening applicants leads to better, data-driven hiring decisions.

eSkill’s customizable skills tests provide talent professionals with a way to create a shortlist of candidates before beginning the video interviewing process. With over 800 job-based and subject-based tests and thousands of modular subjects, selecting or configuring a skills test that aligns directly with the requirements of any position is simple. On eSkill’s Employer Dashboard, hiring teams can rank candidates based on test scores and instantly send qualified candidates an invitation to complete a video response interview.

By automating the first step of the candidate screening process with skills tests, hiring teams can quickly identify qualified candidates and focus their time on them since they know they have the skills needed for a position.

Mitigating Bias in Candidate Selection

Both conscious and unconscious bias can cause unfair and irrational hiring decisions. And biased talent selection in the workplace leads to systemic discrimination, limited innovation, and lower employee engagement and morale. A recent survey of 3,000 employees in the United States found that 68% of respondents felt bias in the workplace hurt their productivity. Furthermore, 84% of those surveyed reported that bias within their organization negatively affected their confidence, happiness, and overall well-being.

Given the potential negative impact bias has on employees and organizations as a whole, talent professionals must proactively and intentionally mitigate it. When video response interviews are structured, and well-implemented, they significantly improve the objectivity of an organization’s hiring process.

By embracing technology and evaluating candidates against defined criteria, organizations can create a talent selection process that nearly eliminates subjectivity. Creating an objective interviewing process is easy thanks to the innovative features of eSkill’s on-demand video interviewing software, including:

• A Structured Interview Framework. eSkill simplifies the process of creating a structured interview. In a structured interview, interviewers ask every candidate the same questions in the same order and evaluate responses using the same criteria. On eSkill’s Employer Dashboard, hiring teams can record a set of predetermined interview questions and select or develop a scoring guide for each item. Since the hiring team uses a scoring guide to assign a point value to each response, the evaluation process becomes standardized, which reduces bias.

• Team Scoring Options. eSkill’s Interview Reviewer portal enables organizations to select an in-house administrator or administrators to oversee video response interview scoring. The administrators can assign the evaluation of candidates’ responses to specific members of the hiring team. When more than one evaluator is designated to review a video interview response, administrators can view and approve each evaluator’s scores to calibrate the results. Doing so ensures consistency in scoring practices. If an administrator notices a discrepancy in evaluators’ scoring practices, the team can convene to determine how and why the scores deviated. Thanks to eSkill’s cloud-based platform, administrators can closely monitor the hiring teams’ scoring practices in real-time to prevent the dilution of objectivity.

Support in a Time of Uncertainty

As organizations move from crisis response toward recovery, eSkill recognizes the challenges in developing and executing hiring strategies while navigating rapidly evolving business demands. Therefore, eSkill offers every organization a dedicated US-based Testing Solutions Expert.

eSkill’s Testing Solutions Expert will guide your organization through every step in the adoption and successful implementation of a streamlined approach to candidate selection, including:

• Skills testing selection, and customization
• Automating routine communications with candidates
• Developing video response interviews
• Establishing scorecards for each interview question
• Designating interview reviewers
• Auto-progressing candidates based on test scores
• Integrating eSkill’s platform with your existing applicant tracking system (ATS) and learning management system (LMS)

With eSkill’s innovative pre-hire testing solutions, organizations can create a seamless experience for both hiring teams and candidates as they move through the recruitment process.

Interested in Using Video Response Interviews?

Learn more about the benefits of using eSkill’s customizable skills tests and video response interviews to find qualified candidates quickly.

Request a demo today.