While they may not be perfect, video interviews are gaining popularity because they allow employers to "meet" candidates without making hefty investments in time and travel. The downsides include technical issues, transmission delays, candidate access to Web cams or conference centers, scheduling, and the inability to conduct group interviews. While employers have traditionally used e-mail interviews as a less-costly alternative to face-to-face meetings, new Web apps allow applicants to record their responses to a slate of questions and then share the video with a prospective employer. Active Interview, based in Cambridge, Mass., says these asynchronous interviews allow companies to sidestep the problem of scheduling multiple preliminary meetings by allowing candidate to record their responses and share them with a panel of recruiters and hiring managers. Candidates view the questions on their computers and press the to record a response when they're ready. The company says managers prefer this format because they can watch the video at their convenience, replay answers, and the entire hiring panel can score the responses and decide if they want to schedule a meeting. Of course, there’s no opportunity to ask follow-up questions or interact with the candidate, but according to Workforce Management, video interviews allowed one recruiter to reduce the cost per search from $10,000 to $500, and that’s nothing to sneeze at. Are You Ready for Asynchronous Video Interviews?
While they may not be perfect, video interviews are gaining popularity because they allow employers to "meet" candidates without making hefty investments in time and travel. The downsides include technical issues, transmission delays, candidate access to Web cams or conference centers, scheduling, and the inability to conduct group interviews. While employers have traditionally used e-mail interviews as a less-costly alternative to face-to-face meetings, new Web apps allow applicants to record their responses to a slate of questions and then share the video with a prospective employer. Active Interview, based in Cambridge, Mass., says these asynchronous interviews allow companies to sidestep the problem of scheduling multiple preliminary meetings by allowing candidate to record their responses and share them with a panel of recruiters and hiring managers. Candidates view the questions on their computers and press the to record a response when they're ready. The company says managers prefer this format because they can watch the video at their convenience, replay answers, and the entire hiring panel can score the responses and decide if they want to schedule a meeting. Of course, there’s no opportunity to ask follow-up questions or interact with the candidate, but according to Workforce Management, video interviews allowed one recruiter to reduce the cost per search from $10,000 to $500, and that’s nothing to sneeze at. 