Ben Phillips of Brand Recruitment writes:
It is clear we have fully incorporated email, social media, and more recently video calls, into the world of recruitment. What this does is save time and creates the access recruiters require.
I was recently selected to recruit for a prestigious professional services firm. When approaching this assignment I had anticipated using a variety of more traditional recruitment methods in order to recruit for such a company. These may have included: selection process, shortlist, invitation for face to face, profiling tests, presentation and then (all going well) appointment. However, and in contrast to these conventional methods, the firm requested that I add an additional process. This was for preset questions from the hiring managers to be sent to each candidate, then for the applicant to record a short video in response to those questions with both a deadline and timeframe. So this was neither a video call, Skype interview or video CV but its very own hybrid…
Initially as a recruiter I was little concerned that the company may lose out on the strong shortlist of candidates I had provided, whether through lack of interest or the time it would take to prepare and record the type of video requested. However, and in a refreshing contrast to this, I was pleasantly surprised that each of the candidates greeted the process with open arms and excitement. Their feedback provided an insight into the benefits that a fresh approach can bring to what may sometimes feel a repetitive process to applicants. Although I must admit I still wasn’t sure, well, not until I had each completed video returned and in my inbox anyway!
The results (videos) were great, and the procedure taught me the benefits of an original method in giving both the client and the applicant a different perspective in comparison to those provided with the standard recruitment process. Firstly there are the advantages it brings to the client. After initially reviewing the CVs it permits them to ask any initial questions before arranging a face to face. In addition to this it also gives the hiring managers the opportunity to tick off simple observations such as presentation skills and personality. On the other side, and in terms of benefits to the applicant, it gives them the opportunity to illustrate their suitable skills and what they could specifically offer to that company/role in a way that a generic CV may not.
As advancements in technology improve it seems foolish not to utilise processes such as the above in our day to day recruitment, obviously you will never replace the ‘face to face’ interview but we can look at the journey we take prior to that stage.
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