Improve the Staff Selection Process with Virtual Interviews

It would be an understatement to say that hiring is difficult. The constant refinement of technology and rising standards for applicants only serve to complicate the process, even before you factor in the challenge of the job interview. Of course, that same march also offers solutions that can help streamline the process, if not make it easier. Virtual interviews are one such tool.

Technology in HR Service

On the surface, virtual job interviews are simply an interview conducted remotely, using a video conferencing solution, such as Bluejeans. However, the transition from meeting the prospective employee in person to talking to them remotely changes the playing field to the point of near unrecognizability.

For starters, you don’t have to worry about scheduling problems. Interviewing a dozen candidates would normally require resolving conflicting schedules and accounting for the very real possibility of them being late due to factors beyond their control. Virtual interviews minimize the risk by reducing their impact, as the candidate no longer has to physically be present in the same room as you – merely have access to a computer connected to the Internet, with the right software installed.

Making Impressions Count

Convenience is just one advantage. Another is efficiency. Virtual interviews all but eliminate the downtime in between interviewees, allowing you to meet prospective employees faster and learn more about them. This might seem like a paradox at first, until you consider a few facts.

As Bloomberg points out, it was once easy to wing job interviews through personal charm and showmanship. A virtual interview and the inherent distance between you and the interviewee reduces the impact either can make, forcing the candidate to put effort into their preparations. Their quality can be a strong indicator as to whether the person you are interviewing truly is who they profess to be in their resume.

For example, someone who claims to be well-organized and punctual would never be late for a virtual interview. More importantly, they would tend to their business and ensure that nothing is lacking in their interview, from wearing the correct attire, to the kind of background and lighting they have. The details tell a whole story of their own.

Better Verification Through Video

Virtual interviews don’t just enhance your skills of observation, of course. In a regular interview, your options for verifying a candidate’s qualifications are usually fairly limited. A claim made in a resume or cover letter might check out, but still seem too good to be true. A question asked in person can only answer so much and it will always be affected by the stigma of unreliability.

A virtual interview changes this, by allowing the applicant to instantly provide you with additional content to back up their claims. Links and files can easily be sent over video conferencing software or through standard e-mail. It works both ways – a candidate can easily prove that he is telling nothing but the truth, while you can just as easily verify that. It builds trust and cuts down on the time spent screening candidates and weeding out those who exaggerate, obfuscate, or outright lie.

Many will lie. A CareerBuilder survey from 2014 (conducted by Harris Poll) reported that out of the polled hiring managers, 58 percent have caught a lie on the resume of an applicant, while 33 percent stated that the number of lies caught increased in the wake of the recession. A virtual interview and the transition to the digital space in general are tools that make the verification process faster, easier, and more reliable.

Paving the Way for Reorganization

The greatest advantage of transitioning to virtual interviews is that they allow you to draw on a bigger pool of potential employees and offer them better working conditions. The first benefit is obvious, as without the need for them to physically appear in your office, you can interview applicants from locales where the distance would make a regular job interview impractical.

More importantly, it enables you to hire remote workers or offer existing employees the ability to work from home. While the benefits of working in an office are undeniable, they have their drawbacks. The most insidious are commute times, which can be terrifyingly long. New York City in particular is notorious for its commute times: a 2013 report cited by Daily News stated that the average denizen of the Big Apple wastes some 400 hours (well over two weeks) each year just getting to and from work.

Virtual interviews can be the first step in eliminating commutes altogether, boosting the efficiency and productivity of your employees and helping them achieve a more equitable work-life balance. That is one of the greatest and most profitable investments you can make as an employer, and one that will pay out dividends for years to come.