Video job interview: 11 tips for a successful interview

A video job interview can help you improve your employer brand and optimize your company’s Human Resources (HR) department. However, this type of interview must overcome challenges such as physical distance, coldness in the interaction, or security issues that arise when sending and receiving private and confidential data over the Internet.

To get the most out of videoconference interviews, you need to know what a video interview is and how you can design a videoconference interview successfully.

How does a video interview work?

A video job interview is a simultaneous or delayed remote interaction between a recruiter (or hiring team) and a candidate that allows a selection between profiles to recruit the talent that the company needs at any given moment.

Among the many benefits of the video job interview compared to face-to-face or telephone interviews are: 

• Optimization of resources. Since you avoid travel, you improve the coordination of interviews with candidates, increasing the performance of the HR department.  
• Flexibility and accessibility. New technologies allow companies to carry out a more democratic selection process, eliminating geographical and architectural barriers. 
• Possibility of recording. Recording the interview allows you to analyze the answers later and view them as many times as you need. It also allows you to share them with other members of your team.

Summing up, video interviews save you (and your company) time and money while increasing your chances of attracting talent.

How to do an interview video?

A video job interview can be conducted live, i.e., simultaneously or on a delayed basis, recording the questions beforehand based on your HR strategy.

Live video interview

This type of interview moves the format of the face-to-face interview to online. It allows all interview models, such as competency-based interviews, behavioral interviews, etc., to be replicated.

The level of interaction of the interview offers the possibility of establishing a relationship of trust between the interviewer and the candidate and allows the recruiter to react to the candidate’s answers. 

Delayed video interview

In this case, you should record the questions so that the candidate can answer later. Remember that you can set the restrictions as a time limit to answer per question, provided you have the appropriate technology to do so. 

This structured and recorded interview makes it easier for all candidates to do them under the same conditions. In addition, since you only have to record once the questions that will be used for everyone, you manage your time for this task more efficiently.

The disadvantage is that you need to rely on specialized software to automate this part of the process to allow you to extract the data in a convenient way, such as an Applicant Tracking System (ATS).

11 video interview tips for designing a successful video conference interview

The video interview requires three conditions to be met: 

1. That both the interviewer and the job seeker have the necessary digital skills.
2. They must have access to an internet connection.
3. They are familiar with the application or platform selected for the selection process development. 

Take note of these technical, strategic, and security video job interview tips to make your procedure successful.

Technical Tips

Start by considering the following technical recommendations and preparations for a video: 

• Choose the virtual communication channel that best suits your needs keeping in mind that you should provide safe and secure environments. 
• Take care of the lighting of your face and the environment. You need ambient illumination and a light source that directly illuminates your face. You should place the camera at your eye level for good eye contact and framing. Finally, choose a neutral, corporate background with no distracting elements.  
• Use a table microphone of higher quality than headphones and the standard ones on your computer. Some even reduce ambient or static noise.
• Check your equipment before you start to avoid unforeseen events. 
• Set up a technical test with the candidate so that they can check that everything is working correctly on their side and that they understand how the process works.

Strategic tips

If we are talking about strategy, you should first establish what type of recruitment interview you will conduct and write a script based on your business objectives. 

Once you have completed this crucial step, take a look at these tips:

• Look into the camera, especially if it involves pre-recorded questions, to make the interviewee feel challenged. 
• Record a video presentation of your company and its benefits, detail the job offer as a reminder, and go into detail about their role within the organization. This action reinforces the employee experience, that is, the experience of your future employee from that first contact. 
• Train interviewers to transmit confidence, security, and professionalism in the virtual environment.

Security tips

Finally, do not neglect one of the most important aspects of a video job interview: 

• Make sure you get the candidate’s informed consent to record the interview and use the data extracted from it, i.e., that they have understood how it will be conducted, that they have been informed of the privacy policy, and that they authorize you to monitor and record it. 
• Automate the process to make it attractive, simple and cost-effective with HR software with which you can publish a job offer, manage and schedule video interviews, include psycho-technical tests, and analyze the data obtained.
• Avoid identity theft with an excellent proctoring system that allows you to supervise all processes remotely and improve your image as a recruiter. 

At Smowltech, we have developed flexible and scalable proctoring products. Request a free demo so we can explain how we can improve your recruitment processes.