With the UK moving into lockdown many interview processes went on hold. The reality was the firm had not stopped hiring; it was more the lack of knowledge on what to do next. Firms were unsure if they could onboard staff from home. Do they send out a laptop? With screens? A Mouse? Can we do a “workplace assessment” and ensure people have suitable space to work within? Can we ensure they are not putting stress on the body? Or creating stress for the mind by not having an appropriate space to work from?
The reality is, many of us thought we would be back in the office within a month and therefore recruitment processes were put on hold as we aim to wait to meet these people face-2-face. A few months in, and the reality is that is not going to be possible. There are, however, still roles that need filling so many firms are now embracing video interviews. The share price of zoom has rocketed, but there are question marks still over their effectiveness.
At Black Swan Group we recommend thinking about these interviews before moving ahead. Initially, the interviews our candidates had on video links could be poor quality simply due to a lack of forethought.
Firstly, are you in a place with appropriate reception? Many of us are using iPads or iPhones for our video technology. That often means we are using the Wi-Fi and not a broadband line directly. As such, the reception can come and go, and the call becomes quite stuttered. The reception may be poor, or one of the children might start downloading a film upstairs and use up all the bandwidth. It is important to have thought through your connecting before starting the call.
Allow time in the interview for some introductions. A lot of interviews can be rather awkward as we all hear ‘you’re on mute’ and ‘you cut out for a second’. ‘Sorry you speak, I’ll wait’ and the like. It is important therefore to set the ground rules. Agree in advance how the call will work, do individuals mute themselves when not speaking? Have you ensured you are in a place with on background noise or other distractions?
It is important to also engage with other considerations. Even thought everyone is working from home, if someone is going to join your firm they will want to know about the culture and normal practises. The most frequently asked question from candidates currently is “what is their policy on working from home when we return?”. Has your firm had those discussions; do you have an answer prepared? Some individuals are missing the office, others have enjoyed not having to commute, the vast majority would love a mix of the two.
Have you considered what type of video platform you will use? And is it exclusively yours to use? We have had several interviews take place where other faces have popped up halfway through the meeting. Teams sharing the same platform and others looking to suddenly run ad hoc meetings without knowing that the ‘virtual’ room is already in use.
Video interviews can work fantastically well, they are so much quicker to organise and book and people can normally do them the following day. That does however, also mean candidates have less time to prep for interviews. Is that taken into consideration when booking the interviews in?
At Black Swan Group we are big fans of video interviews, but are conscious that the time and effort needs to be put into deciding the platform, the format, the room, the noise and a variety of other factors before moving ahead. We have already had a number of candidates rejected because “their reception kept coming and going and we couldn’t understand what they were trying to say” so take the time to prepare for the interview and don’t let yourself be the next one!
