How Can I Use Virtual Interviews to Hire Interns?

Interns play an integral role in many successful companies. Not only due to how they contribute in their temporary positions but also because they help build an excellent pipeline of talent for future job openings.

In fact, 74% of companies end up hiring former interns for permanent roles. It’s a smart strategy; no new hire can hit the ground running like one who already knows the ins and outs of your organization.

But the talent marketplace for internships is intense—and not just for the candidates. For recruiters, placing interns is a matter of quickly working through huge pools of candidates. Their mission is to select the best fits for roles not just right now, but into the future.

Thankfully, modern recruiting software is ready to help. Read on to learn why video interviewing has become a part of the intern recruiting process for many of today’s most competitive employers.

The Intern Hiring Problem: Many Candidates, Limited Time

Internships are competitive, so students are applying for openings in droves. In fact, this year:

• Goldman Sachs reported receiving a record 236,000 applications for its internship program.
• Indeed.com advised students to apply for at least 20 internships each.

There are roughly 300,000 interns working in the U.S. every year. If each of those interns applied to at least 20 roles, they submitted a total of 6,000,000 applications.

That’s a lot of names in your hat.

It’s a good problem to have, right? So much potential and talent are right there, ready to join your team. But that’s only if you have the tools to get through all those applications and make smart hiring decisions. Interviewing tools that help you screen interns at a pace before your competitors can make an offer.

How Video Interviews Help You Hire Interns

The key to moving quickly is an efficient screening process. You want to ensure you get informative, memorable first impressions of each candidate so you can move them to the next steps. Easy, right?

Well, it’s not so easy over the phone. Hearing 15 applicants’ answers to the same screening questions each day is not a great way to really internalize who each of them is as a person. But video screening is.

With one way video interviews, you can:

• Invite standout candidates to complete the screening stage on their own time—no interview scheduling required.
• Get a more personable, almost face-to-face impression of each applicant.
• Document their answers in their own words.
• Compare and reference their screenings with hiring managers time and time again.

It’s a no brainer compared to keeping sheets of handwritten notes paperclipped to printed resumes. Or even an Excel with impressions of internship candidates.

Why Use Video Interviewing for Intern Hires?

Video interviewing candidates is an excellent way to avoid scheduling issues, save time and money, and enable both candidates and your company to put their best foot forward from start to finish.

When you’re looking for your next intern, consider leveraging video interviewing software if you want:

• More convenience for applicants, recruiters, and hiring managers. Candidates can complete one way video screenings on their own time. Interns can interview without worrying about scheduling mutual time with a recruiter. Wouldn’t it be lovely to send out screening invitations to 15 candidates on Friday afternoon, and then open up your recruiting tool on Monday morning to find 15 video interviews ready to watch?
• An agile, flexible recruiting process. Students can complete video interviews without sacrificing their school or other work schedules. Plus, you can build faster connections with applicant. This speed gives you the agility and confidence to move exceptional applicants through the process quickly.
• A pleasant candidate experience. Candidates can see screening questions before recording their video responses. This allows them more time to practice and perfect their answers—or do a retake if they weren’t happy with their first attempt. For students still building those interviewing skills, this is invaluable.
• A consistent, branded look and feel. Applicants for internships and entry-level positions are warned to beware of scams and look critically at each invitation from would-be recruiters. Many of them will be skeptical of one-off Zoom invitations or texts. Purpose-built video interviewing software allows you to modify the landing page, interview interface, and other important visual cues with your branded elements. This ensures strong first impressions on their end, too.

Start Using Video Interviews to Recruit Interns

Video interviewing is how today’s most competitive and effective employers find, screen, and get to know the best candidates for their internships.

If you aren’t already one of them, it’s time to jump on board! Learn more about how interviewstream can help your team win the best interns for your organization today and into the future.

About The Author

Caroline Chessia is the Marketing Operations Specialist at interviewstream. She loves color-coordinated graphs, hiking in the mountains, and every dog she meets—especially the Golden Retrievers.