One Way Video Interviews: A Phone Screening Interview Alternative That Saves You 80% More Time

Phone screen interviews have been the solution for busy recruiters and hiring managers looking for a preliminary screening option. However, if you want to be viewed as a modern company, you’ve got to adapt to the times. 

With video interviews, you show your candidates that they’ll be working for a flexible, forward-thinking company right from the beginning. Candidates also now expect video interviewing to be a part of their hiring process, and interviewstream has just the tools you need for flawless execution.

We live in a technologically advanced world and you can glean much more information from a video interview than from a phone call, but that’s not the only reason to ditch the phone screen. 

Candidates simply are not available during the normal recruiter hours of 9-5. They could be employed, working a gig, or caring for a child. In any case, in this candidate-driven market, do you want to begin your relationship with your candidate accommodating you, or you accommodating your candidate?

We’ve put together a few reasons why you should nix the phone screen and start using one-way video interviews. Video interviews create a better experience for your candidates while saving you time and money, so let us walk you through it.

Why Should You Ditch The Phone Screen Interview

First, it feels like a cold call. You can’t read body language. You can’t assess whether your applicants dress for success or show up in sweatpants. If there’s a pause, you may not be able to tell whether the candidate is sincerely pondering your question or just nervous. It can be hard to establish rapport with a person’s voice. It’s the eye contact and the smile that forms that human-to-human connection. 

Second, it’s time-consuming. The average phone interview requires a good 30 to 60 minutes per applicant. Sometimes you’re painfully aware within the first few minutes of a call that this one isn’t going to make the cut. Yet, out of politeness, you continue the conversation – wasting valuable time you could spend talking to the right candidate. 

Third, it’s not candidate-friendly. Just like you get a much better sense of the applicant through video, your candidate does as well. As we’ve already mentioned, candidates aren’t usually available at the normal times a recruiter calls, and might have to rearrange their day to fit you in. A video interview can be completed anywhere, at any time, and reduces the time spent by both the candidate and the hiring manager. 

Advantages Of One-Way Video Interviewing Compared To A Phone Screen

One-way video interviews save time. Imagine that you send out a pre-recorded video questionnaire to multiple applicants and receive their recorded answers. Now, if you’re two minutes in and it’s not ideal, you can stop the video and send your regrets. You can review 15-20 video interviews in the time it would take to complete one phone interview. You’ll also save time because candidates tend to respond to one-way video interview requests quickly – with interview on demand, our clients see most candidates record their on-demand interviews within 48 hours. 

You can share and re-watch videos from your favorite candidates. Sure, you can have a whole team jump onto a call, talking over each other, but it can be difficult to navigate. On the other hand, a one-way video interview is seamless. Whether you choose to debrief on the candidate one-on-one or as a group with the hiring team, it’s easy to get others’ opinions with feedback and scoring on each of the recorded candidate responses. In addition, you don’t have to worry about taking copious notes, as the videos are recorded, stored, and retrievable for review later. 

One-way video interviewing improves candidate experience. Giving your candidates the autonomy to record their interviews when they have time and providing them time to prepare for their questions shows your flexibility as an employer. You can further improve candidate experience by incorporating your company identity into your one-way video interviews through custom intro and outro messages and branding.

Get Tech Savvy with interviewstream’s Video Interviewing Tools

If you’re looking to bring your hiring practices into the modern era, consider interviewstream’s all-in-one video interviewing platform. Complete all essential hiring tasks – from devising a questionnaire and auto-scheduling candidate interviews to conducting one-way and live interviewing by video. 

Phone screens were a staple of recruitment, but now that you have better tools to work with, why continue interviewing via phone when you could use video? Video interviewing improves personability, enables you to gain valuable insight, and saves you time like never before—contact us to see how we can level up your recruiting.

About The Author

Esteban Gomez is a marketing consultant with interviewstream. He loves learning and has a passion for traveling, having visited many countries including China, Colombia, Italy, and Peru.