Don’t Miss What’s Right in Front of You: Using Video Interviewing Tools to Identify Great Internal Hires

We live in the age of video. From social media platforms like TikTok, Youtube, and Instagram to the use of video technology for schools and businesses. Video is also changing the recruitment process and has enhanced many companies’ hiring processes in our current remote state.

It’s a common practice now to hop on a video call, interview, or live chat. So common that no one thinks twice about using video interviewing now for new external hires, but, have you ever thought about another way to use it? A few companies we work with have implemented video interviewing in pretty interesting ways— but here’s another one — use interviewing software to identify potential internal candidates for that next role. 

If you’ve read this far and are thinking- well, that makes sense, I bet your next question will be– how do I incorporate video interviewing tools to identify current employees who are a great fit for open positions? Well, here are a few thoughts…and a few hard facts about why you should start doing internal hiring today.

How to Use Video Interviewing Tools For Internal Hiring

All too often, employees leave companies due to a lack of advancement opportunities. A LinkedIn study found that 24% of employees who were looking for a new job were doing so because they were overlooked for a promotion by their current employer.

Giving current employees opportunities for growth and advancement within the company will allow you to not only retain top talent but also save you a lot of time.  Usually, you can fill a position internally in less than the average 23.8 – 30+ days.  It will often also save you a little money as the average starting salary for an internal hire averages 18-20% less than an external hire.  And hey, who doesn’t want a little employer brand recognition for all of those internal promotions on LinkedIn.  

Creating and nurturing a culture that encourages internal movement will open up your internal hiring pipeline of talent. And using video interviews as a part of the process will shorten and simplify the internal hunt for talent. Let’s take a look at a situation taking advantage of using the video interview tools you already have internally.

What it Looks Like to Find Internal Talent with Video Interviewing Software

You have an open role – say for a Senior Customer Success Manager. You could put the time and money into starting an external candidate search OR you can start by posting the position on an internal job board and talking about the position at your next all-company meeting. You should also post externally at the same time — however often your best candidates come from within.

There are a number of situations where it makes more sense to hire internally – the role requires significant company knowledge, you need to fill the position quickly, or the skills needed are in my talent pool (not to mention ideal team players always want to step up and fill a gap). Since this is a position that needs to be filled quickly or your key customers might feel the gap on your team, you choose the latter and take the following steps:

1. Set up a recorded, one-way video interview for the job posting. Just as you would for an external hire, set up a recorded, one way video interview as the first step in the interview process.

You already know that your internal candidates are a good cultural fit for the company, therefore your questions should focus more on the potential for success in the new role. A few questions you should consider are:

• Why are you interested in this position?
• Why do you deserve to be considered for this position?
• How can you be successful in this role?
• In your opinion, what can we do better as an organization?
• What is the most challenging thing you will find about this new position?
• Why do you want to leave your current position?

2. Post the opening on an internal job board with a link to the one-way video interview. Initiate the process by directing employees to the job description and on demand interview posted on the internal job board, send out a communication asking interested employees to apply, and request candidate referrals.

Keep in mind that you do not have to only look for internal candidates within the same department. Don’t focus on one strict profile, but instead look for candidates with crossover skills that can be applied to the role. After all, you can always train hard skills with a great team member.

3. Review the internal applications as they come in and rate their answers. As a reminder, one-way video interviews allow candidates the flexibility to record their answers outside of business hours so you will not have to worry about disrupting their workdays– and you can even review their responses outside of your 9-to-5 as well. Rate the candidate’s responses based on the skills you have identified as critical success in the role, decide who to pass to the hiring team for their next interview.

4. Share internal candidates (and their prior video interview) with the hiring team. After you rate your candidate’s responses, share the information and recorded interviews with the hiring team to keep the hiring process moving forward. You can share that initial video interview, along with your feedback with ease with everyone on that team.

That way- you’ve all been able to review each candidate with the same set of information.  And because of that extra information, it will be no time at all before you have a qualified Senior Customer Success Manager that already knows the company and is eager to succeed in the new role.

For any finalist internal candidates and follow-up interviews, you can even use a second round of on demand interviews, or use interview scheduler to set up a live in-person OR remote interview. Again– leveraging the interviewing tool to keep your internal hiring process moving efficiently and simply, just as easy as a normal hiring process.

5. Especially important with internal candidates — provide personal feedback to unsuccessful candidates. You have one more opportunity in this process to leverage your video interviewing tools – constructive feedback.

Fact: Not every person that applies for the role will be qualified or a good fit. And a generic rejection email to your current employees just won’t cut it.

Take a little bit of time to record personalized one-way videos for these candidates, offering advice on skills to work on and weaknesses to strengthen. Suggesting other roles that may be a better fit or skills that they can train on with a current team member in the role is also a good way to lessen any disappointment and keep a positive relationship that focuses on supporting growth.

Hint: while you can’t always do the exact same thing with external candidates, this is another way to consider using your interview on demand tool for interview processes in the future. It’s certainly faster than a phone call to a candidate– record the video and send them a note.  It’s personal and also closes the loop more than that generic letter.

How to get started leveraging video interviewing tools

Innovation in your hiring strategy is one of the most important parts of keeping your company moving forward. You need the right people in the right roles for continued success. Internal hiring is often overlooked or undervalued, and while It is not the right path for every hire, it can often get you a stronger candidate in the role faster than seeking out the best external fit.

An employee is a somewhat known quantity — you know what they are doing today and where they are working to grow so you’re starting from a place where quicker onboarding will also be probable – another side benefit to consider as you think about your next hire. 

In case we haven’t made it clear enough yet, video interview uses often span beyond conventional hiring. And when you add video interviewing technology into the internal hiring process, you save even more time and create an opportunity for growth with a team member that otherwise might not apply for the role.

So, if you want to take your hiring process to the next level, both internally and externally, learn how to leverage video interviewing tools by speaking to one of our experts today. Simply put – we want to help you get hiring done, in every way we can.

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.