Video Interviewing in 2020 — Where Productivity Meets Profitability: Bullhorn EngageX 2020 Roundtable Recap

On June 19, 2020, Monique Mahler, VP, Marketing of interviewstream, hosted a roundtable discussion at Bullhorn’s virtual EngageX event for global staffing and recruiting professionals. The roundtable included panelists Joey Brodsky and Cassandra King of BlueWave Resource Partners, as well as Executive Recruiter Jenna Kimball who all shared their perspectives on how video interviewing has become a vital part of their recruiting process in 2020. 

Seats to this roundtable session were limited and filled up quickly – so in case you missed it (or you were there and wanted more notes) – we’ve got you covered with a recap of the session’s best highlights.

Is Video Interviewing the New Norm?

Joey, Cassandra, and Jenna sure seem to think so. Before shifting to a fully #remotework environment, all three were already incorporating video interviewing into their recruiting processes. For them, moving fully remote wasn’t about adopting the tech, but instead about figuring out how to leverage it even more to help make great hires.

The panel shared their belief that interviews still need a personal touch (#recruiterpower), however, even when companies that they recruit for offer to fly in candidates for a final interview, it just doesn’t seem necessary anymore. That’s especially true for organizations with more remote teams — everything can be done with a virtual video interview. To that end, Joey noted, this roundtable was even held in a completely remote conference! Today, as businesses begin to ramp hiring back up while still “out of office”, virtual interviews are far and away the most effective option.

Humble & Human: The Person Behind the Webcam

In some ways, a virtual interview creates the perfect environment for the most humble, real, and human view of you, your company, and your candidate. This new remote normal presents unique opportunities to learn about each other that you likely wouldn’t have in person. For instance, maybe the candidate has a cool backdrop of your favorite band’s album cover or a cat who sneaks into the frame and adds a little color to the conversation. These lighthearted moments allow both you and the candidate to get an idea of what working together could look like. Plus, you can observe quirks and reactions that candidates may show in a more comfortable space but not in an office setting.

So, What Do Execs Think of All of This?

Jenna shared that historically, video interviewing was pretty uncommon when filling high-level positions. The thing is, in our current hiring climate with the reality of remote work, it’s the perfect time to use video interviewing software for those high-stakes hires. Today’s execs are thinking less about their new city, office, or hometown, and instead focusing on the opportunity to virtually gain a better understanding of the company they may be joining.

With a centralized platform built for interviewing, you no longer have to stress over booking travel, coordinating and scheduling interviews, dealing with reimbursements, or trying to share notes internally with your team. What you may not realize when implementing a video interview platform into your HR tech stack is what you aren’t having to do or spend. In addition to getting a more complete picture of the candidate, deeper than you can get with a paper resume alone, you save a lot of time, which can help to shave off costs.

Make Your Job Easier and More Effective

During our conversation, one attendee brought up popular communications platform Zoom, inquiring what the difference between interviewstream’s capabilities vs. those of Zoom.

The answer is simple — our video interviewing software was built with a specific purpose in mind, as much more than just a live video conference call. The interviewstream platform integrates with your ATS (in this case, Bullhorn) allowing your team to record, retain, and share interviews for up to 2 years, as well as communicate info on candidates internally. This helps keep your interview process compliant and also governs your candidate data. You wouldn’t use a hammer to put a screw into the wall, so why not use the tool built uniquely to make your job more effective?

Where Productivity Meets Profitability

Traditional, in-person interviewing hasn’t really been possible since March 2020 – and that’s not likely to change any time soon. As many companies redeploy hiring initiatives, all three panelists shared sage advice for fellow hiring pros: video interviewing software isn’t just a convenient piece of technology, but instead a necessity for success in today’s hiring climate.

Thank you to our panelists for their insights, and to everyone who was able to join our roundtable in real-time. We had an amazing time at one of our first virtual trade shows, and we look forward to participating in several more throughout 2020!

About The Author

Monique Mahler is the CEO of interviewstream. She is an avid researcher of facts, a self proclaimed marketing geek, and an equestrian in her spare time.