Tech & Tools May/June 2024
IN FOCUS: The rise and rise of video
While the return to in-person interviews after Covid was welcome, video interviewing has more than made the shift to mainstream recruiting practices. HireVue, a major player in the field, reports significant increases in volume in video interviews in the first quarter of 2024 in several sectors, including government (up 146%), hospitality & leisure (up 40%) and communications (up 244%).
As Euan Cameron, CEO of video interview screening platform company Willo, points out, with video calls fully integrated into every aspect of work life, video interviews are now expected. “And that’s a big part of why the market has grown and the number of vendors operating in the space has almost doubled in recent years,” he says. “For some, there’s no going back, and their use of video interviews has increased significantly. This is because of the flexibility it provides, which allows candidates to shine. That’s better for everyone involved.”
Recorded and on-demand videos are proving most popular. HireVue chief evangelist Dina Taylor says this is due in large part to the number of applications its customers get for each position. “For example, Emirates [airline] had 400,000 applications for 11,000 jobs – numbers like these would be impossible to vet with in-person or real-time video interviews, so the majority of our customers use an on-demand video interview for the beginning step in their process,” she says.
Neil Armstrong, chief commercial officer of recruitment technology developer Tribepad, agrees recorded “one-way” interviews are typically used early in the recruitment process as a screening tool when employers have many more applications than they need. But he adds that live, two-way interviews are used later in the process, in a more personalised way.
In its ‘Salary, Security & Purpose’ report, Tribepad found that 67% of people said an in-person interview is essential but this dropped to 51% in 18-24-year-olds. “It’s a good way to be more inclusive – you’re bringing interviews to people rather than making them come to you,” he says.
Cameron agrees and adds: “Hiring managers are under more pressure than ever before and it’s not fair to ask candidates to speculatively pay out of their own pocket to attend in-person interviews, potentially missing out on work in the process,” he says. “Recorded interviews solve those problems.”
It is most likely, though, that the pairing of video interviewing with other tools and technologies to screen and assess candidates is how value will be delivered in the future.
“Employers are thinking about how to improve diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) outcomes and minimise bias in the recruiting process. Video interviews offer an opportunity for consistency and accountability, which isn’t seen in phone interviews and CV screening,” says Armstrong. “So, combining gamified assessments and video interviewing is increasingly seen as a fairer way to hire – particularly for early careers and volume recruiting.”
Cameron highlights advanced analytics and reporting features, including interview scorecards, as tools that empower recruiters and hiring teams to assess and compare candidates in a fair, consistent and objective way after candidates have completed interviews. “By enabling data-driven hiring decisions, we mitigate bias, creating a faster and better decision-making process.”
For video interviewing, much like most other tools and technologies used by recruiters, there is likely to be no escape from artificial intelligence (AI) integration. Armstrong says AI is increasingly being used to provide text transcripts from interviews and spot keywords used but adds that AI certainly shouldn’t be used to take hiring decisions out of human hands. The role of AI in recruitment is discussed in detail here and video interviewing is likely to be referenced in the forthcoming UK ‘AI in hiring’ guidelines.
Taylor says that HireVue is seeing an interesting convergence of trends in the video interviewing market. “First, comfort with AI more generally is exploding,” she says. “Second, talent leaders in HireVue’s ‘Global Trends Survey’ report that while topline budgets have decreased, their HR technology budgets have actually gone up. The result is we’re seeing more companies integrate AI-backed interviews into their process.
“In addition to interviews, we see more adoption of AI-backed game-based assessments and conversational AI.”
Even as a standalone technology platform, there is little doubt of the ability of video interviews to change the recruiting landscape. Cameron describes them as representing “a shift towards hiring people, not paper”. “We believe we can start a movement to end CVs, which often fail to capture the true potential of a candidate,” he adds.
“Harnessing tech like video interviews is emblematic of a fundamental shift in the recruitment landscape, offering efficiency, accessibility and a way better candidate experience.”
In brief
Bringing WhatsApp to CRM software
Recruitment technology developer Nodex has developed a solution to integrate WhatsApp messaging directly into its Recruitment CRM software. It means recruiters can send and receive WhatsApp messages seamlessly through the CRM. Nodex says its platform ensures all communications are secure and compliant with data protection regulations.
Advancing ethical AI
HireVue is joining the US Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute Consortium, established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), as part of its drive to advance the creation of ethical artificial intelligence. The company, which has developed a range of solutions, including video interviewing and assessment platforms, said it is part of its ongoing commitment to develop ethical AI that “connects talent to opportunity”, while improving fairness.
Embedding AI into recruiter workflows
Recruitment and staffing software provider Bullhorn is launching its AI solution, Bullhorn CoPilot. It will embed a set of AI-driven capabilities directly into recruiters’ workflow in three categories: Generative AI will help recruiters write content and messages; Source and Match AI will help them surface the best candidates for a job; and Directive AI will help them identify the most appropriate next step in their work.
AI job board internationalises brand
An AI-based job board that aims to put university student and junior profiles in front of major corporations has launched in the UK after a €1.7m (£1.45m) investment round. Joinrs analyses hundreds of job descriptions on behalf of candidates and shows the ones closest to their requirements and aspirations. It also reconstructs job offers and generates two percentages for each one: one relates to the affinity with the requirements expressed and the other to the compatibility of the candidate’s profile with the company.
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