Video interviewing is a technology that companies employ during the hiring process in either a live (two-way) video format similar to Skype or in an asynchronous (1-way) format that essentially allows candidates to interview themselves. Though video interviewing offers many benefits, the primary goal for many users is to reduce cost-per-hire and the time-to-fill roles. HR.com recently surveyed 526 HR professionals across multiple industries from small, medium, large and very large (20K+) firms. Following are a few of the key take-aways.
- Video interviewing is used by 62% of large companies, 52% of mid-sized and 36% of small.
- Most interviews are conducted for full-time and professional roles with only 24% of users utilizing for part-time roles.
- Sixty-two percent believe it has helped their HR department reduce time-to-fill and sixty percent believe it has reduced their cost-per-hire.
- Companies using a dedicated video interviewing service reduced their cost-per-hire by an average of forty percent while companies using a free service reduced their cost-per-hire by an average of 21%.
- Fifty-four percent cited reduced hiring costs as a key benefit and fifty-two percent cited reduced time-to-hire as key. The most popular advantage however chosen by eighty-four percent was eliminating the need for candidate travel followed by seventy-seven percent choosing a “good way of screening candidates before bringing them on site”.
- Sixty-eight percent agreed or strongly agree that hiring managers are happy with the video interviewing process.
- Users using dedicated platforms are more likely to rate their experience as good or excellent than users using Skype or similar free technologies who rate their experience as average.
- When asked which components of video interviewing will become more important in the next several years, fifty-five percent responded that “Assessment capabilities” were significant followed by the ability to integrate with other systems.
Summary – Video interviewing is shown to reduce cost-per-hire and time-to-fill, but smaller companies are not taking advantage of the benefits compared with medium and large organizations. The survey indicates that users of dedicated platforms are more likely to rate their experience as good or higher versus those using free services who are more likely to rate their experience as only average suggesting that the enhanced features of dedicated services provide value beyond the price users pay for them. As more users crave the features only dedicated, fee-based platforms can provide, usage of these platforms should continue increasing in the future especially among companies desiring integration and assessment capabilities. Smaller companies may continue winging it with Skype until they realize the dedicated platform benefits outweigh the perceived cost. Fortunately, many dedicated services introduce their features through free trials to help smaller organizations and non-profits get their feet wet.