Don’t you hate it when you have a whole list of candidates to pre-screen, but when you call them, all you hear is their voicemail? Or when you invite them to your office, but it does not fit their schedule?
Don’t be surprised when candidates are not as flexible as you thought (or hoped for). Yes, they are the ones that are looking for a new job. But even if they want the job badly, that doesn’t mean that they are available 24/7 to pick up the phone or come to your office whenever it suits you the best. Keep in mind that your candidates have a life outside of their job search as well. They might be at work the whole day, or they have other things to do that take priority at that moment. And even if you can finally get them on the phone, scheduling a time for an on-site interview that suits everyone’s busy schedules can still be a total pain. Frustrating, right? So, what can we do to eliminate these frustrations?
Here’s your answer: be more flexible with your job interviews! A flexible recruitment process allows you to better adapt to changes and different hiring situations – enabling you to connect with more candidates and reducing the chances of missing out on great talent.
Instead of interviewing your candidates during the week, why not interview them in the weekend when they are available? Why don’t you let them choose their own time and location to do the interview? Wait…what? I can hear you thinking; I don’t have time in the weekend, and what if they want to do their interview at 9 pm while I’m off at 5? You may feel that with this approach, being flexible means that the candidate gets all the power and you, as a recruiter, are not in control of your own hiring process anymore. I understand, but luckily, it doesn’t have to be like that.
The use of video interviews enables businesses to add flexibility into their hiring process and take the hassle out of their job interviews. Using video, candidates no longer have to take time off from work or spend valuable resources on traveling – instead, they can simply conduct the interview from the comfort of their homes and at a time that is convenient for them. This not only shows your candidates that you respect their time, it also helps you to screen more candidates in less time and move to a final hiring decision sooner.
There are three types of video interviews: live interviews, automated interviews and video pitch. The type of interview that is more suited to do in the weekend would be either the video pitch, where candidates introduce themselves and motivate why they would like to have the job, or the automated interviews, where you can pre-record a few questions which the candidates can answer in a given time frame.
Let’s say you invite your candidates to do the automated interview. You invite them through email any time and any day you want. You set up a deadline for conducting the interview, allowing you to keep control over your hiring timeline. Once invited, candidates can conduct the interview at any place and time they like – making the whole interview process much more pleasant and convenient. As a recruiter, you have the freedom to decide when you would like to review those recorded answers. Watch, rate and review candidate interviews remotely at any time or place to efficiently select the best matching candidates. You can even involve others in the decision process by simply sharing completed interviews with stakeholders and asking them for feedback, regardless of where they are located. Now that’s what I call a flexible process!
Happy Hiring!
