Virtual recruitment

Gertjan van de Groep
Netherlands

IESF organized Masterclass Video Recruitment for its partners, April 22th  

The hiring process is changing rapidly as our world shifts to remote work. While the focus on online hiring has accelerated in recent months, the ability to manage the entire hiring process virtually is not a new concept. Online interviews, online candidate attraction tools video messages are just a few elements of the hiring process that has helped executive search firms worldwide to hire the best executives for their clients. Together with Rogier Happel, from CammioIESF organized a Masterclass on Video Recruitment for IESF partners to discuss the future developments, the possibilities and lessons learned in recruiting.

The war for talent

As competition increases, executive searchers need to continuously improve and innovate their strategies in order to create value and sustain a competitive advantage. In their quest for a more efficient but reliable process, agencies are implementing a modernized approach to recruiting which can involve video interviewing. Agencies have to provide a best-in-class candidate experience, because only the agencies that can offer an engaging process with high service for the candidate will be successful in the long term.

Video recruitment

Video interviewing in recruitment doesn’t only mean interviewing your candidates via Skype or Zoom. Both one-way and two-way interviewing can be carried out via dedicated video interview software with functionalities built-in to streamline the recruitment process. For example, interview scheduling capabilities, a whiteboard for collaborating, integration with your Applicant Tracking System (ATS), interview recording and embedded evaluation forms are all features that help drive efficiencies for recruiters. In order to recruit only well-suited candidates, agencies need to create an efficient but reliable recruitment process that keeps the human factor and personal experience intact.

Advantages and lessons learned

  1. The use of video recruitment makes it possible to add personality to the CV and base the first selection not just on CV (knowledge and experience), but also on the ‘soft skills’. This is important since no less than 85% of job success comes from having well-developed soft and people skills. By using video interviews, agencies can efficiently meet candidates online and gain deeper insights into candidates earlier in the process.
  2. This prevents wasting valuable time on job interviews with candidates that are not the right match for the position.
  3. At the same time, they can collaboratively involve their clients early in the process, increasing the likelihood of selecting only the best matching talent.
  4. Video interviewing can cut your time to hire in half by creating efficiencies in your recruitment process, for example, easier interview scheduling and scrapping phone screenings.
  5. One-way virtual interviews add a qualitative element to your pre-selection process to supplement quantitative data from other assessments.
  6. Developing a consistent, standardized video interview process helps reduce the risk of unconscious hiring biases.
  7. Video interviews can be recorded for other team members to review, future reference and audits.
  8. Asynchronous video interviews are recorded at a candidate’s convenience, meaning there is no need to deal with scheduling.

The main learning is to always look for a balance between technology and human interaction. For example, combine video interviews in some instances to create a more flexible process for candidates. But also communicate actively and frequently with your candidates an encourage in-person experiences, such as inviting them for in-person interviews during the final stages of the process or suggesting they visit the client offices for face-to-face interactions.

Since 2002, IESF is successfully delivering local executive talent through a global network of IESF partners. Want to become an exclusive IESF partner also? Visit: https://iesf.com/join-iesf/ for more information.

About the author

Gertjan van de Groep

Netherlands

Gertjan Van de Groep (1970) is Managing Director at Van de Groep & Olsthoorn. He focuses on General, Commercial and Technical staff and management positions in Industry, Technology and Logistics.

Gertjan graduated in 1993 as a Bachelor of Engineering in Utrecht, then pursued a leadership development program at Nyenrode Business University. He started his career as a Production/Lean Engineer and later as a Management Trainee in Logistics. In 1997, he started as Consultant at Van de Groep & Olsthoorn, the company that his father Wim founded in 1979. Gertjan became Director in 2007. His new set of consulting, entrepreneurship and management functions fit him like a glove.

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