Trends in Hiring: One thing to Consider Is Going Green for the Interview Process

The way job interviews were conducted even five years ago, let alone twenty, is a lot different today. The demand for finding talented candidates is getting more and more difficult. Companies are turning more to internal hiring managers and staffing recruiters for help. The roles of recruiters are constantly changing and technology has aided in the change. Years ago prospective candidates would walk into a firm without an appointment and ask to fill out an application. This hardly exists anymore. With companies turning to Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), they no longer even want resumes faxed or emailed. They prefer candidates to go online and fill out profiles and upload their resume into job portals. While there are positive and negatives things about portals (which I will speak about in a later blog), technology is changing everything.

A more efficient way of interviewing is evolving. It’s called live virtual interviews. Many organizations (large and small) are adopting virtual interviews as a practice within their process of evaluating talent. I believe virtual interviews will become a standard within the recruiting world in a short period of time and here’s why: Webcams are relatively inexpensive to purchase and today most computers/laptops come with them. Every organization (at least the ones I know and do business with) has an Internet connection.

Virtual recruiting saves a company time and money and makes securing talent easier and faster. No longer do companies have to wait until the schedule of the person they want to meet opens. No longer do companies put print ads in the newspaper. Most ads are placed online with either a job board or a company website—in some cases, both places. Some organizations now use Twitter, have Facebook pages, and use professional networking sites such as LinkedIn and Jigsaw. Using this method, companies can often bypass a staffing firm, thus reducing cost.

Here are the potential benefits of implementing virtual interviews for corporations:

It saves time and money. Travel has become very expensive and time-consuming. The time a potential candidate spends traveling to an interview and an executive takes to do the interviewing is time that can be spent working.

• Increases the candidate pool and improves the candidate experience. What I experience today in my staffing business is that getting talent to come in for an interview is very difficult. Today companies want every minute of their employees’ time accounted for. It is hard to get out and interview without feeling rushed. Conducting virtual interviews time is not lost. It is also difficult to work with schedules of busy executives, and often by the time the “best” candidate gets in for an interview, the position can be filled.
• Shows that the company is progressive with technology. No one I know wants to work for a company that isn’t thinking of the future by wanting the best technology and latest trends. Companies that are progressive are the ones that will weather tough storms.

The field of technology is changing even as you read this blog. Going green is one of the most talked about subjects in the business world. Going green is not only socially responsible, reducing the use of paper and energy and preserving the environment; it is also profitable. Why not take advantage of the latest hiring trend and give virtual interviews a chance. You may be pleasantly surprised and may never go back to the old ways of doing business.