Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/207525
TekTober Overcoming Resistance The key obstacle to video interviewing is not the candidate for the job, certainly not the individuals who comfortably use mobile technologies. The obstacle is inertia—the unwillingness to try a new methodology simply because the old one works fine. Obviously, the problem with this hidebound thinking is it does not allow for the possibility of improvement. It's why Henry Ford resisted urgings by his car designer son Edsel Ford for the family company to manufacture an automobile other than the Model T. Old Henry figured there was nothing wrong with what he already had in the showroom. How can one break such bad habits? • Become a champion in your organization of this superior way of recruiting. • Note that the cost of video interviewing technology has decreased significantly from $40 per interview seven years ago to a flat rate charge, at present. • Point out the brand value opportunity represented by a more sophisticated and engaging way of introducing your organization to the candidate. • Tout the benefits of standardization and consistency—the pre-recorded nature of video interview questions asked exactly the same and in the same order. • Point out the substantial savings in travel costs and recruiter time, which add up to provide a return on the initial investment. • Note that newer products are vastly simpler and more user-friendly—for both candidates and recruiters; some providers even allow the applicant to re-record their interview if they don't like how their responses sounded. • Explain that young job candidates will expect a video interview, if for no other reason than the other companies they're applying at already do this. As Stacy Tillman, talent acquisitions solutions implementations leader at Aon Hewitt, explains, "Your competition is already doing this. If you're not, then you're not meeting people where they're at, potentially missing out on quality talent." [14] HRO TODAY MAGAZINE | OCTOBER 2013 answering the exact same questions in the same order, format, and timeframe, the playing field is leveled insofar as objectivity. Since the hiring manager can view all the candidates' responses to, say, question number five, this permits faster, more nuanced comparisons and contrasts. Much time and money also are saved. "Our research indicates that it takes a recruiter more than 20 minutes just to schedule a single individual phone screen, plus another 30 minutes to conduct each interview," White says. "On average, a recruiter does 10 phone screens per open position. We've estimated that 300 minutes can be cut from the process if a mass email is sent out for a prerecorded video interview. Instead of spending 30 minutes per interview, four or five minutes are spent, respectively. The return on investment comes from the reduction in recruiter time and in getting the position closed much quicker." Such was the case at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, which comprises a large acute pediatric hospital in Cincinnati and a satellite hospital outside the city. "We're always looking for new ways of recruiting and had started down the path of video interviewing three years ago," says Julia Abell, senior director of employment. Abell was chiefly attracted by the cost-savings of digital video recruiting. "We spend a significant amount of money, compared to the for-profit world, bringing people in from outside the city for various high-level positions like physicians and administrative staff," she explains. "We're also a teaching hospital and require specific skill sets in this regard, as well." Flying to Cincinnati to be interviewed at the medical center is "a terrible experience," Abell says. "It takes a full day to get here from most parts of the country, and a full day to get back. We're recruiting on a global basis and there is just one flight to and from Paris a week. To make matters worse, we have the highest airfares in the country." Obviously, these detriments do not bode well for aspiring candidates or the institution. "We'd spend all this money bringing in a job applicant for several days—two days just to get here and out of here, and two days to meet with everyone needed—and then we'd realize within ten minutes we weren't going to hire them," Abell says. "The phone screen didn't tell us what we needed."