Pre-Recorded Video Interviews: 5 Tips from Yello’s Experts

For years, early talent teams have been dipping their toes into virtual campus recruiting. As they shift their hiring process away from traditional on-campus events and start to connect with candidates virtually, there’s one place most companies start: pre-recorded video interviews. 

Pre-recorded video interviews are a great way to streamline traditionally time-consuming phone screens or first-round in-person interviews. Rather than finding time through endless back-and-forth emails, video interviewing software allows candidates to share more about themselves — and review their answers — on their own time. Pre-recorded video interviews save time, too: some companies have even been able to review twice as many candidates in less than half the time of traditional phone screens. 

Whether you’re considering rolling out pre-recorded video interviews or already have a program of your own, there’s always room for improvement. We asked Yello’s customer success team for tips from their best-performing video interviewing users — here’s what they shared. 

1. Add branding or introduction videos to the “welcome room” of your interview.

Consider adding company branding to the first step of your pre-recorded video interview process to create a polished, immersive candidate experience. This will reinforce your employer brand, letting candidates get to know what your company’s culture is like— especially if this interview is replacing a phone screen or other meeting early in the process. 

A video on the welcome room page is a great touch. You can explain the recruitment process, answer FAQs about how your video interviewing platform works, and make sure candidates have an understanding of what their experience will look like before joining. Think of the questions a job seeker may have if this is their first time doing a pre-recorded video interview: what to wear, how many questions there are, how the recording tools work, and more. 

To build an even stronger employer brand, add branded elements throughout your pre-recorded video experience. Even small details like adding a logo to the initial invite email or ensuring colors are on-brand will make your company stand out. 

2. Keep the interview to 3-5 questions, and adjust the questions accordingly.

Although this is a job interview, be sure to keep it brief. Any more than 5 questions increases the risk that candidates will not complete the interview. Be concise, and ask only critical questions for this initial screen. 

Also, keep in mind that in-person interview questions may not translate to a pre-recorded video interview environment. Be thoughtful about what you’re asking and adjust the wording of questions for a better experience. 

BDO leveraged pre-recorded video interviews to interview twice as many candidates in less than half the time. 

3. Record video questions to add a more personal touch. 

To make job seekers feel more comfortable recording video answers, have someone from your hiring team record questions in a video format instead of displaying questions as text on screen. 

This slight adjustment will make the interview feel more like a conversation — helping you improve the candidate experience, collect more organic candidate responses and ultimately build better candidate relationships. 

4. Automate candidate invites to accelerate the screening process. 

If you’re using pre-recorded video interviews as a way to screen candidates more efficiently, you can make the process even more efficient by automating invitations. 

Ensure your invites or confirmation emails explain what the process will look like: what their time limit will be, what they should wear, and where they should record. This helps candidates feel prepared, and moves the hiring process along. 

Leverage a process that empowers you to set up automated candidate workflows to invite all applicants — or smart logic that can send out invitations based on answers to application questions. 

This will ensure that you advance top candidates through the interview process as fast as possible, without all the manual work. 

5. Send automated staff reminders to review and evaluate candidates often. 

Just like any other interview, you’ll want to make sure that your hiring managers review and evaluate candidates as quickly as possible. Keep in mind that these candidates likely haven’t met with you for a live interview yet — so it’s critical that you schedule top candidates for a face-to-face interview before they lose interest. This is even more important now that a majority of candidates may be out of work or stuck at home for the near future. 

To accelerate the evaluation process, consider setting up automated reminders for staff. That way, you won’t be stuck waiting for staff to review or having to track down your hiring managers for outstanding feedback. 

“We use video interviewing globally and it has created efficiencies for our team. Instead of flying candidates to on-site interviews, we conduct live video interviews and our recruiters review pre-recorded interviews on their own time, instead of during a scheduled phone screen.”

Cielo

Overall, pre-recorded video interviews are a great way to connect with candidates in a meaningful way — while reducing administrative tasks and manual work for you and your team. If you’re interested in more tips or best practices, get in touch with us!