What’s your role at Yello and what brought you here?

My current role at Yello is Product Manager. I’m responsible for Yello’s product line that supports the later stages of the hiring process — including virtual interviewing, scheduling, evaluation, and application management.

Initially, I joined Yello’s Customer Success team looking for an opportunity to make an impact at a growing organization. A couple of years ago, I transitioned to our product management team. Although I’m more focused on Yello’s product now, I’ve tried to take my customer success experience with me, staying close to our users and customers through research and testing.

Kelly Upp

Product Manager
With Yello since: 2015

What is pre-recorded video interviewing?

Yello’s pre-recorded video functionality allows candidates to record responses to screening questions on-demand. As opposed to live video interviews, pre-recorded video interviewing empowers candidates to answer questions on their own time — not by appointment.

After candidates submit their answers, recruiters and hiring managers can then review the candidate’s responses at their convenience, faster than traditional screening methods. Pre-recorded video interviews support your candidate screening strategy without wasting time on interviews.

Unlike other platforms, Yello also lets hiring teams video record their interview questions — making the experience feel more personal for candidates.

Why do companies use pre-recorded video interviewing?

Our clients use pre-recorded video interviewing to save time. Giving recruiters and hiring managers the ability to review and screen candidates in bulk allows them to evaluate more candidates in a shorter period of time. The streamlined screening process helps companies identify top talent up front, and they can move those candidates down the pipeline faster.

According to Workforce.com, here are the most popular reasons to use video interviewing:

  • 67% of companies use video interviewing to reduce travel costs
  • 47% of companies use video interviewing to shorten time-to-hire
  • 22% of companies use video interviewing to reach candidates in other geographic regions
On top of that, companies can use pre-recorded video interviews to impress candidates with a tech-forward approach (interviews can be conducted on any device!), reduce stress from traditional interviews and provide a more structured, standardized interview to prevent bias. 

According to a survey from the Institute of Student Employers, nearly half of respondents use video interviewing to help screen candidates — while only 39% continue to use traditional phone screens. Why do you think video is winning over other methods? 

Efficiency is definitely a huge reason why video interviewing is becoming more and more common. Recruiting teams don’t just save time — they also eliminate travel costs, avoid scheduling delays and can accelerate and streamline hiring. 

But video interviewing also helps companies hire the right people. According to Brandon Hall, 86% of high-performing organizations use video interviewing during the hiring process. Companies not only reach more candidates with video interviewing — they’re able to identify the right fit faster and ultimately hire top talent before the competition. 

How do Yello’s pre-recorded video interviews work with scheduling and other tools?  

Yello’s pre-recorded video interviews work seamlessly with other areas of Yello’s candidate management — including email and text communications, evaluations, interview scheduling and automated workflows.

A pie chart showing 54% of recruiters do not use pre-recorded video interviews in their hiring processes, but 22% are thinking about starting

Source: Twitter poll

A recruiting team can choose where in their recruiting process they want to request or invite a candidate to record a video interview. Typically, Yello customers ask candidates to create a pre-recorded video before moving them on to the first round of interviews. That said, the tool is totally flexible, so it can be configured to fit your ideal hiring process. 

After candidates record their interviews, recruiters and hiring managers can review their answers and easily evaluate talent. Then, recruiters can automatically move candidates to their next logical step in the process — whether that’s an invite to an in-person interview or an automated rejection email. 

Yello also works with all major ATS providers. An ATS integration ensures data flows seamlessly between both systems. Depending on your integration needs, recruiting teams may choose to have data from pre-recorded video interviews automatically sync with an ATS. 

Any favorite stories or feedback you’ve heard about video interviews from clients?  

Some of our clients use video interviews to support their virtual campus recruiting strategies. As the campus recruiting landscape changes, they’ve been able to grow their presence on campus digitally and reach more students — while eliminating or cutting back on their physical presence. 

Those clients have seen great results. Companies like BDO have been able to screen more than twice as many candidates with pre-recorded video interviewing. They’ve cut the traditional phone interview screen from 35 minutes to just 10 minutes of video reviews for hiring managers — helping their whole team work more efficiently.

Product Tour: Yello’s Pre-Recorded Video Interviews

Screen candidates twice as fast

Reduce screening time by inviting candidates to complete a virtual video interview at their convenience — eliminating inconsistencies and empowering staff to review at any time.

  • Streamlined candidate invite
  • Company branded screen and recording portal
  • Automated reminders
  • Simple staff review portal

Measure video interviewing impact

Maximize video interview ROI by tracking completion rates and modifying your strategy to widen your candidate pool and hire top talent faster.

  • Track completion rates
  • Integrated candidate evaluations
  • Decreased travel expenses
  • Seamless ATS integration

Ready to stop wasting time on endless screening calls?

Did you know that 81% of candidates expect the hiring process to take less than two weeks? Empower your team to identify talent faster — ensuring you hire top candidates and improve the candidate experience for everyone.