We have all been there, going to a job interview and anticipating the typical interview questions. I bet anyone can recall one of these: “Why should we hire you?” or “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”. Right? And well, the very least that someone interested in taking the job could do is to prepare themselves for these interview questions.
Yet, the downfall of the traditional job interview is quite significant. Employers lose the opportunity to understand the interviewee; who they are as a person and what they can bring to the company. According to LinkedIn’s report, these are the main 5 areas where the traditional job interview fails:
- 63% – assessing candidate soft skills
- 57% – understanding candidate weaknesses
- 42% – bias of interviewers
- 36% – too long of a process
- 18% – not knowing what questions to ask
Summing up, this old-fashioned approach can result in suitable candidates being overlooked and less suitable profile’s being shortlisted. Furthermore, LinkedIn’s survey also indicated the most influential hiring trends. According to hiring managers, the main trends shaping the way they recruit are:
- Diversity
- Modern tools to conduct interviews
- Data
- Artificial Intelligence
New Interviewing Tools
If hiring trends are changing; so must the technology we use! There are so many new tools and applications that can assist employers in enhancing their organizations hiring process. Let’s have a closer look at some of the new tools and approaches that can be included in hiring strategies.
#Video interviews
Today, many companies are willing to hire people from abroad so as not to limit their search efforts in their local market. Thus, when sourcing talent globally, video interviews are a great and useful tool to incorporate. It minimizes the expenses associated with face-to-face meetings and makes for a more efficient hiring process.
Don’t forget to provide applicants with a clear structure of the video interview. Give candidates the guidelines for pre-recording their videos, so they won’t be terrified or feel awkward. In other words, prepare questions that candidates should answer during their recordings. What’s the catch for you as a recruiter? You cut the chance to get biased during the candidate evaluation. One more thing worth mentioning, these interviews are mostly useful when recruiting for positions as sales or business development, where communication skills are crucial.
#Online assessments
Online assessment tools like cognitive aptitude tests are great for measuring soft skills. In other words, they can help figure out skills that exist outside of a typical resume. For instance, the ability to solve tasks, think critically or the candidate’s flexibility. Soft skills are becoming increasingly important in hiring decisions as they predict candidates’ job performance; and employers get more than just unique insights into the candidate’s skills! The point is that evaluation happens in large volumes and at speed of the light. Compare yourself! Sending 50 invitations for online assessment or interviewing the same amount of people? Here, in Owiwi we certainly know how to do it best! We offer psychometric tests that are also fun! By using Owiwi; companies can become an employer of a choice, while candidates are getting a positive & fun experience that they will be sure to share with friends. (Millenial’s; we are looking at you!)
#Virtual reality (VR)
This one might seem quite a big investment for smaller companies. Yet, the bigger companies could see a use of it. VR helps to test the skills of the candidates in an unbiased and structured way. For example, Lloyd banking group applies VR to choose candidates for their leadership program. During the last interview phase, applicants solve case-studies in a 360-degree virtual world, after-which an evaluator makes the final selection decision. Another inspiring example of VR usage is KFC making the new cooks to play a creepy escape game.
#Casual interviews
This trend is already taking place at a significant scale in the world of startups. As an alternative to a boring and stressful office interview, the meeting takes place over a lunch or cup of coffee. It gives you the chance to see the candidate in a more personal and informal way; keeping an eye out to see how they interact and carry themselves throughout the conversation and removing the aspect of “political correctness” from the equation.
Final thought
“High-Tech” is here to stay; but it is still very much a complementary method that won’t replace the traditional interview approach any time soon….However in the near future, the transition to solely “High-Tech” procedures will become the new norm. Technology can help to provide a clearer image of a candidate profile and measure their skills in a more objective way. As a result, they bring more solid hiring decisions and the recruiter is able to identify when there is a cultural fit. Smarter hiring decisions can save money, time, as well as reduce turnover.
