Online Video Interviews – How It Can Really Work

I’m not big into putting case studies on my blog but I thought this was a nice example of how technology really can aid and improve the recruitment process…

Specialist Westcountry holiday lettings company Classic Cottages has revealed it used cutting-edge video interviewing technology in the process of recruiting its new Managing Director.

The company, based in Helston, Cornwall received more than 300 applications for the role when it was first advertised in September 2010. The quality of the candidates was so high that they ended up with a list of 100 applicants they wanted to interview.

They worked with Ovia (an online video interviewing company); allowing them to record and upload three questions.  The candidates then recorded their answers on their webcams and uploaded them to the Ovia website for the Classic Cottages’ selection team to review in their own time.

They said that if they had relied on the traditional, CV only technique to get the ‘shortlist’ down from 100 to 20 people they “would have missed some excellent candidates and probably interviewed some people who looked good on paper, but were not really the most suitable for the job. Using the video process meant that the people who arrived for interview were the right candidates and I’m convinced we had a much better final 20 than we would have had without the use of video.”

I understand they got about a 90% take up rate from applicants in terms of recording their interview answers.  I think in part this will be due to it being such a unique experience.

To go with the case study they’ve got a youtube video that if you are interested in video interview technology it’s worth taking a look at.