Video assessments are an increasingly popular way of assessing candidates in a way that reduces costs and time and improves the efficiency and success of the hiring process. They allow candidates to express themselves beyond their CVs and create a finer pre-selection process.

Video interviews enable employers to assess job candidates based on their qualifications, soft skills, and more during the hiring process. They are usually implemented as a preliminary interview meaning that the final hiring decision isn't made until later in the process.

Video interviews break down into two distinct types.

Live Video Interviewing

A live interview is a real-time interview in which an interviewer connects with a candidate face-to-face via video. These are therefore two-way interviews that mirror face-to-face interviews without the travel costs and time. They are recorded so that they can be watched back.

Typically, organisations use live video interviews as the step just before or as a replacement to the in-person interview for non-local candidates.

Increasingly live video interviews take place using specific live video interviewing solutions rather than non-specific video options. They can be branded to provide a professional candidate experience, in what is essentially a customised private virtual room.

The recording can be accessed to rate the interview and submit comments for others to respond to and it can be shared with other relevant stakeholders.

One-Way Video Interviewing

One-way or asynchronous video interviews are pre-recorded in which job candidates record video responses to interview questions in their own time. They do not require the presence of an interviewer, hence the reference to ‘one-way’, and they give companies a consistent interview experience which puts all candidates on a level playing field.

Interviewers have the ability to create parameters for the videos and also to customise them to add intro videos that play before a candidate starts their one-way video interview; and outro videos that play when a candidate has finished. They can also be branded.

Once candidates submit their one-way video interview, the recruiters and hiring managers at the company can watch the interview at their earliest convenience. They are also able to share one-way videos with other relevant stakeholders meaning candidates can be viewed by a larger pool of decision-makers.

Questions can be asked in a variety of ways, including text only or accompanied by a video of one of the recruiters asking each question. Candidates are then invited to answer each question within any set parameters by submitting video responses to each question.

One-way video interviews are used as a pre-screening tool in a variety of roles and the pandemic has pushed their usage further as video interviewing technology saves time and works well across various time zones. It is also a good way to manage high-volume recruitment.

Some video interviews use artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning, a subset of AI to add automation in scoring interviews or candidate data analysis.