The VITAL guide to video interviews: 'I' - interviewing

The last few years have seen significant growth in the use of video technology to help pick the best candidates for a job vacancy. Employers and recruitment agencies can now make use of video to pre-screen candidates to help narrow down an initial candidate pool to a manageable short list. New online software has made the process streamlined and very efficient, saving time and travel costs for all those connected with a recruitment campaign.

However this relatively new form of candidate screening has meant that both the interviewer and the interviewee will need to focus on new techniques to judge candidates or impress prospective employers respectively. This guide sets out some of the V.I.T.A.L elements to bear in mind when judging or creating video answers to interview questions.

For the interviewer ... the interview questions

Questions answered on video are much more like a question asked in person as opposed to question asked on a piece of paper. Phrase questions so that answers can be expansive and revealing. Try to avoid the possibility the candidates will simply say yes or no. Spend at least some time agreeing the best questions with the various collaborators on the recruitment campaign.

However try to keep questions relevant to the judgement you are trying to make - it is vital that the expectations for the interviewee are clear.

For the interviewee ... your interview style

Try and answer the questions in a normal relaxed manner without rushing – there is nothing wrong with taking a deep breath and pausing for a moment. The moment may seem like an age, but in practice a pause really helps a point to be made. Be yourself and let your own personality speak for you – don’t try and be somebody you are not – it will only backfire later. Basically, just treat recording a video the same as actually attending an interview.

Thanks for reading - part 'T' of the VITAL guide to follow soon. This was brought to you by Interview Coordinator (http://www.interviewcoordinator.com/) a leading provider of interview collaboration software for recruitment and interview management.