The global online recruitment magazine “onrec,” featured HireVue in their analysis of virtual interviewing, “Virtual Interviewing – US Perspective.”

“New technology solutions allow employers to forego face-to-face interviews. But is virtual interviewing as good as being there? For clients of HireVue, a leader in interview solutions, the answer appears to be a resounding yes. As video and related technologies have become more pervasive, employers have become increasingly comfortable with adoption…”

The Wall Street Journal article, “How to Nail a Job Interview – By Video” emphasized the growth of video interviewing and tips for job seekers.

“These days, a job-seeker can land a job without ever setting foot inside the company’s office, thanks to video communication tools that connect employers with candidates over the Internet. Several people in the career and job-search industry say video interviewing using remote technology software is on the rise for a broad swatch of industries…”

The increasing industry adoption of video interviewing in general, and HireVue’s video interviewing and decision management solutions specifically, is becoming more and more obvious. Stay tuned as we announce incredibly talented recent hires at HireVue and the acquisition of some amazing new clients.

• Requisition load – high compared to the current staff on hand and anticipating even more
• Adoption or desire to add CRM tools to manage the talent pipeline versus ATS
• Importance of Quality of Hire metrics (QOH) and improved talent in general
• Employer Branding

Another consistent theme was the critical need to upgrade the level of talent in the organization to gain competitive advantage (Win the War for Talent deja vu). However, this company perspective is accompanied by an opposing trend, employees that see the need to upgrade their employer. According to the recent Manpower/Right Management survey, 60% of employees intend to leave their jobs and one-in-four are networking and updating their resumes. Just a few weeks ago USA Today reported that people are actually starting to quit their jobs to find new work, even without the new job. This means that top talent will have the power to choose as the churn begins to increase.

What did I learn at HCI that talent acquisition leaders can do to stay ahead of the wave?

• Requisition load – Break down the work into specialized roles for efficiencies, create pure sourcing teams, social media/marketing teams or niche recruiters. The successful staffing functions are also building relationships with candidates over time versus JIT for specific requisitions. Others are finding new technologies (like HireVue) or outsourcing parts of the process to RPO to shorten the time to hire.
• CRM – Use tools that manage candidate relationships versus just tracking and processing candidates for a requisition. The creation of talent pools and full pipelines is more critical than ever.
• QOH – Track hiring manager satisfaction, specifically, how calibrated is the recruiter with not only the job profile requirements but also the manager’s definition of top performance? Does the recruiter know why the top employees received their performance rating? Do recruiters clearly understand what a manager means when she says, “There just wasn’t a fit”? This is critical before you decide to put in a QOH metric of 90-day or 180-day new hire performance or a feedback loop for recruiter performance. Time to fill/hire is still important but not if quality is lacking.
• Employer Branding – Work with your marketing department to align employment collateral with product/company messaging. Involve your managers and employees in the process; let them help shape the brand (because they already have). Gallup polls consistently attribute turnover to the work environment and the manager. Websites like Glassdoor make it easy to get the real scoop on your employer value proposition. Reality is better than fiction if you want to land top performers!

Of course HireVue’s workflow tools, ability to create video talent pools, decision management tools, and branding options can help you improve in all four areas.

Chip Luman

COO, HireVue

There’s a lot of buzz of late around using video interviews in the recruiting process. Sure, talking to candidates via webcam over the Internet provides a ton of cost savings. Plus it really helps shorten time-to-hire on the right candidates. But what happens once the interview is over? Nothing…unless you conducted the interview. What about the others on the hiring team who have input into the hire?

This is why having a platform that records your video job interviews is so valuable. It allows the hiring team to see the same thing as the interviewer and allows the hiring team to collaborate.

You know what is even cooler? REAL candidate comparison. At HireVue, we offer our 1-way Virtual Interviews in addition to 2-way Live Interviews. Our clients typically use the Virtual product after a phone screen, but before an interactive interview (over the Internet or face to face). The Virtual Interview is done on a broader set of candidates (approx 7-10) where all of the candidates answer the same set of questions, which are configured by our clients. When the candidate completes the Virtual Interview, it is available in HireVue for the hiring team to review.

This is where the “Killer App” of Video Interviewing lies. Let’s say there are a couple of key competencies or skills that are needed for a particular job opening. Our clients use the HireVue Virtual Interview to ask those questions. Because candidate’s responses are recorded, they can be easily compared using the comparison tools within HireVue. With one click, the reviewer can stay on that same question, but listen to each candidate’s answer. This is REAL candidate comparison and is almost impossible to replicate in normal interviewing cycles. Using HireVue’s Candidate Comparison and Evaluation tools allow the hiring team to get a deep perspective on candidates and really make it easier to decide which candidate should advance in the process.

This is exactly why HireVue exists today…and why companies that use video job interviews are so passionate about our offerings.

2009 was a year full of enormous positive changes here at HireVue with the addition of a new team, new platform, new investors and many new customers. 2010 seems primed for major changes not only at HireVue but across the entire HR community.

A New Newsletter in 2010

I’m pleased to announce one of our first changes of 2010, THE VUE, a new monthly newsletter from HireVue. You can look to THE VUE each month for news, updates on changes happening at HireVue and valuable information on video interviewing and recruiting in general. In every issue you’ll hear from me or one of the HireVue staff. We’ll make sure you know what’s going on at HireVue and perhaps share a thought or two related to current events. Sometimes we’ll focus on video interviewing and sometimes we won’t but I’ll make you this promise – whatever we have to say, it will always be relevant and may even be insightful and entertaining.

We’ve also asked a number of writers in the HR community to contribute one article each newsletter with helpful tips and best practices in all areas of HR, not just video interviewing. For example, in this month’s issue, NAS’ Caroline Slomski opens our eyes to the promise of mobile recruiting and gives some tips on what can be done to get on board.

For those of you still wondering how video interviewing fits into your talent acquisition strategy or for those of you who’ve implemented it but want to find other ways to use it, we’ll include a customer success story each month to help you see how others are using HireVue. Also, whenever possible we’ll include special content such as white papers, webinar recordings, articles and other things you need to get and stay fully informed.

To subscribe to the newsletter, go to the HireVue home page and scroll down to the newsletter sign up in the right column.

Planning for Change

If you’re not following John Sumser’s series of articles on preparing for the future of recruiting on ERE.net, you should. In the second article of the series, he recalls that old Eisenhower quote attributed to him during his days as the Commanding General of European and African Allied forces where he was tasked with ending World War II. “The plan is nothing. The plan is everything.” As the quote implies, change is inevitable but that’s not why we plan. Planning simply helps us to survey the field and do our best to consider our options. It might even give us a pretty good map of the battlefield but as Eisenhower well knew, things can get disorienting in the heat of battle and relying on the map alone can get you killed.

The war for talent has been on hiatus but if the economy turns around any time soon it could heat up quick. According to the Washington Post, economists typically look to six elements of the economy when judging its health. When three of the six show significant improvements over a two to three month period, they say recovery is on the way. I took a look at the indicators they suggest and here’s what I found.

1. Jobless Claims - Jobless claims have dropped every week but 1 over the past 20 weeks, reducing weekly claims by nearly 100,000 over that same period. That’s 1 out of 6. (Source – U.S. Dept. of Labor)
2. Durable Goods – New orders for durable goods excluding transportation increased 0.9 percent last month. This is a good sign, but we need to see this positive trend over two or three months and this is the first increase since September. So the score’s still 1 out of 6. (Source – U.S. Dept of Commerce)
3. Existing Home Sales – After a rising surge from September through November, existing-home sales fell as expected in December after first-time buyers rushed to complete sales before the original November deadline for the tax credit. However, prices rose from December 2008 and annual sales improved in 2009. While it’s tough to know for sure if this trend’s for real due to the tax credits, this looks to be a good sign that investors and would-be homeowners are back in the market. I’ll buck my usually skeptical ways and give this a thumbs up – 2 out of 6. (Source National Association of Realtors)
4. Consumer Confidence – The Consumer Confidence Index has risen steadily since October 2009 (about 6%). Economists say that’s enough to expect things to continue trending upward so who am I not to agree. That makes it 3 out of 6. (Source – The Conference Board)
5. Retail Sales – retail sales have improved 1.8% over the past three months adjusted for Holiday sales. I think you get the idea – 4 out of 6. (Source – U.S. Dept. of Commerce)
6. Interest Rate Spread – The Wall Street Journal says that the difference between the yield on risk-free, three-month Treasury bills and the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, a rate at which banks lend to each other is a pretty good indicator of economic health as long as the gap is 1/2 percentage point or less. As of today, it’s 2/10 of a percent. 5 out of 6. (Source Wall Street Journal)

Prepared for Change

From what I can tell, it’s time to start sharpening your swords, the battle looks to be back on! From NPR to your brother-in-law you’ll get no shortage of advice for how to prepare so I’ll make mine short and sweet. Of course it’s related to video interviewing. Don’t panic. “How is that video interviewing related?” You ask. One thing video interviewing does extremely well is support the demands of the current recruiting environment – the one built on the old economy, the one that has you doing more with less – while setting you up for the new paradigms of a recovering economy. So with HireVue you can sit tight and see which way the tide rolls because you’re prepared no matter what happens or how fast it unfolds. Below is a comparison I often share to explain how we do this.

Today: Bear Market

In a Bear Market, HireVue helps you:

• Do more with less since interviews can be conducted and reviewed anywhere, anytime.
• Live with reduced staff.
• Interview anyone even with travel restrictions.
• Improve the quality of your hires since you get a clearer view into your candidate pool.
• Manage high candidate volume.
• Give candidates an opportunity to interview without feeling like they’re jeopardizing their current job.
• Reduce the risk of a bad hire.
• Access passive talent and keep all talent invested in the process.
• Gain greater efficiency from a much simplified process.
• Learn more about the benefits of video job interviewing.

Tomorrow: Bull Market

In a Bull Market HireVue helps you:

• Be more efficient as you scale for growth.
• Push your brand message further.
• Manage high requisition volume.
• Make it easier on high value candidates to pay attention to you.
• Increase your speed-to-hire & improve your workflow.
• Give you a competitive advantage due to ease-of-use and “wow” factor.
• Help you access and find the best candidates in a highly competitive situation.

The future of our space is exciting to think about. Not just the 5-year future but what will transpire in the next twelve months. I’m optimistic about it; even more so after looking under the hood a little at the economic trends, and though, as Eisenhower eluded to, nothing is certain. I think the change we’ll experience between now and this time next year will be positive. Still, you’ll have a lot to think about regardless so if we can help reduce the stress a little with HireVue we’d love to help.

I hope you found this article and, if you received it, the newsletter beneficial. Don’t forget to read Caroline’s article on mobile recruiting, I think you’ll find it incredibly helpful. I’d love to get your feedback on anything so don’t hesitate to drop me an e-mail at mnewman@hirevue.com, and if you’d like to sign up for our newsletter, go to our homepage and scroll down to see the newsletter sign up in the right column.

Sincerely,

Mark

This article also appeared in this month’s issue of THE VUE, HireVue’s monthly newsletter. To sign up, go to the HireVue home page and scroll down to the newsletter sign up on the right.

“These days, more people are willing to relocate to find a good job. That increases HR’s talent pool, but it also makes the interview process more difficult and expensive.”

As the economy picks up I think we’re going to see even more of this. Employees who have settled for jobs they’re not crazy about are going to be more willing to pick up and move for the right job. Smart employers will be looking to take advantage of this to bring on quality talent and HireVue can be a huge enabler of this kind of strategy.

Read the full article Read “Web-based interviews: A useful hiring tool?” at HRMorning.com.

Mark Newman, HireVue Co-Founder and CEO

HireVue’s CEO was recently interviewed by FastCompany Magazine for an article on the rapidly growing use of video interviewing services. We’ve included an excerpt here and a link to the full article.

Enjoy!

Webcam Interviews: How to Survive and Thrive

By: Patrick J. Kiger

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a strong resume and sterling qualifications could have easily landed you a face-to-face meeting with a hiring manager. Today, if your electronic resume passes muster with a company’s keyword search algorithm, you may find yourself trying to make a good impression not in person, but via Webcam from your living room.

Discouraged? Don’t be. With a few tricks drawn from the videographer’s trade, you’ll be armed with the tools you need to keep your foot firmly planted in the door.

Even before the downturn, recruiters had started using online video interviews as a way to speed up and systematize the hiring process. But what was once viewed as trendy gadgetry is now increasingly seen as a tool for slashing recruiters’ expenses.

Continue Reading on FastCompany.com…

We’re excited to see reports like this because they show how video interviewing is becoming mainstream. Network news is pretty limited on the amount of information they can provide in short segments like this. So in addition to their discussion of the obvious benefit of travel cost savings I wanted to add a little more context.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to marginalize travel cost savings – it’s a HUGE reason companies use video interviewing, but there are so many other aspects that can pack a far more powerful punch. Take for instance the efficiency gains that can be realized in the hiring process. One client of ours recently informed us after doing an ROI study that just the aspect of video interviewing reducing manager’s time spent in interviews meant a 2.5 to 1 savings over travel cost savings alone!

The report focused pretty heavily on free services such as Skype. It’s important for enterprise employers to understand that these services can work well for one-off interviews but they’re not meant to support high volume, high impact hiring. Not only can they be difficult for employers to support both in terms of interview logistics and technical support but they are not built to the stringent data security requirements most enterprise organizations need – let alone those required by Safe Harbor legislation in the U.S. and E.U.

Another area to consider is the benefits candidates get from video interviewing. Candidates sometimes share their appreciation for video interviewing with us – here are some of the sentiments we’ve heard:

• “I can do the interview when I’m available and don’t have to try to hide it from my boss.”
• “There’s no travel needed to keep the interview process moving forward.”
• “I don’t have to burn vacation time.”
• “I get to tell my story once and can rest assured it will be heard by the right people.”
• “I can uniquely explain my value in a way my resume can’t.”
• “I spent less time in my search interviews so neither I nor the employer had to spend unnecessary time once we knew there wasn’t a fit.”
• “It’s easy to use.”
• “I got to keep the webcam!”
• “I was able to learn so much more about the company through the introductory video that was played before my interview.”

Whether done by HireVue or another provider, we think video interviews will continue to play a significant role in the future of recruiting and don’t be surprised if you start seeing more reports like this. We see a lot of evidence of growth having facilitated interviews in more than 100+ countries in 2009 for companies like AT&T, CDW, Raytheon, PNC Bank and many others. Companies just need to decide what’s critical to them. If travel costs are the only concern a free service like Skype can work well, but if complexity in the hiring process, data security and an improved hiring experience for candidates and hiring managers are more important, a service like HireVue which is built specifically to address enterprise hiring concerns may be a better fit.

Mark Newman

CEO, HireVue

To learn more about how HireVue helps companies save on travel costs AND realize deeper process and efficiency gains, sign up for our free webinar on Video Enabled Talent Acquisition held in conjunction with Aberdeen Group on January 12th, 2010. During the webinar analysts from Aberdeen will discuss recent research on video interviewing in addition to best practices for implementing video interviewing into a well rounded talent acquisition strategy. Click Here to register.

Join Us For a Webinar presented by Aberdeen Group on January 12th – 10:00 AM PST, 1:00 PM EST and Find Out.

{View a video of the Aberdeen Video Interview Webinar}

If you’ve ever wondered what video interviewing could do for you, wonder no more. Aberdeen Group is known industry wide for helping companies make sense of Human Capital technologies. Video interviewing has received a lot of attention lately so naturally Aberdeen Group put their best analysts on it. You might be surprised by what they found.

HireVue is proud to present :

Date: Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Time: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM PST, 1:00 – 2:00 PM EST

“‘Enabled’ is the operative word,” writes Lombardi and Park, “It is not enough to simply use video technology to conduct an interview. Solutions that allow interviews to be indexed, tagged with manager feedback and integrated with tools like an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) or candidate relationship management solution, will have the greatest correlation to top recruiting results.”

REGISTER NOW to learn how HireVue fits Aberdeen’s description of the perfect Video-Enabled Talent Acquisition solution. During the webinar Lombardi and Park will explain how the right video interviewing strategy can:

• Reduce recruitment costs & travel
• Decrease the length of your talent searches
• Ensure candidate fit and quality
• Increase first year retention
• Bring your employment brand to life

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat today at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/492445171

REGISTER TODAY and receive the BRAND NEW Aberdeen Analyst Insight Report, Video Enabled Talent Acquisition: Improving Cost, Quality and Satisfaction, compliments of HireVue. In this report you’ll have access to detailed research outlining the benefits and ROI potential of the right video-enabled talent acquisition strategy.

Although the webinar date is past, you can download the Aberdeen Group’s Video Enabled Talent Acquisition Research here.