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Use Video Interviewing for Hiring in Education

How to Use Video Interviewing for Hiring in Education

When video interviewing was first introduced, it wasn’t viewed as a widely-accessible tool. However, now businesses of all sizes incorporate this technology into their hiring process.

In fact, whether you’re selling goods directly to clients, building new technology, or working at an educational institution, video interviewing can streamline hiring. Video interviewing makes the overall process more pleasant for you and candidates.

Here are some of the perks educators in particular enjoy when they use video interviewing technology:

It allows you to quickly vet candidates.

When you’re looking to bring a new teacher or administrator into a school, you want someone with the right experience and background, and a certain personality. You need to know this individual will mesh with the existing school community.

Video interviewing software allows you to quickly vet applicants. You have the ability to sort through the video interviews at a time that’s convenient for you. If it’s quickly clear an applicant isn’t a good fit, you move on to the next candidate.

Then you can bring in the most qualified, appropriate candidates for further conversation. This ultimately cuts down on job turnover. You can feel certain you’re hiring an educator who is a good fit for your school and will stay longer than one school year.

It expands your reach.

There are a lot of requirements included in the hiring processor schools. You may find that your immediate area has a limited pool of candidates. If you’ve exhausted those options, open spots become nearly impossible to fill.

Video interviewing allows you to expand your reach. Interested professionals from all over the country — even the world — can submit their materials.

Best of all, you don’t need to foot the bill to fly these people in for a conversation. Once you’ve watched their video interview and are certain it’s worth pursuing a more in-depth discussion, you can meet in person. This saves money while ensuring you’re truly getting the most qualified professionals each time you conduct a job search.

It enables more team members to weigh in.

Many educators value the panel-style interview. Having colleagues weigh in makes the final decision easier. However, due to different schedules, a panel-style interview isn’t always feasible.

Teachers have classes at different times. Plus there are after-school activities, since many educators do double duty as coaches or volunteers. Video interviewing allows multiple members of your school to give feedback, even if there isn’t a way to get in the same room at the same time.

Once candidates record their responses, everyone can watch these replies at a time that works for them. One person may do this during a lunch break, while another watches at 8 p.m., and a third team member checks them out during their 10 a.m. free period. Despite these scheduling differences, everyone on the hiring team gets to voice their opinion and thoughts before a final choice is made.  Making this change truly helps you get your hiring team to work better together.

It moves the process along.

It’s no secret the hiring process can drag on for weeks or even months, regardless of the industry. This frustrates everyone involved. Studies have even shown that a lengthy hiring process can cause top-tier talent to lose interest and go elsewhere.

A 2016 survey by Robert Half found that 39 percent of more than 1,000 U.S. workers surveyed would lose interest in a job opportunity and pursue other roles if the hiring process was too long.

Fortunately, video interviewing eliminates these concerns by streamlining the process. It enables hiring managers to make a decision quickly. There’s no longer a need to sync up schedules and devote hours to each candidate. A fast-moving hiring process is especially important for a school, where being short-staffed has a direct impact on students.

Video interviewing technology makes hiring faster, while widening the talent pool. This makes the process more efficient. Also, it ultimately reduces job turnover and improves the school community as a whole.

Can you think of any other ways video interviewing can help in the educational hiring process? Let us know in the comments below!

Lauren Levine

Lauren Levine is a copywriter/blogger who contributes to a number of magazines and websites including The Frisky, USA Today, and others. She also authors her own blog called Life with Lauren. She loves cooking, anything on the E! network, and is trying to convince herself that running isn't so bad.