| Kippreport.com

Could a one-way video interview be the way for the future job seeker?

September 2, 2012 6:09 by Eva Fernandes

Whatever you may say about the number of people looking for a job in this economy, hiring a new member of staff is a time-consuming affair. In fact, given the abundance of candidates an advertisement is likely to attract, some may say hiring staff is an even more challenging task in a saturated job market. Consider for example, the rather informal experiment conducted by a frustrated unemployed English professor who posted a dummy ad for a basic administrative ad on Craigslist. 24 hours after he posted the ad, he had received 653 responses in his inbox. Even if you do manage to sift through the resumes and shortlist 15 odd candidates, calling each one in for an interview will prove to be a time consuming affair.

Cue HireVue, an application created by Mark Newman which “provides one-way video interviews where candidates respond to pre-set questions without a live person on the other side. Job seekers record the interviews at a time of their choosing and hiring managers watch the interviews when they are ready.” Does it sound too much like the premise of Up in the Air for your liking?

Due to the transitory nature of residents in the UAE, appointments are a challenge every company will have to face time in and time again. Instead of flying recruitment personnel abroad to find the cream of the crop or conversely jetting potential job candidates down to the UAE to see if it is a good fit, using an application like HireVue can save a company invaluable time and money. As candidates can answer questions at their own ease and convenience, those who already have jobs will not feel pressed to accommodate a pressing interview schedule. On the other hand, interviewers can screen candidates faster and within their own schedule.

Of course, all this ease and convenience misses out on the human touch. Not being able to make small talk or exchange niceties may prevent a potential employee from showcasing certain aspects of his/her personality. Nonetheless, we see the appeal of such an app. What do you think? Do you think there is a market for such an app here in the Emirates?