Video Interview Software

Sometimes an in-person interview with a job candidate isn’t possible, especially if that person works on the other side of the world. Phone interviews make for a decent substitute, but the lack of face-to-face interaction can leave a lot to be desired when it comes to really getting to know if an applicant is a great fit for your company or not.

Enter video interviewing software, which allows hiring managers and recruiters to conduct video interviews with candidates online. Below you’ll find information detailing everything you need to know about video interviewing software before you make a purchase.

Here's what we'll cover in this guide:

What Is Video Interviewing Software?
Asynchronous Screening Interviews
Synchronous Final Interviews
Common Features of Video Interviewing Software
How Is It Priced?
Best Software Evaluation Tactics

What Is Video Interviewing Software?

Imagine a Google+ Hangouts or Skype built specifically for recruiting and you’ll start to understand what video interviewing software can do. Along with functionality to video chat with job candidates, video interviewing software allow users to collaborate and evaluate candidates, create templated candidate assessments and much more.

There are two primary ways in which this type of software can be used: asynchronous or synchronous interviews. Many vendors offer functionality for both options.

Asynchronous Screening Interviews

Recruiters can pre-record interview questions, which they can then share with candidates as they apply. The asynchronous nature of the interviews saves recruiters and hiring managers time—they must only record the questions once—and allows them to review candidate responses as their schedule allows.

For instance, if a candidate applies via a job posting, that applicant will receive an email with a link letting them know that their video interview is available. They then follow the link to a virtual interview “room” where they answer the recruiter’s pre-recorded questions. Some of these questions may be verbal, however, many solutions offer the option for written, quiz-like questions—especially useful for technical roles. For instance, Interview Zen allows recruiters to create computer programming and coding challenges to see if candidates have the skills required for the job before scheduling a synchronous face-to-face interview.

When finished, the recruiter receives an email notification that the interview is ready to view. The recruiter can then share the candidate’s recorded interview with hiring managers, and all reviewers can leave comments on the candidate’s responses.

Synchronous Final Interviews

Synchronous virtual interviews are similar to a Skype call or Google+ Hangout with a candidate. To conduct the interview, the employer again emails the candidate a link to a virtual interview “room,” along with a telephone call-in number. Then, once the candidate joins the interview room, the employer is able to interview the candidate in a “face-to-face” on-screen interview.

These software options also allow employers to include multiple people on the interview—in some cases up to 15 team members—and record the conversation. Most solutions even allow recruiters to record and forward the interview to other reviewers at the company, as well as rewind and fast-forward the conversation.

Common Features of Video Interviewing Software

How Is It Priced?

These systems generally follow two pricing models:

• A subscription price for a certain number of interviews per month.
• A standard price for each interview carried out.

Many companies base their monthly price on quantity of interviews conducted per month. Often the cost-per-interview will decrease as the volume increases. ActiveInterview, for example, charges $99 for five interviews per month, but only $299 for 20 interviews per month.

You should keep in mind that while the price per interview may decrease with volume, the overall monthly subscription price will likely rise.

Alternatively, some vendors, such as GreenJobInterview, charge for each interview separately. For a 30 minute interview, a company can expect to pay $69.

Best Software Evaluation Tactics

Deciding which type of video interviewing software to purchase can be an overwhelming prospect given the number of products on the market and the different pricing models. However, there are tactics your company can employ to make the process more efficient and effective.

We recently surveyed software buyers across various industries to determine which software selection tactics are the most effective. From this analysis, we discovered that the top methods for evaluating software include: checking vendor references, having an attorney review your license or subscription agreement, assessing the vendors’ financial viability and preparing an request for proposal (RFP) or request for information (RFI).

To help buyers visualize the data from the survey, we created a quadrant that plots each tactic along two axises; one, measuring the method’s correlation to high satisfaction, and the other showing its impact on the outcome of the project (or how different the results were between people who did and didn’t apply each tactic).

Software selection quadrant

By employing tactics in the “most effective” quadrant (and avoiding those in the “least effective” one), your company can streamline its software selection process and ensure you choose a system that best addresses your team’s needs.