
With the rise of on-demand video interviews, the global job market has seen a drastic shift over the last year. We continue to witness a trend that reemphasizes the need for a flexible, convenient, and entirely virtual hiring process. However, companies and hiring managers reaching out to potential candidates are failing to yield a strong response rate from the candidates.

Amidst a year full of uncertainty in the job market, the woefully low response rate to online interviews goes on to show that companies need to do a lot more than being generic when it comes to attracting the best talent.

**We can narrow down the impact to these key factors:**

- Irrelevant approach
  Hiring managers push out emails with poorly constructed copy and job description. Most descriptions don’t fit into the candidate’s core competencies and can’t stand out in a sea of hiring notifications.
- Extremely long interview process
  If a candidate has to jump the hoops for the hundredth time to reach the final round, they’re more likely to give up midway. Extremely drawn-out job interviews do not add value to the jobs and they discourage potential candidates to show off their skills. Lengthy procedure is not the ideal way to judge perseverance.
- What employers should do?
  As employers, hiring managers need to flesh out a clear and engaging hiring process. Two main ways can improve the response rate of candidates.
- Tweak the job description
  It all starts with the job description itself. The JD should contain as many details as possible without sounding inappropriate. The primary work and deliverables need to be explained clearly along with the benefits that come with the specific role. Jobs with competitive pay based on a location yield more responses than the salaries that can’t justify the workload. Employers should also clearly mention the status of the job. If a job is remote instead of on-site, you’re bound to attract a lot more responses.
![](/images/posts/how-to-improve-response-rate-to-online-interviews/how-to-improve-response-rate-to-online-interviews_2.jpeg)
Hiring managers can include a video to introduce the team, the company culture, and the project. Visual content tends to attract a lot more interest.

- Engage your candidates
  Engaging the potential candidate with actionable steps can lead to a better response rate. Make sure you clearly explain the date, time, and steps involving the interview. Having a clear idea of how to go about the interview gives candidates the confidence to reply. Ending the mail with a proper CTA shows that you’re eager and looking forward to discussing the project with the candidate.

## How Easyhire.me improves response rate

Easyhire.me was built as a platform that simplifies the talent acquisition process and empowers the hiring managers and candidates to put their best foot forward in an interview. It also improves the response rate to online interviews with carefully curated strategies.

### Practice interview

Easyhire.me offers an intuitive tool in the form of practice interviews. Candidates can finally look at themselves from the eyes of the HRs and fine-tune their facial expressions, postures, and delivery. With the flexible practice sessions, candidates can dive deep into their respective fields and improve their interview skills.

The interviews can be shared with friends, families and professionals to collect second opinions as well. As a result, candidates don’t just feel confident in their craft during an interview but also comfortable in their skin.

### Active Easyhire.me professionals

Gathering reviews from close quarters may not always be objectively viable. Professionals at Easyhire.me are specialized in handling these sorts of queries from candidates. When in doubt, candidates can always look to an Easyhire.me expert and receive detailed feedback on their interview skills.

### Multiple channels of communication

We receive hundreds of emails and notifications from various quarters each day. Amidst the clutter, it becomes hard to keep track of the important updates like job interviews. That’s why employers should leverage multiple channels of communication to reach the candidates. Employers can activate SMS notifications along with email updates on Easyhire.me. This way, candidates can be constantly in the loop, and the response rate to online interviews increases with time.

### Curated videos for employers

Visual content instantly hooks people in and job applicants are no different. A well-thought-out welcome video can ease the nerves and create a good impression of the company in the minds of the candidates. They feel more welcome and feel a connection with the company culture and its goals. Easyhire.me offers the option to add unique video content to job interviews. If a company doesn’t want to create a new video, there’s always a default video for them to take advantage of.

Regardless to say, an engaging welcome video pushes the response rate upwards and a solid thank you video can lead them to provide feedback on the entire process.


How to improve response rate to online interviews


Remote video interviews have taken off in the past year. Companies and hiring managers are warming up to the benefits video interviews bring to the table. While traditional methods of hiring have their perks, it’s evident that remote video interviews streamline the entire hiring process. Here are a few reasons why remote video interviews are a thing of the present and the need of the future.

## 1.Flexibility

A major part of the rise of remote video interviews is the flexibility they offer to both recruiters and applicants. Both parties can join the interview from virtually anywhere and anytime. All they need is a webcam, a digital screen with a microphone and internet. Two-way video interviews are more prevalent while one-way interviews are rising up the charts as they offer greater control over the interview terms and solve scheduling hassles.

## 2.Resource conservation

Another benefit of remote video interviews is that they save resources. Unlike traditional interviews that require physical visits, remote interviews save real estate space, time taken to conduct the entire process, and of course, money.
![](/images/posts/benefits-of-remote-video-interviews/benefits-of-remote-video-interviews_2.jpeg)
## 3.Reduced bias

Going virtual means a company can attract the best talents regardless of their location. This can introduce unconscious bias but it’s more uncommon than traditional hiring. With video interviews, the focus is more on the job, and applicants enjoy better opportunities to express themselves without fearing discrimination.

## 4. Data-driven hiring process
![](/images/posts/benefits-of-remote-video-interviews/benefits-of-remote-video-interviews_3.png)
Remote video interview platforms not only provide a seamless interview experience but also technology-based analytics. The data-driven reports are generated from refined systems that are a lot less error-prone and more focused on getting the right fit.

## 5. Better engagement

In comparison to phone interviews, face-to-face interaction brings a human touch to remote video interviews. This leads to better engagement as both parties feel comfortable knowing the other person’s perspective.


Benefits of remote video interviews


In an ideal world, job interviews are expected to provide an even playing field for each candidate to make a case for themselves. But the world is far from being ideal. Despite best efforts from both sides, biases are quickly established in traditional interviews. These are a set of preconceived judgments that cloud the interviewer’s objective analysis. More often than not, interview bias works against applicants and takes the focus away from the core competencies.

But with the rise of recorded video interviews, the bias can be significantly reduced. But to know the ways to mitigate the phenomenon, we have to understand what interview bias is, how it comes into existence and its impact on the hiring process.

## What is interview bias?

The human element of job interviews can easily get influenced by external circumstances. This can stem from serious factors like race, ethnicity, and gender to temporary issues like bad network connection, unflattering atmosphere, and plain lack of communication channels. Hiring managers, despite going through objective hiring training, tend to form a biased opinion at the very onset and search for clues that legitimize their confirmation bias.

The interview bias takes shape in various forms. It can be triggered by a pre-existing cultural notion, stereotypes, and personal similarity factors. Halo and horn bias are two crucial biases where one strong point overshadows all the other aspects of an applicant. Apart from these, there are also recency and conformity biases.

The bias that sets in is rarely changeable in the latter part of the meeting. It ends up hurting the prospect of an applicant despite having the required qualification and skill set. As a result, companies settle at hiring from a much smaller, and homogenous talent pool which hurts the quality of their workforce.

According to a Yale University study, scientists are not only open to hiring a male candidate over an equally qualified female candidate but also willing to pay an additional $4,000 for the male candidate.

## How recorded interviews reduce bias?

It’s human nature to form perceptions and act on instincts. However, this tendency can well and truly hinder companies from accessing superior talents. Fortunately, recorded video interviews can provide some answers to this pertinent question in the corporate world. With the rise of video conferencing and virtual workforce, it only makes sense to leverage technology to minimize human errors.

## Structured interviews
![](/images/posts/how-to-reduce-bias-with-video-interviews/how-to-reduce-bias-with-video-interviews_2.png)
Organized video interview platforms like Easyhire.me come with structured interviews for companies to use in their hiring process. In contrast to the traditional model of hiring, structured interviews offer the same set of questions and timeframe for all the candidates to exhibit their capabilities. Candidates can pick their preferred time and answer the questions from their comfort zone. This results in better quality of answers and lessens the burden of hiring companies in the absence of a manual process. Structured interviews reduce situational glitches and provide an unbiased and uniform system. These interviews are also recorded which brings us to the second point.

## Less dependency on memory

Since the video interviews are recorded, they can be viewed later and cross-referenced multiple times. The recorded files can be shared with multiple departments within the company for opinions and collaboration. With Easyhire.me, live and panel interviews can be conducted and recorded seamlessly. This reduces dependency on memory and negates the recency bias. Suffice to say, with recorded video interviews, companies can form a more informed take on a candidate’s future. This is a radical shift from insights-based judgment to data-driven decisions which are less flawed and more in line with the company’s end goals.
![](/images/posts/how-to-reduce-bias-with-video-interviews/how-to-reduce-bias-with-video-interviews_3.png)
## Auditing capability

Unlike traditional interviews that require collecting writing samples, Easyhire.me features a system that collects feedback and allows to easily compare candidates based on scores. A certain level of automation helps in streamlining and shortening the hiring process. Companies can pull up ratings, scores, and comments to compare and contrast with others. The job performance of hired candidates can be correlated to the interview process and grades to further improve the process.


How to reduce bias with video interviews


We are very pleased to share that EasyHire.me has been selected in the [Best Video Interview] (https://www.getapp.com/resources/best-video-interviewing-recruitment-tools/) category by the GetApp Service!

\_\_“The thing that stood out for me about Easyhire.me was the innovative features. The two features that I found most interesting were Google Assistant integration and interview transcripts. Google Assistant integration makes it easy for applicants to find and apply for a job by simply saying: find EasyHire.

Whereas interview transcripts help recruiters source global talent by breaking the language barrier. When added to the other features Easyhire.me offers, these capabilities make the hiring process easier for both recruiters and applicants.”\_\_ – Bandita Awasthi GetApp Content Writer.

GetApp reviewers highlighted the following features in particular:
![](/images/posts/easyhire.me-recognized-as-best-video-interview-recruitment-tool/thumbnail.png)
- Well organized graphic user interface that makes it easy to set up questions
- Prompt and supportive customer service
- Panel interviews
- Interview transcripts
  At EasyHire.me we believe that remote interviews are now an essential part of any successful recruitment strategy. Employers and recruiters gain significant advantage over their competition when they leverage EasyHire.me video interviews.

Here are the typical benefits of EasyHire.me video interviews:

- Time and $ savings
- Reduced bias
- Data driven hiring decisions
- Improved process and company image
- Stress free candidate experience
  As employers adapt to the new working conditions under the pandemic, EasyHire.me is strategically positioned to offer its scalable, secure and best in class service to small, medium, as well as any recruiting team in a large enterprise.

EasyHire.me offers special pricing for small and medium sized businesses, with plans starting at just $35 monthly.


EasyHire.me Recognized as Best Video Interview Recruitment Tool!


The EasyHire.me team is very excited to launch Live Video Panel Interviews!
![](/images/posts/now-launched-live-video-panel-interviews/thumbnail.jpeg)

This feature has been on our roadmap for several years now. However with the shelter-in place conditions under COVID-19, we’ve seen an increased demand for this feature from employers.

Panel interviews are live interviews where a candidate is interviewed by multiple interviewers. Interview panel usually consists of the hiring manager, team lead, HR representative, and senior team members. The panel team may differ according to the organization’s type. Also, Panel interviews are often used for internal audits of the interview process and practices.

Easyhire.me allows conducting video Panel Interviews with up to 4 interviewers. Every interview panel member can add the question to the interview and leave grades and comments.

To invite interviewers click on the “Add Panel Members” button in the “Set up live interview” form. The interviewer can select panel interviewers from their team members.
![](/images/posts/now-launched-live-video-panel-interviews/now-launched--live-video-panel-interviews_2.png)
Panel interview members will receive an interview confirmation e-mail after the candidate confirms the interview date and time. After the interview has been finished, all participants may view interview playback and submit a scorecard.

While On-Demand interviews is still the most common and efficient way to pre-screen a large number of candidates, for many types of jobs Panel interviews are an essential tool in getting to know how candidates perform under stressful conditions.

Try panel interviews and let us know your feedback!


Now Launched: Live Video Panel Interviews!


Searching on EasyHire via Google Assistant is available now.

Candidates can find and apply to any jobs via Google Assistant using any type of devices which support this technology. Manager just should publish a job on our [EasyHire board] (https://interview.easyhire.me/job/search) and Google Assistant will find it.
![](/images/posts/google-assistant-is-integrated-into-easyhire/thumbnail.png)
Google assistant is provide quick job searching and applying absolutely for all candidates with different capabilities.

To take advantage of this, the candidate simply has to say the phrase “Talk to EasyHire”, “Find EasyHire” and etc. Google assistant will help to candidates find all the information he needs about the desired job.
![](/images/posts/google-assistant-is-integrated-into-easyhire/google-assistant-is-integrated-into-easyhire!_2.png)
Google assistant functions in EasyHire will expand in the future.


Google Assistant is integrated into EasyHire!


The EasyHire.me team is thrilled to announce the launch of interview transcription!
![](/images/posts/easyhire.me-interview-transcription-is-now-live/thumbnail.jpeg)
With interview transcription, employers will now see subtitles when playing back on-demand interviews.

This feature is available as an option for Standard and Enterprise plans.

Key benefits of transcribed interviews include:

- Increased Accessibility for Hiring Teams
- Reduced Language Barriers in Global Hiring
- Enhanced Interview Reports for Better Hiring Decisions

Interview Transcription is only $15 per job. To enable it, simply navigate to your Team�s Billing Configuration page and check the Interview Transcription option.

Transcribed text will also appear in interview report.
![](/images/posts/easyhire.me-interview-transcription-is-now-live/easyhire.me-interview-transcription-is-now-live_2.jpeg)

EasyHire.me Interview Transcription is Now Live!


The hiring process has come a long way and technology is helping hiring managers and applicants. In our post on the ‘Future of Interviewing is Here – Mobile Video Interviews’ we outlined how mobile video interviews allow you to increase your exposure to new candidates by as much as 36%. As such, video interviews are becoming very popular and are particularly useful during the first stages of screening candidates where valuable time and resources can be saved by streamlining the hiring process.

## Easier Scheduling

Trying to juggle multiple candidates for in-person interviews is a colossal waste of time for HR managers who can end up going back and forth with them over email or phone for days and even weeks. Trying to find a time that suits everyone can become a nightmarish puzzle of epic proportions. Embracing technology, therefore, and conducting recruitment interviews through video can save your company precious time. The Market Journal outlines how video interview tools not only save time, they are a great way to track candidates, with over 60% of recruiting firms depending on these tools. Through video interviewing hiring managers can get a good sense of what candidates are all about and a greater number of candidates can be screened in less time.

## Cut to the Chase

With face-to-face interviews there will inevitably be some amount of time dedicated to small talk and other chit-chat. While this can be a good way to get to know the candidate’s personality, for recruitment managers on a very tight schedule, small talk with each applicant can cause major delays. It can throw off the manager’s schedule and, in turn, generate extra costs due to the delay in filling the position. With video interviews hiring managers can cut right to the chase and be more direct, keeping the initial screening process short and to the point. Once the hiring manager creates a shortlist of the most qualified candidates, they can then devote more face-to-face time with them to get to know them and make an informed decision.

## Save the Commute
![](/images/posts/6-benefits-of-video-interviews/thumbnail.jpeg)
Video and remote interview tools allow your company to establish itself as a progressive brand that keeps pace with the latest trends, like remote work. HR experts have claimed we can cut travel costs substantially, compared to conventional recruitment techniques. In fact, two-way video interviews can save as much as 67% on unnecessary travel costs. This becomes especially important when we consider that millennials make up the largest generation in the workforce today. The trend with this demographic is that fewer millennials are driving and they’re generally looking to avoid commuting to work. A feature by Marcus on ‘The Future of Transportation – What Should We Expect?’ describes how there were less than “9 million young drivers between 2012 and 2017 for the first time since 1994”. With transportation trends showing how more candidates prefer to avoid commuting, your recruitment strategy needs to take this into consideration. This is why starting your recruitment process with video interviews will increase your company’s chances of attracting and recruiting the top millennial talent.

## Flexible Schedule

Many potential candidates looking for new jobs and career prospects are most probably already working or studying, so making time during regular business hours to come in for an interview can be a struggle or even impossible. It’s not uncommon for many who are already working to make up excuses to their employers or fake a doctor’s appointment to be able to attend an interview. This not only creates unnecessary stress but shows that your hiring process is inflexible and doesn’t take into account the needs of your candidates. What does that say about how you treat your employees? Using video interviewing then enables you to screen candidates at any time without having to take them away from previous commitments and demonstrates that you’re flexible and progressive.

## Reduce Costs

Hiring managers know that the costs associated with recruiting and hiring can easily skyrocket. Especially when a company is scouting potential candidates who are not in the same city or even the same country, bringing in this talent will involve flying them in and paying for lodging and meals. Companies are already facing high costs to replace employees, up to four times their annual salary, and bad recruiting can cost companies over $50,000 on average. With video recruiting, companies can easily avoid the above pitfalls by inviting potential candidates for video interviews and from there gauge whether the opportunity cost of bringing these people in for face-to-face interviews is worth the trouble.

## Improved Collaboration

Doing face-to-face interviews everyone on the hiring team has to be present and take time away from their schedules to meet for the initial screening interview. What’s more, they all have to wait until the end of the interview to voice their opinions. Additionally, key elements about the candidate, both good and bad, can be missed or overlooked. In this sense, video interviews can be recorded and re-watched later by the hiring team at their own convenience, allowing them to collaborate in real-time and make observations about the candidate, their body language and responses. This enables everyone involved to make better assessments and in-turn make better decisions before calling the candidate in for a face-to-face interview.


6 Benefits of Video Interviews


## The Reality of “Workforce 2020”

More than two decades ago, industry researchers and influencers – consultants, universities, the labor census bureau – made bold predictions regarding the massive changes our nation would experience in the next 20 years, referring to the phenomenon as “Workforce 2020”. These thought leaders reported that the labor pool, which was dominated by white males, would become more demographically diverse in terms of gender, ethnicity and age, ultimately, creating a “minority-majority” workforce.

While these demographic projections have very much come to fruition, no one could have imagined the impact that technology would have on employment today, or could have predicted the effect of social, political, and economic influences on workforce models and behaviors. Consider trends such as:

Historic low unemployment. Digital transformation. Skills gaps. Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic process automation (RPA). Globally connected work communities. Cultural diversity. Gig economy. Millennial workplace demands. Workforce of the future.

To name a few.

These forces are very real and, as a result, are keeping CEOs and CHROs up at night in this tight labor market. In the Conference Board’s C-Suite Challenge 2019™, more than 800 CEOs surveyed reported that talent acquisition and retention was their highest internal concern; while The Hackett Group 2019 CHRO Key Issues Study found that HR leaders have added the ability to address talent and critical skills shortages to their plate of top improvement priorities, but have not been able to give this crucial area the attention it deserves.

## The Shift to Modern Talent Acquisition Approaches

As we enter a new decade, these talent challenges will quickly become more profound, since we will quickly move from trends to reality and organizations will feel the financial impact of unhealthy talent pipelines and unfilled critical roles. As HR, Talent and Recruiting professionals, we can no longer depend on the inefficiencies of a linear requisition-to-hire process. In fact, only 6 percent of respondents to the Deloitte 2019 Global Human Capital Trends survey believed their recruitment function processes and technologies were best-in-class, while 81% believed they were standard or below standard.

As a result, HR and Talent leaders are entertaining modern approaches to talent acquisition to broaden their talent pools; to better nurture candidate relationships and connect with prospective employees; to shrink the time-to-hire to avoid losing skilled talent to other opportunities and competitors during the recruiting cycle; and to build their employment brands. As organizations compete for the same top talent, their recruiting tactics will need include next-gen execution strategies.

## Watch-list of Talent Trends

Some trends to watch out for in 2020 include…

- Alternative interviewing techniques, incorporating live video and on-demand video interview technology to improve speed, quality and the candidate experience
- Recruitment automation to eliminate waste and improve processes and productivity such as screening, scheduling, and feedback loops
- Collaborative recruiting to identify candidates via a combination of traditional and new sources that build talent networks and communities to sustain a healthy and diverse pipeline
- Online structured interviews to accelerate interviewer competence and consistency, while ensuring equity in the process
- Blended workforce models, including accessing freelance talent, to allow for efficient scaling up and down
- Personal assistants and chatbots that create an on-demand, personalized candidate experience

With the war for talent at its all-time peak, it is not enough to simply refresh existing processes; it is time for organizations to reinvent their talent acquisition strategies. By leveraging modern tools and technologies, recruiting organizations can identify, access, and engage the right talent with speed and agility.
