For many upper-level and highly specialized positions, it’s common for job candidates to apply remotely—from another town, another state, or even another country. Prior to digital technologies, remote recruiting was difficult and in some cases too impractical pursue. This was to companies’ detriment. Today there are many options for remote recruiting. There have also been many innovations in the field that have rendered remote interviewing equally and sometimes more practical than in-person interviews.

Remote Interviews

Video calling is the most common form of remote recruiting. Typically performed using a platform such as Skype or Google Hangouts, video interviews are a great substitute for face-to-face interviews as they still allow for the spontaneity of conversation. Video interviews introduce a few extra factors to worry about for both candidates and recruiters. Faulty cameras, poor-quality microphones, and spotty Wi-Fi connections can all potentially introduce problems. A distracting background, excess noise, or poor lighting can disrupt the interview process. Many of these issues are stressed for candidates but not recruiters. Make no mistake, however—you’re both making a first impression and as young candidates are increasingly valuing brand polish it’s essential that you have a dedicated set-up for video calling with a clean background, a good connection, and decent lighting.

Hiring surveys

A hiring survey, usually hosted on a Google Form, serves two functions. Like a video call, it engages with clients who are too far away for an interview. It also can serve as a secondary vetting process. A hiring survey gives you the chance to ask critical questions while keeping your initial job posting brief so as not to deter applicants. The hiring survey streamlines your recruitment process because it allows you sift out candidates that are a poor fit without conducting interviews, which take up between twenty and sixty minutes of your time. They also grant you the chance to further assess your candidates’ writing skills, which may be relevant to the position.

Automated Interview

In recent years, a new form of remote interviewing has emerged—the automated interview. The automated review is the audio-visual equivalent of the hiring survey. After filling out an application, candidates will be redirected to a self-contained web-app that allows them to record video or audio. Candidates will receive instructions and answer questions through a variety of prompts that include text, audio, and video components. The recorded video or audio is then sent to the company’s HR office. If it is decided that the candidate is a good fit, then a follow-up interview can be scheduled. There are a number of advantages to using an automated interview system. Recorded video can be stored and then viewed in different contexts by different people. The onus is not on the interviewer to glean information and make snap judgments all within a short time-period. You can simply replay the video with a different audience and re-evaluate multiple times.

It’s important to note that if you do seek to implement an automated interview system, that you ensure that the cybersecurity of your ATS is up to par—you don’t want these videos leaking or to be accessible to the public. You should also include a disclaimer so that candidates know that you’re not going to use or distribute the video in any form.

Remote interviewing techniques—whether a traditional video call, a secondary survey, or an automated interview—will expand your applicant pool. Many candidates, especially for high-level positions, are willing to travel for positions, so why should you stick to hiring locally? Using tools such as automated interviews and hiring surveys are about hiring remotely but they’re also about saving time and energy with a better, streamlined hiring and interview process.