For hiring in any industry, dealing with candidates via the traditional, in-person interview process can be a highly tedious task. In 2022, more than three-fourths of hiring managers admit that attracting the right job candidate is their greatest challenge.
Also, not all interviews are possible to be held in the same schedule for the employers, and not all interviewees can be present at the same time without any hindrance. That’s where automated interview services like on-demand tech interviews prove their need.
In this article, we will discuss the definition of on-demand tech interviews & their various aspects, and eventually land on their benefits that lead us to answer why on-demand tech interviews are worth it in the technical hiring process.
WHAT IS AN ON-DEMAND TECH INTERVIEW?
On-demand tech interviews are a type of virtual technical interview that takes place remotely and allows candidates to give these interviews at the time and from the place of their convenience. They are also called asynchronous interviews because the interaction between the interviewer and the interviewee does not occur in real time.
They are scheduled like live video interviews except for some changes. On-demand tech interviews vary based on their execution of interview questions and are often lauded for their ability to save cost & time, recruit in high-volume, etc. Such interviews are organized by companies that provide Interview as a Service on behalf of the client organization.
HOW EXACTLY ON-DEMAND TECH INTERVIEW WORKS?
On-demand tech interviews happen asynchronously. Interviews are created on a virtual hiring platform by the recruiting teams following which the candidates are invited to attend the interview at their convenience. Some platforms allow access to interviews through any device such as mobile, desktop or tablet. The completed interviews are readily available for recruiter review after the candidates complete and submit the responses. The interview lasts for an average time of about 30 minutes.
HOW DO ON-DEMAND TECH INTERVIEWS ADAPT TO THE HIRING PROCEDURE?
On-demand tech interviews are generally curated for the beginning of the hiring process but can be conducted at any point. These interviews are like an upgraded version of telephonic interviews that save a lot of time but also involve higher candidate participation with exposure to facial expressions & body language. 75% of general on-demand interviews are submitted within the first 26 hours by the candidates.
WAYS OF IMPLEMENTING ON-DEMAND INTERVIEWS
Executing on-demand tech interviews depends on the interview outsourcing company you choose for the facilities they provide. Questions are made either specific to the technical job role or for a general introduction. Some platforms enable candidates to submit any form of response out of written, verbal or video delivery. For example, to apply for the position of IT support specialist, the recruiter might instruct you on a technical problem in response to a customer-reported incident. The instructions have been given to you only visually. But the candidates are asked to provide the solution via audio recording. Again, it all depends on the platform.
Another option that an on-demand technical interview service may include is the ability to enable or disable re-recording. Meaning that the candidate can or cannot record their response again to the interview question in case they are not satisfied with the first attempt.
Next, these platforms also allow the recruiters to impose or not impose time limits for every or some questions to answer for the candidates.
HOW ON-DEMAND TECH INTERVIEW RESULTS ARE EVALUATED?
Many companies that provide technical interview as a service have rating options to have a standardized evaluation procedure for tech employers. The available options can vary from multiple-choice reviews to star ratings. Results then allow the employers to prioritize high-rated ones or the ones with the highest score for further process or final hiring.
With the revolution in technology set by Artificial Intelligence, some platforms enable automated interview scoring for a shrewd functioning without any bias.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ON-DEMAND INTERVIEWS AND LIVE VIDEO INTERVIEWS
On-demand tech interviews are different from live video interviews based on flexibility. On-demand tech interviews are conducted by recruiters to record and revisit, but live video interviews are synchronous and are held online, like a traditional interview happening on a screen. Therefore, they serve no purpose in recording, because of which they are scheduled at a time mutually agreed upon or given by the recruiter.
A good example of live video interviews can be that some recruiters prefer scheduling an interview via platforms like Zoom, MS Teams, Google Meet, etc. An intriguing feature about live video interviews is that they encourage real-time interaction which makes the interviewing experience a little more immersive.
BENEFITS OF ON-DEMAND TECH INTERVIEW:
Cost & Time Efficient:
For the recruiters, one can completely dissolve the time & cost required to interview all the job prospects individually through this process since it eliminates the need for in-person interviewing. Hence it saves a massive amount of time for other essential tasks. Also, they can learn a lot more about a candidate from reviewing an on-demand tech interview in as much time as they take to assess someone’s resume.
Zero Time Constraints:
On-demand tech interviews are recorded in advance. That’s why candidates have the liberty to choose their preferred time slot to attend the same. For the recruiters, they don’t have to worry about keeping anyone waiting for their turn for the interview and hence can put up as many questions as they want for the candidates to answer.
Easy to Attend:
Candidates can be invited for on-demand tech interviews easily via customized emails or direct invitations from automated interview service companies themselves. Once the candidate enters the hiring platform, these interviews are self-guided and because of that, little to no exclusive communication is required in understanding the module of the platform for the candidates. Such an understandable procedure encourages more candidates to apply for future job vacancies.
Accurate Skill Assessment of Candidates:
Suppose a candidate requires to complete a coding test during an interview with an IT company. Then that’s where on-demand interviews help in assessing the candidate’s abilities better. This is because they are exposed to solving a test as per real-world problems. Also, it avails the option for the candidates to showcase their skills in a thoughtful and composed manner since they attend the interview from their comfort zone, as opposed to traditional, in-person interviews where the candidates might not be able to perform to the best of their potential.
Unbiased Hiring Procedure:
In on-demand tech interviews, conscious or unconscious, there is no form of bias involved based on gender, appearance, ethnicity, etc. It is because all the questions are pre-recorded, the same and asked in a uniform tone irrespective of who the candidate is. This proves that on-demand tech interviews have a more objective approach to assessing a candidate, which makes recruiting all the more a fair process. Also, it maintains consistency in candidate experience, further maintaining the company’s integrity.
Fulfilling Demands of Quality High-Volume Hiring:
Even the most experienced recruiters cannot fulfill the demand of high-volume hiring without undergoing extreme burnout. In such situations, on-demand tech interviews come out as a smarter alternative. They are more accessible to candidates than on-site interviews so that the recruiters in return can have access to the widest pool of quality prospects available. Also, such a format of modern interviews helps you not miss out on a highly qualified individual amid endless job applications, especially in the tech industry.
Facilitate Better Candidate Experience:
On-demand tech interviews positively affect the overall candidate experience starting from the flexibility in time commitment to dissolving scheduling conflicts which pave the way for better cooperation between them and the recruiting company in the future.
After that comes the exposure to test the candidates’ potential in solving real-world problems and then giving objective feedback from the employer’s side due to the unbiased nature of the interview. This is important because, in a study by LinkedIn, 75% of the workforce would prefer to stay unemployed rather than work in a company that has a bad reputation, which is crucial to understand for future hiring in the tech industry.
CONCLUSION
In this article, we talked about on-demand tech interviews and their execution, their difference from video interviews, the benefits of on-demand tech interviews and much more. It is high time for companies to invest in tech interview software platforms like VProPle that can conduct on-demand tech interviews conveniently.
In a pre-mentioned study by LinkedIn, 70% of respondents agreed that introducing automation to their work would increase productivity and 68% say that introducing new recruitment technology is the best way to boost overall performance. According to a research study by Talent Board, the rise of on-demand and live video interviews collectively rose to a staggering 129% in 2020 i.e. during the onset of the pandemic era.
In the end, removing all the time-consuming gap between a candidate and an employer, on-demand tech interviews bring nothing but a swift recruitment procedure to the table and a new phase of the talent recruitment industry.
