How to run a virtual interview and recruitment process

If your business still has the need, appetite and capacity to continue hiring right now, here’s some help and guidance on how you can still make things happen in these unprecedented times.

Obviously, we have a vested interest in keeping the wheels moving in recruitment, in what are very tough market conditions for everyone right now. 

Job board aggregators such as Indeed and Adzuna are the canaries in the coal mine for the economy, the numbers of permanent vacancies being posted by clients and recruitment firms has fallen dramatically across the world as the majority of companies have cancelled or postponed hiring plans.

Engineering and manufacturing are among many industries to see a notable decline in March. These are the facts,  we are in no way looking to take advantage of the terrible situation people find themselves in.

Commercially you are in a very strong position if you continue recruiting right now because there are certain things in your favour.

Less jobs advertised, less competition for the skills you require. We have seen a rise in people applying for roles on our website. 

With fewer companies recruiting, the competition for the best talent is not as fierce as it was 3 weeks ago.

Many industries are in dire straits – the uncertainty will be unsettling staff in these sectors, who are going to start looking around, who otherwise would not. While others may be unfortunately being made redundant.

What is the solution? Run a virtual recruitment process.  

Yes it’s a new way of doing things, yes it’s a bit scary – but it is possible to interview, hire and onboard someone virtually and Precision can help you.

There are a number of paid and free video conferencing tools which are stable, feature rich and easy to use.

Some useful free tools are: 

• Zoom – Free
• Google Hangouts – Free
• Teams – Paid (but will be part of most commercial O365 packages)
• Skype for Business – Paid
• Hinterview or Odro – Paid

We advise you prepare and deliver a virtual or video interview in exactly the same way you would prepare for a face to face meeting. Read these two posts '24 Interview tips to make sure you hire the right candidate.' and 'Hard and Soft skills' to help you. 

Let us know and we can set up a Zoom meeting between all your key stakeholders and the Precision team to discuss your requirements in detail, also the profile of your ideal candidate in terms of team fit. Check out 'How to find staff who fit your culture.'

The Precision team will take that understanding, go to market and present you with a shortlist as normal.

Video Interview – We can set up and schedule these meeting on your behalf.

1. First Round – 30 minutes Informal discussion around the candidate’s skill set, motivations
2. Second Round – 1hr 30minutes – More detailed discussions around the candidate’s technical / engineering skills and personality fit, including some form of presentation if its suitable from the candidate
3. Final Round – 1hr Optional final stage probably with members of the senior management team to follow up on any outstanding questions / queries or concerns borne out of the interview process.

Virtual On Boarding of a Remote worker 

HR Process – Contract / Company Handbook

Line Manager Process – Have a clear plan for the initial remote scenario – Set clear expectations. What you expect from the employee and what they can expect from you.

You can courier a laptop to a new employee fully configured with all the essential cloud applications needed and / or connectivity.

Management of your remote employee – take some advice from your HR partners, have a plan around how you are going to manage your remote worker, they will need plenty of communication and hand holding, especially in the early days. 

Precision has access to a specialist on-boarding coach who delivers coaching support to new employees to culturally embed, support and enable them to become productive as soon as possible.

The important thing to remember is that this situation WILL pass and so talking to us now ready for the up-turn makes good business sense. 

If you have the means, authority and the need to hire staff right now Precision can help you. We have the market knowledge and the contacts to deliver and advise you on how to hire in these uncertain times. 

If you woud like to find out more about how we can help you click here to book a time suitable for you, call 0116 254 5411 or email hello@precision-people.uk