Videotaped Pre-interviews: I Didn’t Know I Did THAT?
Ok, when I first encountered this, I was trying this technique on my Grade 12 Entrepreneurship class (I taught high school students all about the process of creating their own small business.) We'd videotape the students presenting part of their business plan to prospective investors – much like Dragon's Den; then, review the tape to see how they can improve on their persuasion skills.
I found out recently that Manpower Canada will videotape pre-interviews which it then sends on to clients with open positions. It just rolled out the program worldwide after conducting a pilot test for a year in Toronto.
Job-seekers go into a studio in Manpower's offices where a facilitator asks them a set of sector-specific questions in an interview that lasts about two minutes. They can re-do their interviews if need be. This tool has proved to be increasingly popular as more people realize that video allows them to demonstrate their skills to prospective employers in a way that the more traditional resume can't. But the candidates' resume is embedded in their video interviews, so that the employer can look at the hard list of skills as well.
It seems to me that there are many benefits to video interviews. The employer saves time and money normally devoted to recruiting. The candidate can market all of his skills through one venue. Plus, the same video can be sent to numerous other potential employers.
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