Conducting Video Interviews: Red Flags That Show a Candidate Isn’t Right for Your Business

Business leaders know that hiring the wrong candidate for their team can be costly and have a negative impact on other employees. That’s why they often turn to recruitment companies like ours who can lend their expertise and help them to find and hire the right people.

Recruiters and employers alike are now making video interviews a key part of their recruitment process. However, while you may be confident in conducting an interview over video call, identifying when candidates aren’t quite right for your business can be more difficult.

We’ve put together four tips that will help you to spot any red flags.

Ensure you ask some behavioural questions

When you’re not meeting a candidate face-to-face, judging their character can be more challenging. However, by asking behavioural interview questions you’ll be better able to tell if they will fit in with your team.

Some good examples of behavioural questions include:

  • Give an example of an achievement you’re proud of and describe how you achieved it.
  • Have you ever handled a difficult situation with a client or supplier? How?
  • Give an example of how you’ve worked on a team.
  • If you didn’t agree with your boss, what would you do?

Make an effort to build a connection

A key part of the recruitment process is making a genuine connection with candidates and making them feel comfortable so you can really see their personality. Recruiters and hiring managers are experts at this.

When it comes to video interviews, it can take longer to put candidates at ease and to build a connection with them. We recommend starting with some icebreaker techniques, for example, asking about the weather where they are or asking what they’ve done with their day so far.

While you’ll be making an effort to build a connection, you also want to see if the candidate can hold up their end of the conversation. This is especially important when recruiting for a role that requires excellent communication skills like sales.

See whether their technical skills are up to scratch

It doesn’t matter what industry you work in anymore; tech will be a part of it and it’s continuously transforming businesses. Many employers report having a digital skills gap in their business, so you’ll want to ensure future employees have a good level of technical skills.

Video interviews are a perfect opportunity to test a candidate’s technical skills. If they have any issues logging in or can’t get their sound/camera working, this could be a red flag.

Listen out for whether they are a team player

It can be harder to pick up on body language cues during a video interview, so you have to rely more on what the candidate is saying. The problem is that candidates can be well-prepared and well-rehearsed (which isn’t a bad thing) and therefore you have to listen out for more subtle cues.

A really simple way to discover whether they are a team player is to listen for whether they use ‘we’ when talking about the achievements of their team. Those that focus more on their personal achievements without acknowledging the help of their team, may not be the right fit for your company.

Help with the changing recruitment landscape

We’re well aware that the recruitment landscape and job market have changed a lot this year. If you need any advice or assistance with building a high-performance team in the current climate, contact us today.

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