Let’s talk video interviews for sales roles. How effective are they?
After lockdown, teams/zoom/skype interviews have become increasingly popular, especially as a first interview in an interview process. Video calls in replace of a face-to-face interviews can have numerous benefits for both candidates and clients. They also work well for recruiters as an initial screening of a candidate that they are looking to send over to a client. But how effective are they for sales roles?
Benefits
- Saves time & travel: recruiting can be a long and timely process for interviewers. By using video interviews, it enables you to block out a period of time to do back-to-back interviews. This means you can fit more into the time you have, as well as reducing costs of travelling etc for the candidates.
- Stay ahead of competition: candidates might have multiple interviews lined up. By doing a video interview, it probably means that you can both fit it in fairly soon, meaning you will be able to make a good first impression to the candidate (and vice versa) before a competitor does.
- Reduced stress: rather than waiting around for a candidate that might not turn up, you can continue doing what you need to do until the next interview that you have lined up. It also reduces stress on the candidate’s side due to them not having to figure out travel plans etc, meaning they will likely be more at ease.
- Remote working: video interviews also allow you to interview from anywhere. If you work away a lot or you are recruiting for a remote sales role, a face-to-face interview might not be suitable. Therefore, a video interview is the perfect alternative.
However, as with anything, there is always drawbacks for both parties.
Drawbacks
- Bad signal: even in 2022, bad signal is still an issue that is regularly dealt with. Having bad signal during a video interview, can not only make the interview choppy and annoying, but it can cause there to be miscommunications.
- Body language: face to face interviews make it easier to read body language and get a better sense of someone’s interpersonal skills. Something that is especially important for sales roles.
- Technology barriers: video interviews could be a barrier for those without access to a suitable laptop or technological device with a working webcam. This means potentially losing good sales candidates that would have done well in a face-to-face interview but are disadvantaged due to the interview process.
Overall, a video interview has a lot of benefits for both the interviewer, and the interviewee. However, traditional face to face interviews have worked for years, with many people still preferring this method. It is down to your individual business as to whether you chose to do an initial video interview or prefer to do it face to face.