Yesterday’s Advisor featured attorney Jacob Monty’s advice for employers using social media. Today, his take on video and Skype® interviews.
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By Guest Columnist Jacob M. Monty
There are by far more reasons to do video interviews than not. Video interviews are an excellent way to save time and money for the company and applicant. The applicant does not need to travel for the interview, and the company does not need to bring the applicant back in for a second round of interviews with different people, because the interview was recorded.
The videos can be reviewed at a later date, which holds recruiters and hiring managers accountable for their behavior. It is also easier to have consistent interviews with each applicant. It is best practice to use a script during the interview to ensure all questions asked are proper and legal. A recorded video interview is part of the interview record and must be kept, at minimum, 1 year.
Skype is another method of holding an interview. Unlike video recordings, Skype interviews are not recorded and are much more analogous to an in-person or phone interview. Skype is beneficial when the applicant lives in another city, state, or country.
There is a fear of discrimination with video interviews because you will see what the applicant looks like. An in-person interview would be the next step if your company does not do video interviews. This should not be a reason to avoid video interviews, as discrimination would happen at the in-person interview if it were also going to happen during the video interview.
Bottom Line
Social media can both hurt and help your company. The benefits of social media outweigh the negatives as long as it is being used properly and your company has policies and procedures in place.
It is best to contact an experienced labor and employment attorney if you want to start using social media and video interviews to ensure your policies and procedures are complete and correct.
Monty is managing partner of law firm Monty & Ramirez LLP in Houston. He is a member of the Employers Counsel Network, the group of well-connected, experienced employment law attorneys from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., and Canada who write BLR’s state Employment Law Letters.