Been applying for new jobs for several months and haven't had a ton of luck until this week. I have an in-person interview Thursday and got a notice from another potential employer yesterday for a Digital Interview. This would be a first for me! It looks like I am going to record myself answering questions. There also appears to be a written section and multiple choice questions as well. Looking for advice from anyone who has done one of these types of interviews before. Thank you in advance!
Digital Interviews
10,960 Views |
69 Replies |
Last: 2 mo ago by suburban cowboy
Ugh. I hate those. They're so awkward. I need to be able to bounce the conversation off of a live human being. For those like you're talking about, I don't know why they don't just have someone fill out a questionnaire.
I had a recruiter reach out to me, talked to them, talked to HR in person, was supposed to move on to an interview with senior staff. Then I get a link to do an interview like you're talking about.
I declined. They approached me. I wasn't actively seeking to make a change.
I had a recruiter reach out to me, talked to them, talked to HR in person, was supposed to move on to an interview with senior staff. Then I get a link to do an interview like you're talking about.
I declined. They approached me. I wasn't actively seeking to make a change.
Thank you for the reply. I didn't even know these were a thing until I got the email yesterday! Definitely going to give it a go because I am actively seeking employment. Interestingly enough, they did not give me a deadline but would like to do it this week. Any one else out there have any experiences? Good? Bad?
The one I did was used as a screening interview. I wasn't really a fan of the format.
If a company asked me to record myself answering questions, I'd likely opt out. They either join a call and ask me and listen in person, or they can accept written answers.
They have to review them anyway (supposedly).
They have to review them anyway (supposedly).
What happened afterwards? Did you move to the next level? Like an actual interview? Just curious about the process...
I'm playing along because this is a position I'm genuinely interested in. Planning to get it done Friday morning and then see what happens next!
A few years back my company tried these out. I had to use them for a position I was hiring for.
I used it as a screening round for the dozen or so people with decent resumes to whittle the group down to the handful I would actually interview in person. As the hiring manager, it made the first round much easier for me, as I didn't have to schedule calls with all of them, I could watch the videos whenever I had a few minutes, and I could stop watching as soon as I determined they weren't a fit. It probably sped up the hiring process for me.
Each person I brought in for the next round mentioned how it was pretty weird, which I agreed with. Luckily, I never had to use them again.
If I were applying for a job and got a request to do a recorded questionnaire, I would move on to other prospective jobs, just like I would if someone asked me to take a 30 minute personality test before the first interview.
I used it as a screening round for the dozen or so people with decent resumes to whittle the group down to the handful I would actually interview in person. As the hiring manager, it made the first round much easier for me, as I didn't have to schedule calls with all of them, I could watch the videos whenever I had a few minutes, and I could stop watching as soon as I determined they weren't a fit. It probably sped up the hiring process for me.
Each person I brought in for the next round mentioned how it was pretty weird, which I agreed with. Luckily, I never had to use them again.
If I were applying for a job and got a request to do a recorded questionnaire, I would move on to other prospective jobs, just like I would if someone asked me to take a 30 minute personality test before the first interview.
ThunderFighter06 said:
Been applying for new jobs for several months and haven't had a ton of luck until this week. I have an in-person interview Thursday and got a notice from another potential employer yesterday for a Digital Interview. This would be a first for me! It looks like I am going to record myself answering questions. There also appears to be a written section and multiple choice questions as well. Looking for advice from anyone who has done one of these types of interviews before. Thank you in advance!
I have not done them myself, but my son has. He is in college looking for an internship. I thought it was only for entry level jobs but who knows.
Good luck.
ThunderFighter06 said:
I'm playing along because this is a position I'm genuinely interested in. Planning to get it done Friday morning and then see what happens next!
Yes, just go along with it if you like the job!
Thanks! It's actually for a Program Management position. The company also sent a link to their site which has tips on how to prepare. Will let y'all know how it goes!infinity ag said:ThunderFighter06 said:
Been applying for new jobs for several months and haven't had a ton of luck until this week. I have an in-person interview Thursday and got a notice from another potential employer yesterday for a Digital Interview. This would be a first for me! It looks like I am going to record myself answering questions. There also appears to be a written section and multiple choice questions as well. Looking for advice from anyone who has done one of these types of interviews before. Thank you in advance!
I have not done them myself, but my son has. He is in college looking for an internship. I thought it was only for entry level jobs but who knows.
Good luck.
RUN AWAY FAST! In my experience, these types of interviews are always for shady companies that hire people to do things like sell satellite TV in the electronic section of Target for 100% commission.
Haha I understand your concern but in this case it is a well known company in the defense/space sector!!
I had a panel interview with 4 people after. They told me in that interview that they used it to weed out the people that didn't have the basic qualifications.
That makes sense to me. Here's to hopefully making the cut!
Figure out the format before you start. I've heard of some that won't let you rerecord your answers if you mess up. When I did one it would let you rerecord them but you couldn't see the questions ahead of time, so hard to prepare a good answer. You could take as long as you wanted to finish it though.
If you don't have a person that can take 15-30 minutes to talk to me about if I'm a good fit for the role, that's a red flag to me that you don't really give a **** about people, so I would not want to work at your company.
It's self-selection, really.
It's self-selection, really.
So that happened! Decided to go ahead and knock it out yesterday evening. It was every bit as awkward and uncomfortable as y'all said it would be. Was able to rerecord as many times as needed which was nice. Questions were generic job-interview types not specific to the position. There were two 'multiple choice' questions. They were simply yes/no responses about my availability. There was a 'short answer' section which asked me for my salary range. So yeah...weird...Got it done though. Will let y'all know what happens next...if anything!
ThunderFighter06 said:
So that happened! Decided to go ahead and knock it out yesterday evening. It was every bit as awkward and uncomfortable as y'all said it would be. Was able to rerecord as many times as needed which was nice. Questions were generic job-interview types not specific to the position. There were two 'multiple choice' questions. They were simply yes/no responses about my availability. There was a 'short answer' section which asked me for my salary range. So yeah...weird...Got it done though. Will let y'all know what happens next...if anything!
Hope it works out for you.
I'm with others in the company should take the time to actually interview someone category. Yes, there could be a lot of applicants but you should be able to whittle that down without the "digital interview."
Also, don't care for a salary range question where someone cannot ask questions or talk to the interviewer.
We live in a different world than before. Try walking in to a managers office cold and giving them a firm handshake and expecting an offer. Can't do it like grandpa used to.
There are so many more people in the world, and access to education has expanded. With developments in technology, we don't need as many people to do what we need to get done.
The consequence is that you get a million applications to every job and it's hard to sort through them.
I feel like this is just one more thing we'll have to get good at to move forward in the modern workforce. I've done a few of these, and I don't like them, but sometimes that's the hoop to jump through to make a move.
There are so many more people in the world, and access to education has expanded. With developments in technology, we don't need as many people to do what we need to get done.
The consequence is that you get a million applications to every job and it's hard to sort through them.
I feel like this is just one more thing we'll have to get good at to move forward in the modern workforce. I've done a few of these, and I don't like them, but sometimes that's the hoop to jump through to make a move.
Absolutely, you have to be willing to adapt to industry and play the game if you want the job. I guarantee you that if you won't do it, there's someone out there that will.texAZtea said:
We live in a different world than before. Try walking in to a managers office cold and giving them a firm handshake and expecting an offer. Can't do it like grandpa used to.
There are so many more people in the world, and access to education has expanded. With developments in technology, we don't need as many people to do what we need to get done.
The consequence is that you get a million applications to every job and it's hard to sort through them.
I feel like this is just one more thing we'll have to get good at to move forward in the modern workforce. I've done a few of these, and I don't like them, but sometimes that's the hoop to jump through to make a move.
What is funny is that I have done these and a few times, when afterwards I received an actual in-person interview, they weren't even aware I had done the video interview. It was more of an HR thing, and the interviewers were the hiring managers, so I could see that and things may have been reviewed later. But I honestly don't know that they ever were. Not that you should expect that. I would still handle the video as if it were very important and will be viewed.
I agree, they are very awkward and generally you are timed on the answer. Now, the ones I have done did allow for a re-record, so if you screwed up or went too long, you could go back. Still, I REALLY hope this doesn't become a more used and relied upon form of interviewing, b/c as the OP states, the interplay between interviewer and interviewee can be critical and I honestly feel that it does the company a disservice to rely on just the video to bring someone in...
I agree, they are very awkward and generally you are timed on the answer. Now, the ones I have done did allow for a re-record, so if you screwed up or went too long, you could go back. Still, I REALLY hope this doesn't become a more used and relied upon form of interviewing, b/c as the OP states, the interplay between interviewer and interviewee can be critical and I honestly feel that it does the company a disservice to rely on just the video to bring someone in...
Depends on the company.GrayMatter said:Absolutely, you have to be willing to adapt to industry and play the game if you want the job. I guarantee you that if you won't do it, there's someone out there that will.texAZtea said:
We live in a different world than before. Try walking in to a managers office cold and giving them a firm handshake and expecting an offer. Can't do it like grandpa used to.
There are so many more people in the world, and access to education has expanded. With developments in technology, we don't need as many people to do what we need to get done.
The consequence is that you get a million applications to every job and it's hard to sort through them.
I feel like this is just one more thing we'll have to get good at to move forward in the modern workforce. I've done a few of these, and I don't like them, but sometimes that's the hoop to jump through to make a move.
In my experience, the types of companies that do this are clown ass broke-dick companies so it just adds to the pile of already-red flags.
For example, there was a telecom company that sold internet and phone and they wanted me to do one.
Internet and phone? What is this 1996?
Any company worth it's salt, or who would not be an abusive and toxic company to work for, likely does not do this.
Wish I had seen this earlier, I just recorded one of these digital interviews for likely the same well known aerospace/defense company yesterday. Yeah, it is a little strange, and not ideal, but my only knock on it was they said it would take 10 minutes and I probably used a full hour practicing and then taking it. I did re-record several of the videos.
My overall opinion is I would rather record one of these videos instead of being indiscriminately flushed by HR because my resume missed too many of their keywords. My take is colored by the fact that I am unemployed and this role was slightly out of line with my ideal role, but we'll within my capabilities and experience. I am probably not their ideal candidate. They could have flushed me, but instead I spent an hour to highlight my experience that makes me a valuable candidate. If I still get flushed, so be it, but this digital interview gave me a better opportunity to land a real interview than my application alone.
My overall opinion is I would rather record one of these videos instead of being indiscriminately flushed by HR because my resume missed too many of their keywords. My take is colored by the fact that I am unemployed and this role was slightly out of line with my ideal role, but we'll within my capabilities and experience. I am probably not their ideal candidate. They could have flushed me, but instead I spent an hour to highlight my experience that makes me a valuable candidate. If I still get flushed, so be it, but this digital interview gave me a better opportunity to land a real interview than my application alone.
Interesting! Hope it works out for you as well. Let us know what happens next! As for me it's been over a week now and I haven't heard anything back yet. Just checked the workday portal and it still shows that I'm under consideration so I guess we'll see!
Here's the problem in my opinion.Capitol Ag said:
It was more of an HR thing, and the interviewers were the hiring managers, so I could see that and things may have been reviewed later. But I honestly don't know that they ever were. Not that you should expect that. I would still handle the video as if it were very important and will be viewed.
In the name of efficiency HR now controls way to much of the process and has too little knowledge regarding the experience or role they now control. So the company, team, hiring manager, and applicant now suffer while HR blindly goes through the process.
Today I did a phone interview with a very well known company in the industrial rental equipment world. The Hr lady told me that if I made it to the next round of interviews they'd send me an email with three questions and I'd have the option to video myself answering or not do it at all.
(A few hours later I did get that email stating they'd like to continue the interview process)
This is for my first job out of college so I am asking, even though it's super awkward should I just do it anyway if it could possibly give me a leg up?
(A few hours later I did get that email stating they'd like to continue the interview process)
This is for my first job out of college so I am asking, even though it's super awkward should I just do it anyway if it could possibly give me a leg up?
Don't see why you wouldn't, what have you got to lose?
Fair point. Just read a few people on here saying they wouldn't do it and I'm curious to why.
I am currently in a place in my career where I can be selective about where I work, so I wouldn't do it because I see it as a signal that the company probably does other things that I would not like.
If I was trying to get my first job after college, or I had been laid off, then my perspective would be different and I would do it.
If I was trying to get my first job after college, or I had been laid off, then my perspective would be different and I would do it.
409Texag said:
Fair point. Just read a few people on here saying they wouldn't do it and I'm curious to why.
Those that say that (myself included) are typically pretty far along in their careers and/or don't necessarily need a new job right now and can afford to be picky.
I remember doing one of the video interviews where you record yourself answering questions back at the career center when I was in school. That was 20+ years ago. I remember it was for Pepsi and it was so awkward. But at that age and lack of experience, you can't really decline.
10/4 any tips on what to say or avoid during these interviews? First time doing any of this sorta stuff!
I honestly don't. The one 20+ years ago with Pepsi is the only one I've done and I didn't make I through to the next round, so. I'm probably not the person to ask.
I just tend to do really well in face-to-face interviews where I can bounce off of the other person's body language and tone.
I just tend to do really well in face-to-face interviews where I can bounce off of the other person's body language and tone.
Well if there is anything this thread has taught me is that there is absolutely no standardization across any industry when it comes to digital and in-person interviews and following up! As for me, it's been almost three weeks and I didn't want to wait around any longer. I accepted another offer and will be starting next week. Quick turnaround but I've been ready to move on from my current position for a while. If anything, I wish the company I did the digital interview with would just notify me that I didn't make the cut! Will let y'all know if hear anything back.
File5 said:
Don't see why you wouldn't, what have you got to lose?
Did the videos this morning and already got the email for the next interview stage!