Now employers simply input questions to be asked of candidates, who submit video responses in real time
Employers planning to hire in large numbers from smaller towns and cities this season are snapping up tech-enabled solutions developed by startups, that help corporations manage such mass hiring processes.
Video Recruit, founded in 2010, helps companies conduct asynchronous interviews with remote candidates. Extending this further, two-yearold startup Talview (formerly Interview Master) has come up with an interviewing platform that is accessible even in areas with intermittent internet, making it a preferred choice for companies looking to hire in emerging markets and Tier-2 cities.
Likewise, LetsCareerUp is an integrated system that brings students, employers and academic institutions together into one linked career ecosystem, helping bridge the gap between talent supply and demand.
“It takes a bit of time for clients to get used to something very innovative. But once they start using it, it really saves a lot of time and money,“ said Jaideep Venugopal, India Director of Prague-based Video Recruit, which has conducted 8,000 interviews for Indian companies including HCL Technologies and Bajaj Corp since entering the local market two years ago. VideoRecruit raised a total of 3 million euros (. `235 crore) in 2012.
Asynchronous interviews emerge as a favourable solution to the hiring process, where interviewers can quickly determine whether a candidate is eligible within a few minutes, but traditionally have to spend time completing the entire interview. Using these new technologies, companies simply input questions to be asked of candidates who submit video responses in real time settings.
“In the US, large companies may have to interview 6,000 candidates a year, but in India companies may have to interview 6000 a week,“ said Sanjoe Jose, 29, cofounder of Talview, which has conducted over 10,000 video interviews for over 500 clients, 60% of which are based in India. “With faster hiring, enterprises no longer have to lag behind filling positions.“
“It’s a tool that has helped us standardise our interview techniques and accord a clarity to our evaluation process,“ said Sweta Jain, head of HR for domestic business and emerging markets for biotechnology company Wockhardt, which has screened over 1,000 candidates to fill 300 positions across 25 Indian cities using Talview. “I would recommend it to organisations who work in retail and which have virtual operations.“
“Hiring is proving to be an enormous pain, particularly in an emerging market like India,“ commented Nikhil Khattau, managing partner of Mayfield Advisors, an investor in Talview. According to his observations, companies using such recruitment services have improved efficiency by 50-80%. “You’re in hypergrowth mode where you’re staffing up very significantly because business volume is growing. This means you are virtually rebuilding the aircraft while it is flying.“
Recruitment proves to be even more difficult in newer industries such as retail and technology where annual attrition rates reach as high as 30%, meaning that companies have to recreate its entire workforce every three years.In such a scenario, it is critical to expedite processes using superior technology and properly manage the candidate experience which reflects on the company brand, both distinct advantages that recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) firms offer.
“Companies want someone who can help them scale up with a better degree of predictability,“ explained Pankaj Bansal, co-founder and CEO of HR management firm PeopleStrong. “Since RPO payment is linked to quality of hire, they make sure the employee joins on the right day and stay with you for more than one year, which are not offered previously in large numbers.“
Career platform LetsCareerUp is ready to solve another problem. “Unemployment rates in India are pretty low in comparison, but underemployment is very high with people not suitably employed,“ explained cofounder Shravan Charya, 40, who has raised $6 million (. `38 crore) and counts Microsoft, Deloitte, and KPMG as its global partners and has filed multiple patents for its technology.