To have quit a one way video interview

[sapphicy]

Bit of a reality check needed, I am going for a job I am really confident I’d be good at, I have already passed the written assessment and the initial interview and found them very straightforward. There is now a video interview and then a final interview.

Today I had the video interview which is one way, so a pre recorded person reads you the questions and you have to film your answer. There isn’t much info online about how to prep but I’ve got loads of STAR answers and rehearsed reading them aloud to myself.

No idea what happened really but speaking to the camera and seeing myself on the screen felt really alien and it killed my confidence and it really reflected in my voice. I froze up and couldn’t even finish the interview, questions I’d normally be good at answering became impossible, my mind went blank and my nerves and panic got the better of me and I shut the laptop and cried. I only got 3 of the questions done.

I am usually a very loud and confident person so this has totally rattled me. My current job is all about communication skills! DP is trying her best to comfort me, but usually if you fail the video interview you have to start the whole application again in a few months time and I’m totally angry at myself. I’ve emailed the recruiter to say I ran into some problems and couldn’t complete it but haven’t heard back yet.

I feel like a failure as there are 21 year olds who pass this video interview easy peasy and I’m well into my 30s and just couldn’t do it and don’t understand why. I would be so confident answering these questions face to face with someone.

Should I even try again, or just find something else where I don’t have to jump through this hoop? Sounds ridiculous but I feel like I’ll need to pay for coaching to get through this and it makes me question if it’s worth it and what is actually the issue here. Anyone else had problems with this?

I think it is lazy recruitment.

As a rule I refuse to apply for anything that involves this type of one way interview or asks for a video as part of the initial application process.

Good way to filter out candidates that aren't serious about the role.

Actually think it's the opposite, gives more people the opportunity to stand out than via CV's, there are only so many people you can interview face to face, I find it a great tool to find out more about people, and gives equal opportunity before deciding who to bring in for proper interviews.

To be clear I am very used to having difficult conversations on zoom at work, that wasn’t the issue here

I wouldn’t want to work for a company that had a four-stage application process like this one, nor would I want to work for a company who couldn’t manage to have a real person interview me. This is very lazy recruitment and I hope the trend doesn’t catch on much more.

OP, I think you did right to step back from this process. Wish you luck with your next interview and hope that is with a real person who is invested in having a two-way conversation with you.

I think these one way video interviews are awful. If they want you to record a spoken answer, then they should issue the question in advance and allow the video to be re-taken. Ds had to do some for student job applications. He failed them all. Luckily he got a job that didn’t use this shitty process.

Could you get your DP, or even your dog, to sit behind the camera and say your answer to them? Particularly if you cover your own face on the screen. I don't even like hearing my own voice so watching myself would be hellish.

Plenty of jobs these days have a six stage process, including these bullshit videos. As a student, it takes a lot of time to deal with all this rubbish.

I have had several colleagues have to do one of those one way video interviews when going for promotions. Most hated it. The one person who didn’t mind it taught via video calls. It is off putting but hopefully they will allow you to re-do it. Practice, practice, practice.

To be honest I find online interviews bad enough. I’d have done the same.

The risk is that it filters out people that have other options, which is likely to be the better candidates.

''@jbm16 · Today 00:51
Good way to filter out candidates that aren't serious about the role.
Actually think it's the opposite, gives more people the opportunity to stand out than via CV's, there are only so many people you can interview face to face, I find it a great tool to find out more about people, and gives equal opportunity before deciding who to bring in for proper interviews.''

Epic fail @jbm16...

I am autistic and I hate the idea of having to take a video of myself.

But thank you for assuming that I am ''not serious'' as an applicant...

Not to mention that far from championing ''equal opportunity'' I am an example of how this video request can in fact be discriminatory.

I find it funny that “good way to filter out candidates who aren’t serious” is considered a reasonable defence of a practice widely disliked by candidates. You may like using it for other reasons and that’s fine, but it’s silly to pretend that only unserious applicants will be put off, rather than it also putting off very serious applicants who have plenty of other options and so can choose to not bother with this.

Not at all, interviewing processess are not a one size fits all.. if there are neurodiverse candidates we always have alternative options, like submitting answers in writing.

With traditional process I might select 3 candidates from thousands of CV's which is really difficult to do subjectively, then some might not be able to travel, or interview during the day, with this process everyone can answer the same questions, interview at their convenience.

If you want the job I'm sure most people are willing to follow the process even if they don't like it.

I've worked in IT for 30 years, the interview processes are in the main horrendous, with multiple coding / technical interviews especially for the major companies, I don't like them, but know I have to play the game if I want the job.

That’s different because the majority of companies don’t do this, so candidates aren’t forced to (possibly it’s more common among grad schemes). I think you should use it if you want, but the fact it might put people off should be something you acknowledge as a necessary evil (“we like it and think the benefits outweigh the downside of putting some people off”) rather than claiming that only people not serious about the job are put off.

Perhaps smaller companies don't use these processes, but majority of large organisations, banks etc. and American tech companies have been doing this for a while.

You are focusing on the fact some people may not like it, as I said in previous post there are alternatives for neurodiverse candidates or people that don't like it. But in my opinion the benefits of flexibility for candidates, no travel, completing outside of work hours, and for the hiring manager being able to review far more candidates far outweigh the fact some people might not like them, people in the main don't like change, that doesn't mean we should just keep the same processes we have 50 years ago.

Wow, this is news to me! It does seem like quite a specific skill to be able to sell yourself with no one there. If that skill is needed for the job, I could understand it. But otherwise, seems a bit rude and one-sided with the effort. Especially when teams is so easy. Something magic happens when people interact!

Don't you think he would prefer a distorted Mum to a faceless one?

But valianttortoise the point is that it's not a conversation. Speaking to a real person online is very different from speaking to a robot. People who have good communication skills are usually empathetic and aware of their interlocutor(s). A whole different skill from talking into the void.

I agree with PPs who said ask the recruiter for a second chance...
One of my DC did this when they just missed the deadline to book a telephone interview. I can't even remember why now. Anyway, They were able to phone and explain and the recruiter put them back on the list.
They aced the telephone interview and got the job. So it does happen

I totally understand this. It wasn't a job interview,but a one way video call with a firm I'd bought weight loss injections from, about 6 months ago. In the blurb about it,it just said 'a video call with one of our team members'. I didn't find out until I actually did the call that it was one way,they could see me,but all I got my end was a disembodied voice. I found it very off putting.

Sit through it again,but this time don't have your camera on and just listen to and answer the question without the added distraction of worrying about how you look or sou d on video....

This just makes you sound like a dick 🤷‍♀️

Still, if the options are talking to a camera or talking to you, I imagine the camera is indeed preferable.

You sound lovely too, guess I won't be hiring you anytime soon...

Might be late replying to this but there’s a site called Shortlist.Me which has practice video interviews. Doing a few of them in advance might help you get used to the format.