Digital interviewing: How ICON is increasing hiring flexibility

Though digital interviews are relatively new to the recruitment scene, the shift to remote working has seen an unprecedented surge in demand and usage. In 2019, companies were increasingly adopting this recruitment practice in order to save time, find candidates who otherwise may not be able to apply for the job and importantly to remove lethargic game of phone and e-mail tag.

The modern candidate market has adapted to utilising mobile technology, social media and online portals and in response recruiters have redefined their recruitment. Recruiters and hiring managers are aware that it’s more important than ever to provide a good candidate experience as 72% of job seekers share any negative experiences they have with an organisation. Where a recruitment process is made up of a multitude of stages such as job listing, interview scheduling, shortlisting, screening, selecting, offer roll-out and onboarding – the ability to engage candidates should be a real priority for organisations.

With the introduction of HireVue – a digital interviewing software – the global Talent Acquisition Team at ICON have further streamlined the recruitment process in relevant areas, providing hiring managers (HMs) and candidates with a better recruitment experience. Through changing the conventional processes, ICON can better cater to candidates’ strong suits understanding that CVs and face-to-face interviews aren’t the best way to assesses everyone’s strengths, nor are they the most accessible.

So how have ICON streamlined and revolutionised the hiring processes to better suit candidates?

On-Demand Interview

On-Demand interviews, or one-way interviews, use video software to record a candidates answers to preselected questions. This process can replace both CV reviews and phone screens along with the need to synchronise candidates and HMs’ calendars. These recorded On-Demand interviews allow HMs to evaluate a higher number of candidates and also brings the CV to life. Also, the interviews can be reviewed in a HMs own time meaning they have sufficient time to decide which candidate is right for the job. Meanwhile, candidates are given time to cool their nerves by completing a practise question along with notes on hand which allows them to bring their best selves to the interview and ensure they’re well equipped answer questions and complete tasks.

Real-time interview

An alternative option is to conduct the interview in real-time through the HireVue ‘Live’ interview function. These two-way interviews are done in real-time meaning the interviews can take on a more flexible structure. HMs can ask candidates to elaborate on their answers while candidates can ask the interviewer questions of their own, such as what training and development opportunities are available at the company. Since the interview doesn’t follow a strict script HMs can get a better understanding of the candidates’ capabilities while the candidate can perceive whether the company culture is right for them. Though the focus has been on company culture for some time now, 46% of candidates reveal it’s very important to them when looking for a job.

Using the recording function in HireVue, HMs can share the interview with other recruiters in their company. This ensures that the final decision is a well-informed one and the candidate who is hired is right for the job. Additionally, the virtual aspect means that neither the HM or the candidate have to travel for the interview. Not only does this save money and time but it means the interviews are more accessible, allowing people living in different regions to apply as well as those with disabilities or who are caring for young children that otherwise might not have been able to travel for an in-person interview.

Candidate Assessment

Just as with interview, HMs can design structured and standardised assessments which allow a candidate to highlight their strengths and show what they would bring to an organisation. To do this, On-Demand interviews can be personalised with a mix of pre-recorded questions, opening and closing videos. The questions can be a mix of competency-based and situational-based questions that can be presented with timed video responses.

To keep things varied, a HM can decide to invite candidates to respond to questions through video, text response or single or multiple-choice response answers to cater for different strengths. A HM also has the option to assess a candidate’s technical ability e.g. solving code, through a case study or data analysis. This way, HMs get to assess a candidates’ potential rather than based hiring decisions off of previous experience. Whether you work in the pharmaceutical industry or the wider healthcare sector, virtual candidate assessments are a great opportunity to showcase your skills and capabilities.

ICON aims

ICONs objective is to be the top employer brand of choice. As an employer, we continuously looks for ways to streamline the recruitment process and improve the candidate experience. With the introduction of digital interviewing software, positive strides have been made towards improving candidate engagement, driving better and more consistent decision making, reducing the time invested for a greater return of candidate quality and increasing the diversity of our talent pool. This is just one of the reason why you should work with us.

Clinical research jobs with ICON

ICON is a global Clinical Research Organisation that aims to drive more client projects to market than anyone else in the industry. ICON offers a variety of jobs across different stages of clinical trial process. Browse our current clinical research jobs and apply for a job to elevate your career to the next level.