What are inclusive video interviews?

Inclusive video interviews give everyone a fair chance when interviewing for a position with your company. They eliminate biases that might cause you to subconsciously favor one applicant over others for a reason other than qualifications. It also makes everyone feel welcome during the process and gives all applicants equal access to an interview.

Why inclusion is important

Holding inclusive video interviews helps you create a fair, nondiscriminatory hiring process. It improves the chances of finding a candidate who’s qualified for the job based on merit and reduces the chances of eliminating a strong applicant based on factors that don’t matter.

Inclusion during video interviews also helps create a positive impression on prospective employees. Individuals from underrepresented groups may feel more welcomed into your company, which can encourage even more diversity in your applicant pool. Increasing diversity in your workforce can improve innovation, productivity and employee retention.

How video interviews can make the process more inclusive

Using a virtual interview process can make interviewing more inclusive for many groups. It offers a more flexible option for interviewees, allowing them to field your questions from anywhere with an internet connection. This eliminates geographical limitations that arise when candidates have to travel to your office. It also saves on travel expenses, which can be beneficial to people with limited financial resources.

Barriers to inclusion in video interviews

Although video interviewing supports inclusion in some ways, it also has potential barriers to it. Since you can see and hear the interviewees, unconscious bias can affect your feelings about a candidate. Technology issues can make virtual interviews more challenging for some groups. People who don’t feel comfortable with technology or don’t have access to a computer that supports the video platform you use might struggle to participate in the interview.

Ways to improve inclusion during video interviews

Most organizations have room for improvement when it comes to inclusion during video interviews. Here are some suggestions on how to conduct more inclusive video interviews:

1. Diversify your hiring team

It can be challenging to understand the unique struggles or barriers to diverse candidates if all of your hiring team members are similar. A diverse recruiting and hiring team can help you identify barriers and get different perspectives on candidates. It can also make a positive impression on interviewees if they see different groups represented. Diversity can include gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, age, disabilities and other characteristics.

2. Standardize your interviews

Using a structured interview process can help you create a standardized experience for all applicants. When you take this approach, you use identical questions asked in the same order with a consistent ranking system. This can help reduce the impact of unconscious bias when you interview candidates. For example, affinity bias might cause you to lean toward a candidate with whom you have something in common, such as a shared interest or graduating from the same college. Without a standardized interview process, you might go easier on that candidate and grill others, or you might ignore someone else who’s more qualified.

3. Review your interview questions

The specific questions you ask can help you conduct inclusive video interviews. Review your standard questions to look for unintentional bias. Every question should have a purpose, which should help you determine if the candidate is qualified for the position. Avoid asking extra questions that don’t tell you how well the candidate would perform.

You can also be more inclusive of people from different backgrounds and experience levels by focusing on what they’re capable of doing rather than what they’ve already done. It’s common to ask interviewees to tell you about a time when they did something specific. Instead, you might ask what they would do in that situation, even if they haven’t experienced it themselves.

4. Choose your platform carefully

The video interview platform you use can make it easier to support inclusion. User-friendly platforms can reduce barriers for people who don’t feel comfortable with technology. Being able to record interviews can help you check for compliance with your inclusion initiatives and spot unfair hiring practices or unconscious bias in your process. When you post your job on Indeed, you can complete your video and phone interviews on our matching and hiring platform. 

5. Suggest best practices

With traditional interviews, candidates come to your office so their home situation isn’t apparent. Video interviews give you a glimpse of the applicant’s home, which could influence your impression of them. Candidates who haven’t done a virtual interview might not think about things like the background in their video calls.

Before the interview, send information including best practices for video interviews. Offer suggestions of an ideal location without a distracting background, good lighting and minimal noise. Provide necessary information about using the platform and having a stable internet connection.

Also, keep in mind that not everyone can find a perfectly quiet, impressive background for an interview. Focus more on what the candidate says than on what you see behind them. Be forgiving of things like a barking dog in the background or less-than-ideal lighting.

6. Offer alternatives

Some applicants might not be comfortable with video calls or lack the technology they need for the interview. Offer an alternative to the virtual interview, such as an online call with the video turned off or a phone interview, to accommodate those situations.

7. Train your hiring managers

Your hiring managers need training on how to conduct inclusive video interviews. Start by letting them know what inclusive interviews are and why they’re important. Training them on unconscious bias and best practices for being inclusive can help. Review your standard interview procedures with hiring managers, so they know what’s expected.

8. Encourage candidates to talk

Even with meaningful, unbiased questions, some candidates may feel they don’t get a chance to demonstrate their qualifications fully. By offering interviewees a chance to share whatever they want, you give them an opportunity to represent themselves in the best light possible. They can also ask questions about your company and determine if it’s a good fit. Reserve time for each candidate to share and make them feel comfortable enough to do so.

9. Get feedback from interviewees

Surveying your interview participants gives you direct feedback on your processes. Develop questions that evaluate the inclusiveness of your interviews. Asking all interviewees, even the ones who didn’t get a job offer, gives you a well-rounded view of how the candidates perceive your process. Review this feedback to determine if you can improve even more.

10. Review the interviews

Most video platforms let you record interviews to review later—check on state laws regarding doing so and always get permission from the interviewee. When you have multiple recruiters and hiring managers conducting virtual interviews, reviewing them periodically for inclusion can help you improve overall. Ensure the people conducting the interviews are consistent and fair with how they treat candidates. Use these reviews as training opportunities for individual managers who need correction and as a guide to improve future manager training sessions.