Video interviewing is not just for the junior roles. It can, and should, be used for c-suite hiring. It’s more efficient, fits everyone’s schedules, and purpose-built for including multiple stakeholders. Further, the real blessing with video is you can cut the cord and have an in-person chat any time you want. Video just saves you all the admin time you didn’t need to spend anyway.
Hiring for c-suite and executive roles is a difficult challenge, but part of the problem is procedural. The way we recruit upper tiers of management hasn’t changed in decades, and it’s a time-consuming process that doesn’t fit with how modern executives actually work. We now have a significantly better tool that must be used: video interviewing.
For recruiters: Video makes executive recruiting easier
Imagine if you could focus all your time on getting to know a candidate instead of booking meetings? Company leaders should absolutely spend time getting to know a possible c-suite candidate. But so much of the recruiting process is wasted administrative time: booking meetings, travel, and various procedural conversations. All of these challenges can be fully- or semi-automated with async video interviews.
For your first conversation, a phone chat usually suffices. But then you need to ask multiple questions and get in-depth perspectives from this candidate before you can send them to the company executives for further conversations.
This middle section - in between the initial phone screen and the later-stage board conversations - is where async video shines:
- Recruiters can set up multiple questions so the interviews are comprehensive.
- Having an async interview platform hold all your questions means every candidate gets an equal opportunity to respond.
- Using video means that executive candidates can really take their time to answer, not stress about the fact that they need to hop off the call before their current company notices anything.
Recorded video also provides additional insight for the board. In your review meetings, you can show video clips and let candidates speak for themselves, versus needing to rely solely on your notes. This not only saves you time, but also makes life easier for the board to select which candidates to shortlist.
"We have adopted Willo as a fundamental part of our Executive and Non-Executive Director recruitment offer. It's proved to be an innovative way to gain an early sense of an applicant’s offer and approach and has been universally commended by our candidate and clients." Denise Kirkham, Distinctive People
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For candidates: Video makes it easy for execs that can’t sneak away
The best executives are busy. They care deeply about their teams, setting strategy, and representing the company they work for. Even in situations where someone is excited for a new role, it’s difficult to sneak away for 5-10 meetings without raising suspicion.
Asynchronous video interviews are the perfect tool for busy executives:
- They can record video on their own time and in any location.
- Async video gives them the flexibility to think through an answer instead of giving a rehearsed response.
- No back and forth to book early meetings means saved time and fewer concerns about a paper trail.
Since async video interviews mean recorded answers, it’s also easy to refer back to comments later in the process. That means less time repeating yourself and more time discussing next steps and assessing mutual fit for the role.
For boards: Video is ideal for stakeholder collaboration
Hiring an executive is challenging and involves multiple stakeholders. There are multiple conversations, both with the candidate and not, that need to be taken into consideration. It’s nearly impossible to capture all that insight when you do everything synchronously because every person involved in the decision has a lot on their plates.
Asynchronous video interviews make collaboration seamless:
- Video sharing features means every stakeholder gets the information they need.
- Every candidate answers the same questions on video, meaning it’s easy to compare apples to apples.
- Having all videos in a centralized platform means stakeholders don’t need to worry about logging into multiple platforms or booking multiple meetings.
Video provides a strong foundation that the board can use to assess candidates equally. From there, collaboration tools make it simple to share relevant information to fill in any gaps.
“I use Willo as part of a screening process and have created a topic for senior candidates to discuss. It has added real value to the process and ensured that selection panels have something more than just a written application to consider.” Anna Jay, Public Leader's Appointments
You don’t only have to do video
A common misconception about asynchronous video interviewing is that you have to use it for the whole process. This couldn’t be further from the truth. All companies can use async video for the early part of their process - getting to know candidates and asking initial vetting questions - then move into a synchronous process with your shortlisted candidates. This saves everyone time, provides context that may have been missed otherwise, and helps the board get to a final decision faster.
