Deloitte France uses video interviewing to optimise recruitment

30 January 2019 Consultancy.eu

In a bid to tap into the changing demands of the savvy millennial workforce, Deloitte France is using video recruitment services to transform its recruitment process for interns and junior candidates. Alongside bolstering brand attractiveness towards millennials and Gen Zs, the new recruitment method allows Deloitte’s recruiters to better assess important interpersonal and often intangible “soft” skills.

Identifying the changing recruiting and lifestyle demands, Deloitte’s Lille office was the first within the company’s French network to turn toward video-based recruitment. Every year, the office seeks to recruit dozens of junior members – auditors and consultants – and interns. From early 2016, the firm’s recruiters began using video recruitment to fill a large amount of these roles. 

“By using Visiotalent, Deloitte can meet more candidates and manage a larger volume of applications,” a Deloitte recruiter said. Contrary to the standard application process, which sees a CV reviewed by a recruiter, mostly in combination with a first-round, hour-long interview, the video recruitment approach allows recruiters to get a first impression on a candidate’s personality, presentation, and critical thinking skills in mere minutes. Candidates can either be asked to send recruiters a video profile, or be invited to participate in a short video interview. 

Using video, discussion is concise and on track. “The average time to answer a question is 30 seconds to two minutes. That seems short, but it’s enough time to tell the most important things,” Thomas Cador, a leader at Visiotalent, said. “Interviewees are obliged to stick to the time available, meaning they should be to-the-point and concentrate on forming short sentences.”

Deloitte using Visiotalent’s softwareVisiotalent is a provider of video interview tools founded in 2014 by French entrepreneurs Gonzague Lefebvre and Louis Coulon. Leveraging video technology, the company believes the efficiency and overall experience of candidate screening can be improved, for both interviewer and interviewee. Visiotalent is used by more than 450 companies in Europe including Blablacar, ING, Thalys, KPMG, and Deloitte. Deloitte has so far used the technology to bring on board more than 30 juniors and 25 interns. 

One of the key benefits of using software such as Visiotalent is the ability to scale decision-making. After conducting an interview, the video material is stored online. If a recruiter has doubts about a certain candidate, or would like someone else’s opinion, the video footage can be instantly sent to that person, transforming recruitment into a fully team-oriented process. 

Soft skills

The main benefit to video recruitment is how it can unpack a candidate’s personality, revealing their soft skills. Soft skills, which include teamwork, problem-solving capabilities, creativity, and adaptability, are often left off of CVs, and are more difficult to evaluate than technical skills, which are objectively measurable and easily identifiable. But in professional services, the arena in which Deloitte operates, interpersonal skills are key; in fact, according to many, soft skills are what differentiates good accountants/advisors from the rest. It is therefore key that Deloitte knows as much as possible about a candidate’s soft skills as early in the hiring process as possible.

Deloitte’s foray into video recruitment is part of a broader trend in which technology is being adopted to facilitate a more efficient, streamlined approach to the recruitment process. According to LinkedIn’s global study of 9,000 HR professionals, new technology and tools are the top trend within the profession, used to bolster aspects such as candidate searches, selection, screening, managing candidate experience, and on-boarding. 

The candidates, too, are enjoying the ride, according to Deloitte’s evaluation of Visiotalent’s data. It all starts in preparation mode, a tool that helps candidates prepare for their interview by sending out a step-by-step manual, a training module, tutorials, and coaching programmes. The training module simulates a real-life interview, just like one a recruiter would prepare, but with fictional questions. This approach offers candidates the chance to familiarise themselves with the questions and the application itself. Once ready to go, candidates can make recordings and afterwards watch themselves, practicing and perfecting their performance ahead of the real interview.

“The possibility to simulate an interview allows candidates to become aware of their interpersonal skills - verbal and nonverbal - and to learn how to put forward their soft skills during the interview. The best way to put forward your communicational, leadership or problem-solving skills, is to be yourself and emphasise your strengths and soft skills,” Visiotalent co-founder Coulon said.

With more than 15 offices across France, Deloitte is one of the country’s largest professional services firms, supporting clients with audit, consulting, financial advisory, and tax services. Globally, Deloitte has 286,000 employees in more than 150 countries, with Punit Renjen at the helm.

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