Truly virtual recruiting event platforms have arrived, and one - if not the - leading players in the space is Indeed. This isn't a shock. The company has a history of innovation, and has a portfolio of products that already included an events solution. Virtualizing events simply made sense, and on July 30th the company introduced Indeed Virtual Events.
This has been prescient. A recent survey by Zenefits revealed that:
More than 1 in 3 people (37%) indicated they wouldn’t attend an in-person interview until a vaccine for COVID-19 is released, and 62% of people indicated all interviews should be conducted remotely until precautions related to the virus are lifted.
In light of Amazon's recent announcement of a massive online career day with a targeted hiring volume of 30,000, we circled back to Indeed to get a deeper perspective on their development of the technology and the journey thus far. We caught up with Maggie Hulce, Senior Vice President, GM of Enterprise at Indeed for a walk-through on how the developed the product, the journey thus far, and what's coming next.
How has the customer reaction been so far?
Very positive. Since the beginning of the year, more than 1250 employers have hosted over 3700 virtual hiring events with us. With Virtual Hiring Events, employers tell us how many interviews they want by when, as well as their screening criteria, and we do the rest. Indeed handles driving interested candidates to the events, screening, interview scheduling, interview reminders and offers the ability to hold interviews directly on Indeed’s Virtual Interview Platform.
Any learnings so far (I know it's early days)?
Before the pandemic, companies that may have been reluctant to use remote hiring solutions, like virtual interviewing, are now finding that these technologies not only work, but make it easier to hire relevant candidates more quickly and efficiently.
Even as companies start to reopen, we believe virtual interviewing will prove a sustainable way for companies to hire at scale. We’ve seen time to fill open positions cut by an average of six weeks to a matter of days or even enable on-the-spot job offers for our clients, with cost per hire also dramatically reduced.
Clients tell us they value the ease of use of our virtual interview platform, designed specifically to support interviewing versus general meetings. The solution also offers clients a lot of flexibility. Some are using it to hold recurring interviews for evergreen roles, others to hold interviews at scale in one day.
We’re also getting positive feedback from job seekers. Job seekers like that they don’t have to download an app, they just click into an interview. There’s also a lobby they check into, so it’s clear what’s happening as they wait for their interview to begin.
What drove the desire to create the offering?
As the world’s #1 job site, Indeed has spent the last 16 years dedicated to helping people get jobs. We want to give job seekers access to all open positions in one place, while enabling employers to engage with the world’s most diverse pool of talent.
When the pandemic started, it was clear we needed to help both employers and job seekers transition to virtual interviews. Employers asked us directly for an end-to-end solution to help them source, screen, schedule and interview candidates. So we focused on turning Virtual Hiring Events into a true direct to interview solution, where interviews happen on Indeed.
Moving candidates to a direct to interview experience not only shortens the time to fill open positions, but also solves real problems for both recruiters and jobseekers. Recruiters appreciate that it automates the time consuming tasks of manual resume reviews and interview scheduling, freeing them to make human connections with high potential candidates. Job seekers love that they know exactly where they stand in the process, with no application black hole.
This approach to hiring is also more inclusive, as it enables employers to set objective screening criteria and allows for any candidate that meets the requirements to have the opportunity to interview for the position.
How did you adapt the product as the pandemic unfolded? Was there an impact to the roadmap, timing, marking strategy, et cetera?
While we had already started working on expanding our Indeed Hiring Events solution to allow for virtual events, we accelerated this focus due to the pandemic. As unemployment started to skyrocket, and as communities started navigating shelter-in-place requirements, we knew we had to rapidly pivot our priorities to help both employers and job seekers navigate hiring virtually.
The first step was to enable hiring events to integrate into third party platforms like Zoom. We then followed with the launch of our own Virtual Interview Platform, which combines video conferencing capabilities with a virtual “lobby” or “waiting room” for candidates that mimics the experience of an actual event for job seekers. Today we remain focused on continuously improving this direct to interview experience for both employers and job seekers.
Good stuff. Where do you see the product headed?
In this moment, more than ever, we feel our focus on virtual interviewing is essential to deliver on our mission to help people get jobs, from the safety of their home. Starting mid-September, Indeed will host a US Virtual Hiring Tour, offering free virtual interviews to connect employers from all industries with ready-to-work job seekers. Our goal is to help 20,000 Americans find jobs by the end of the year!