Indeed makes video interviewing free – AIM Group

Global recruitment marketplace Indeed.com is making its video interviewing service available free to all employers posting jobs, whether paid or free.

“This suite of hiring tools is free to employers who post a job for free or choose to sponsor jobs on Indeed. Employers who opt in to inviting candidates to interview for their open jobs with Indeed are able to use this suite of tools to help them schedule, manage and conduct video or phone interviews,” said Maggie Hulce, SVP at Indeed.

All interviews take place on Indeed Interview. The service enables employers to easily and quickly schedule and manage interviews, in addition to conducting them via phone or video.

“With a mismatch in hiring urgency between employers and job seekers, it is crucial that employers have seamless hiring experiences that allow them to find talent in the right place, and at the right time,” said Hulce.

Indeed launched Interview last year expanding Hiring Events, a job fair service, into a virtual job fair. Now, employers can use Indeed Interview as a standalone service.

Besides helping employers hire more quickly, offering Indeed Interview free also, not coincidentally, helps tie employers more tightly to the world’s most heavily trafficked recruitment marketplace and may encourage some to switch away from fee-based, third-party video providers.

Industry consultant Jeff Dickey-Chasins, the Job Board Doctor, said, “This is classic Indeed – give away something for free, get everyone hooked, and then charge for it. We’re at step 1 right now.”

Even before the pandemic video interviewing was a growing trend, especially among larger employers who recruit workers globally. Video interviewing proved quicker and far cheaper than having candidates travel to an office for initial interview rounds. The pandemic not only accelerated the use of virtual interviews and hiring, it forced reluctant employers to give it a try.

“A percentage of them will continue to use video interviewing” when the pandemic ends, Dickey-Chasins said.

He also sees offering Indeed Interview as a way for Indeed to “stay relevant. It’s the big site, so, like Monster before it, it must justify its existence and cost by adding features.”

Though only Indeed knows if it intends to eventually charge for the use of its video platform, smaller, third-party providers can expect to be pinched by the free service.

The more established vendors, protected by contracts and their feature-rich platforms, aren’t likely to feel much, if any impact. However, second-tier video interview services, most of whom sell on a month-to-month basis, can expect desertions.

Free is always enticing to budget-minded recruiters. Plus the convenience of adding a video tool when posting a job ad will make the combination irresistible to employers already using a third-party service to conduct video interviews.

As Hulce said in an email to us, “This new suite of hiring tools is for employers who are looking for more flexibility to add on video interviewing options to their jobs posted directly on Indeed. It gives employers who post a job to Indeed the capabilities to setup, manage and conduct virtual interviews all in one place.”

One, certainly unintended consequence, of employers making greater use of Indeed Interview is the potential for spoofs. In April, Indeed sued Asif Khan and his company, Too Apree LLC., over using the interview service to create content he posts to social media.

Westlaw said, “Khan and his company post videos on social media in which he acts disrespectfully — brushing his teeth or mumbling incoherently — while in a video job interview with hiring managers who are not in on the joke.”

The victims, and certainly Indeed, are not amused, but many of the clips are hysterical.