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Digital formats are more and more part of our communication, making the latter easier and more efficient. Also in recruitment, videos are an excellent way to get a first impression of candidates — regardless of where you as an employer or your candidates are situated physically. Prescreen offers you two ways of video interviewing: passive interviews, as part of the application process already, or active interviews, which you conduct later on.
Table of contents
1. Passive video interviewing: Let your questions be answered in advance
1.1 Set up a video custom question
2. Active video interviewing: Conducting interviews via video call
2.1 Invite candidates to video interviews
1. Passive video interviewing: Let your questions be answered in advance
Having candidates answer questions with a video better provides you with a first impression of them before meeting in person. Utilize videos during the application process or in a more specific context by adding them to your questionnaires.
1.1 Set up a video custom question
Create a new custom question of the answer type (1) "Video". When answering the question, candidates will be given a choice to either upload a pre-recorded video file with a size of up to 200 MB or record a video relying on the native functionality of their browser. This works on both desktops and mobile devices.
Specify the maximum length of the video recording (2): you can choose from five different lengths. We recommend you keep it as short as possible to ensure that the uploaded file will be processed quickly. Furthermore, a short sequence is generally enough to get a first impression of a person.
Add the question (1) to any of your application processes. It can also be used for questionnaires like any other custom question.
1.2 Submitting a video answer
Candidates can submit answers by recording a video using the integrated camera of their devices. They also have the option to upload a video file instead because some browsers do not support video recordings. In case a candidate is using such a browser, this will be indicated by the system. However, the upload function is supported by all browsers (see list).
| Browser | Video recordings | Upload of video files |
|---|---|---|
| Android | yes (via Firefox & Chrome) | yes |
| Chrome | yes | yes |
| Firefox | yes | yes |
| iOS | no | yes |
| Microsoft Edge / Internet Explorer | no | yes |
| Safari | no | yes |
When choosing "Record video", the camera and the microphone of the candidate will be activated and the recording will start.
When clicking the button to record a video, the browser will ask the user to permit access to their connected camera and microphone. This needs to be allowed by the user or otherwise the recording will not work. In case this message is not appearing, the candidates should check their browser settings because potentially camera and microphone have previously been blocked.
Once the recording is done, the video can be played back. If the recording is not to the candidate's liking, it can be removed, and repeating the process will become an option. Choosing to upload a video file yields the same options.
1.3 Viewing video answers
After a video custom question has been submitted and the application or questionnaire has been completed, it will be visible for you inside the candidate's profile and available for you to view. The applicant can view uploaded videos inside the candidate center, too.
2. Active video interviewing: Conducting interviews via video call
Conduct remote interviews within Prescreen by scheduling and holding video calls. For this purpose, we are offering a secure, self-hosted solution for making video calls: "Jitsi", an open-source videoconferencing application. Thanks to this integration, you can invite candidates to remote interviews and conduct video calls directly within Prescreen.
Important notice
In case you are conducting video calls on your work device and/or within your work network, please make sure – with assistance of your IT admin – that your browser is able to connect to meet.prescreen.io (IP: 116.202.3.252) and to meeting.prescreen.io (IP 195.201.175.25) on ports 443 (TCP), 10000 (UDP), 80 (TCP) and 4443 (TCP). Furthermore, please allow network connections to our TURN/STUN-server turn1.prescreen.io (IP: 78.46.190.173) on ports 443/tcp, 443/udp, 3478/tcp and 3478/udp. This improves connectivity, e.g. in setups where users are located on computer networks which are behind Internet gateways that perform network address translation (NAT).This is required to guarantee a stable connection during the calls. Please make sure this setup is performed for all colleagues who would like to participate in video calls.
2.1 Invite candidates to video interviews
Create a new event invitation as usual. Specify the event type (1) by selecting "Video call" and fill in the fields accordingly.
Once the event has been created, you can add a video call meeting room link to the message sent to the candidate. Do so with a placeholder by going to "Event" (1) > "Video call link of the attached event" (2).
Finally, preview the message (3) and send the invitation to the candidate.
2.2 Conduct video interviews
In order to access the video call meeting room, just click the link in the invitation message you have sent to the candidate. The session will already be accessible 30 minutes before the interview is scheduled to start, and it will still be active a couple of hours after the meeting is scheduled to end.
Before the call: Allow your browser to access both your camera and microphone. Once you have joined the call, per default, the camera will be disabled, while your microphone will be enabled.
Important noticeWhen joining the call, all browsers will ask the user to permit access to their connected camera and microphone. This needs to be allowed by all users. In case this message is not appearing, please check your browser settings or contact your IT admin because potentially your camera and microphone have previously been blocked.
During the call: Mute/unmute the microphone (1) for voice transmission, enable/disable the camera (2) for video transmission, and use the chat (3) to communicate with all participants of the call.
After the call: The video call room will automatically be deactivated some time after the meeting's scheduled end.
