The Business School Employability Office (hereafter, BSEO) needed to help students to adapt quickly to recent virtual recruitment changes which resulted after a shift to remote working due to the COVID-19 crisis. In this blog we (Helen Kofler and Raluca Marinciu, Employability Advisors at the BSEO) outline the ways in which we have been supporting students through this unprecedented change. In the first part of the blog, we review the changing landscape of recruitment and the BSEO strategic priorities. We then introduce real life examples of virtual recruitment processes from organisations. Reflecting on a session we ran at the 2021 Learning and Teaching Festival, we then look at pre-recorded video interviews in more detail. We end by exploring student responses to changes in recruitment this year and invite readers to consider how to make the virtual recruitment process as inclusive as possible.
Why development and career support mattered so much
We want to start by going back to March 2020 where we were confronted with shocking headlines showing the dramatic effect the COVID-19 crisis would have on employment: “FTSE sees biggest decline since 1987,” “50 million jobs to be lost” “5,000 predicted dead in 2 weeks time.” Viewing this in the context of a seminar we attended by consultancy company, The Smarty train, they explained how these newspaper headlines point towards what is known as an exogenous shock. Exogenous shocks are unexpected events that occur outside a country, but can have a dramatic effect on the performance of markets. Furthermore, this meant that employment prospects for young people were at risk.
At the BSEO we had 4 key priorities in order to meet the needs of University of Greenwich students during the crisis:
- We wanted to continue to provide opportunities for development, employment, and knowledge.
- We wanted to continue to address current issues and student concerns, so that students could navigate through changing landscapes.
- We wanted to make employability services accessible- switching to virtual appointments, workshops and events immediately in March 2020, at times that suited student virtual learning schedules and other commitments.
- We wanted to maintain engagement and motivation- we were conscious of wellbeing concerns across the student body, so used our social media to provide messages of inspiration, hope and togetherness including thanking our NHS Placement students, sharing weekly “jars of inspiration” and posting blogs on how fellow students were using their time.
How we did it differently
As a result, the BSEO delivered 1368 virtual 1:1 careers appointments providing bespoke employability and application support to students. We hosted 92 employability skills workshops and 15 employer led workshops. 3610 attended the workshops and 3005 engaged on the Greenwich Employability Passport. The career mentoring scheme generated a 50% increase with 630 successful pairings, the highest for the university. We are delighted that 87% of students thought they were in a better place regarding employability after the scheme. We are currently supporting 63 undergraduate and 411 postgraduate placements. We shared more than 250 posts across social media relating to career development, student stories and opportunities. We saw a spike in the interactions and accounts reached compared with previous years.
Benchmarking with our partners
We are constantly reviewing and analysing how our employer partners have adapted to virtual recruitment processes during the pandemic. Each of the partners we work with recruitment processes comprised various virtual elements including:
- Online application forms
- virtual assessment centers
- pre-recorded video interviews
- game-based assessments
- virtual panel interviews
- psychometric tests
- job simulation and virtual simulation days.
When speaking to employers we have heard about the cost and time saving benefits of virtual recruitment and how much of virtual recruitment will be staying post the pandemic. One of the recurring elements that we have seen as a rising trend is the pre-recorded video interview.
Reflecting on the BSEO session at the 2021 Learning and Teaching Festival, this had a strong focus on the pre-recorded video interview element of virtual recruitment. We asked delegates to watch 3 examples of pre-recorded interviews which were acted out by our student champions. Delegates then had to score the candidates based on a matrix similar to the ones used in industry. We had an example of a well-prepared candidate, a candidate who had potential, and a candidate who had not prepared. The delegates scored the candidates using Mentimeter to simulate how employers would score. As hosts, we then started a discussion with the participating delegates similar to the one that would take place during a real recruitment process.
After the scoring we showed responses from students about virtual recruitment. Views varied depending on student experiences but overall, the feedback was positive. The majority of students felt they had adapted well, and their comments included finding it less stressful due to being at home; Using own devices so regularly now that it made no difference for interview; And tips on how to make the best of a virtual environment.
In this blog we have also included some helpful information to give to students as an initial signpost for virtual recruitment preparation. The root of this information comes from the student voices that we showed at the conference. This includes information about a suitable setting; the kind of preparation needed; a focus on research of an organisation; and getting your personality across in a virtual environment. Please also follow up with the Business School Employability Office for further elaboration and support on this.
Having looked at student responses, we evaluated the tools we have to support students through this transition. These include:
- Employer led events where students get to speak directly with employers about what they are looking for in virtual recruitment.
- Employability hubs including the ‘PWC Employability Hub’ which includes comprehensive information about their recruitment process and how to prepare for pre-recorded video interviews.
- The Employability Hub integrated into our own platform called: Abintegro. Students can use an interactive tool in order to simulate pre-recorded video interviewing and get comprehensive feedback.
We would also recommend engaging with the Forage platform who run an extensive virtual internship offering free of charge for students. This will encourage students to get used to engaging with a virtual platform and uploading content for feedback. This organisation can offer dedicated landing pages for universities with logos and specific text. The experience programmes can also be integrated into teaching and assessment.
Moving forward in a post pandemic recruitment environment
We have seen a rapid change in the recruitment processes due to the shift in working practices triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Elements of virtual recruitment are here to stay due to the cost and time saving gains for organisations.
We would ask readers to connect directly with careers services and employers to ask about the changes in recruitment practices. Please follow the BSEO on social media and connect with us to find out further developments based on our employer engagement. We will also promote the use of online careers hubs including the ones mentioned in this blog in order to encourage practice because like most skills, virtual interviewing gets easier with practice.
After reading this blog, we would like to invite readers for discussion. In particular, we would like to hear comments about any challenges associated with virtual recruitment including access to tech. We would also like to invite readers to reflect on how employers can ensure that their pre-recorded video interview recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible.
Blog Authors
Helen Kofler
Employability Advisor
Faculty of Business
Greenwich Business School
Raluca Marinciu
Employability Advisor
Faculty of Business
Greenwich Business School