How Virtual Reality Is Revolutionizing Recruitment

Emily Heaslip, content writer at Vervoe

Virtual reality is one of the buzziest trends of the past few years. Analysts predict that 2019 will be a turning point for the VR industry – with either widespread adoption or industry stagnation sinking sales and effectively killing the future of this technology. Smartphone VR suffers from low popularity, but headset VR is gaining ground in the consumer market. For recruiters, this kind of virtual reality presents an interesting opportunity to change and improve the candidate experience.

Virtual reality is an immersive, interactive experience that works through a headset to simulate another reality. Wearing a VR headset can put you in a virtual world, a shared experience with others wearing a VR headset. Companies are exploring ways to use VR in their day to day operations. For example, the Houston-based Training Center of Air Conditioning and Heating launched a full technician course that allows students to get “hands-on” experience using an HVAC lab – all through an immersive learning simulation.

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From training to marketing and e-commerce, VR has implications for the way we interact and work together in the business world. How will VR change the way recruiters and HR teams find talent and fill their open positions?

By expanding your remote recruitment

Free sourcing tools and recruitment platforms can only take you so far. Virtual reality presents a tool for hiring managers to expand their candidate pool to remote candidates. Recruiters can design simulated office tours and interviews with candidates who are far afield. A fully immersive experience allows candidates to see and feel the office culture and picture themselves in the role without having to be physically present.

Likewise, VR has the potential to be a more cost-effective way to entertain multiple candidates throughout the process. US companies spend an average of $4,000 to fill an open position. VR can give hiring managers the ability to assess more candidates without spending the money to physically bring them in for multiple interviews. It can lift some of the constraints that many companies face in finding top talent.

By combining Virtual Reality with AI

Perhaps the biggest use case for VR in recruitment is the ability to simulate an on-the-job experience during the interview process. As Forbes contributor Bernard Marr argues,

“VR is about putting people inside virtual environments and those environments – and their inhabitants – are likely to become increasingly intelligent over the next year…Virtual environments allow students to practice anything from construction to flight to surgery without the risks associated with real-world training.”  

Recruiters can combine VR with Talent Trials for a truly immersive on-the-job assessment of a candidate’s true talent. As recruiters move away from misleading resumes, a fully immersive skills test can highlight knowledge necessary to be successful in a position. Talent Trials can be expanded beyond editing documents, spreadsheets, or coding to include presentation skills, teamwork, and other interpersonal capabilities.

By going beyond one-way video interviews

One-way video interviews are a fantastic way to get to know a candidate. But what if we could go a step further? VR lets recruiters enjoy some of the key benefits of one-way interviews, and also go beyond some of the time restrictions and other limitations. Video interviews allow recruiters to get a feel for a candidate’s personality and culture fit, and job seekers love the video interview process. However, pre-recorded videos can make people feel self-conscious; they may not work as good predictors of on-the-job success. Virtual reality empowers recruiters to meet a candidate “in-person” and still see them in action as a potential new employee.

By provide a great candidate experience

Let’s face it – competition for talent is steep. Companies must wow candidates to get them to sign on. VR is a sexy new tool in the recruitment world that can make a company stand out from the crowd. According to research, nearly 60% of candidates have had a poor candidate experience during their job search; 72% of those candidates share their negative impression online or with others. Online video interviewing has been proven to have a positive impact on a candidate’s experience with your company, and VR promises to increase that impact exponentially.

Final thoughts on VR in recruitment

VR is still expensive – and it privileges companies that can spend big bucks. For now, companies should focus on the immersive experience aspect virtual reality promises to deliver in the future. How can recruiters create a real-world simulation for the candidate? Talent Trials from Vervoe are just one option. Augmented reality – a similar, though less expensive and investment-intensive option – can give recruiters the ability to showcase short presentations or office tours. This year is predicted to be a big year for VR; savvy recruiters should keep an eye on how this technology develops in the coming months.

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