Innovation in recruitment practice?

We have all used Skype to screen candidates when they are not close enough to the office to interview face to face, or if they are overseas. Some of us have experienced client interview processes via Skype if a candidate is relocating to the UK and cannot get to a face to face meeting. But how many times have you heard of a candidate joining a selection and assessment centre day remotely – being on Skype for 6 hours – I am guessing not many, if at all!

This is exactly what happened this year when Sensory Dimensions were recruiting for a new Operations Manager for their Nottingham site. We looked globally for the right candidate and on the shortlist was a European citizen who was based in South America – flights are very limited so attending the assessment day was not possible. Due to the innovative nature of the Sensory Dimensions business and the pragmatic approach from our candidate I was pleased to say that our candidate joined the day long assessment centre via Skype on a laptop.

She was part of the group discussions – she joined the lunch, although it was breakfast for her, via a laptop on the table in Nottingham as people ate and talked. She gave her presentation remotely and answered Q&A over Skype. She was even given a facility tour – the laptop carried around the building. During the whole day our candidate was able to prove herself to be not only knowledgeable but also have the people skills to succeed in this role. She was able to join the group discussions and to get her personality across, the internet connection was lost a few times but she and the team at Sensory Dimension were able to manage the short lapses in contact to maintain her presence at the assessment day. As a result of this ground breaking use of Skype technology our candidate was offered and has accepted the role.

Here’s wishing our candidate and Sensory Dimensions every success for I am sure that this will be an example to us all with respect to finding the right candidate – perhaps we could all look at the use of technology more seriously in light of this innovative example.