Your employer brand - your reputation as an employer - can either make or break a candidate’s decision to join your team. While an attractive employer brand can bring in more job applicants than you can handle, a not-so-attractive employer brand can leave your job positions vacant for weeks or months.

The interview serves as the perfect platform to showcase your unique employer brand. It’s easy enough to showcase your employer brand during an in-person interview with a tour of the office, face-to-face introductions, and the like, but how do you showcase employer brand when the interview takes place in a virtual setting?

Whether candidates are taking part in a recorded or live video interview, one advantage video interviews have over in-person interviews is the ability to brand the overall experience. Live Interview, for instance, enables companies to upload their company logo and video.

These customization options put your company and employer brand front and center during the actual interview, which serves as a valuable reminder for candidates throughout the video interview experience.

Including a video introduction before candidates begin their video interview is a great way to feature your company culture and employer brand.

The video can take a look at “a day in the life” of the company’s employees, include a tour of the office, or feature testimonials from the people who know your employer brand the best: your employees.

The important thing is to put your employer brand on display for candidates taking part in a video interview since they can’t yet physically tour the office or shake hands with employees.

To gain a better understanding of the impact video interviews have on the candidate experience, here are some simple explanations to some of today's widely-asked questions:

Do candidates like video interviews?

The short answer is yes. According to a recent study of 400 job seekers, nearly half of respondents with prior video interview experience prefer them to other long-distance interview formats (like the phone interview). That's saying a lot, considering that video interviews are still regarded as a relatively new interview format.

So what exactly do candidates like about video interviews?

They're convenient

Most of all, video interviews are convenient for all parties involved. Not only do they eliminate the need to plan the interview around multiple schedules, but they also make it easy for candidates to interview from anywhere, on any device, at any time - even while on the go.

By making the interview process more flexible, candidates can save time and travel costs associated with traditional interview methods.

They're easy to use

Video has taken over multiple aspects of our personal and professional lives, from how we stay in touch with loved ones to how we interview candidates for open positions. And because video chat platforms play such a prominent role in our lives, candidates often feel comfortable interviewing via video. The newest generation of job seekers is familiar with the technology and comfortable appearing on camera.

As for older generations of workers, who may not be as comfortable with video technology, video interviews are designed to be very user-friendly. If you can manage to play and record YouTube videos or Skype with a buddy, you can figure out video interviewing.

They create more possibilities

This is especially true for long-distance job candidates. Live video interviews make face-to-face interviews with faraway candidates possible, thus attracting global applicants. Both Live and Recorded video interviews make it possible to visually connect with candidates you might not otherwise get a chance to meet in person.

How do video interviews reflect on the company?

Screening job candidates and conducting employment interviews via video reflects well on a company. For starters, when it comes to the candidate experience, video interviews paint companies as innovative, current, and tech-savvy. As a result, hiring professionals can expect to attract equally creative and tech-savvy applicants.

Additionally, more options means more candidates. Giving the opportunity to interview via video makes it easier for long-distance candidates to take part in the interview process, which can help boost a company’s employment brand.

Do video interviews help or hurt the candidate experience?

In the end, the candidate experience is as good as you make it. But video interviews can help make the experience stand out for job candidates. They are convenient, easy, and exciting for candidates and hiring professionals alike. However, used incorrectly, video interviews can make for a negative candidate experience during the interview process.

The key to creating a positive candidate experience with video interviews is to combat candidate apprehensions early on. By using a platform designed specifically for video interviews, hiring professionals can rest assured that candidates are experiencing limited connectivity issues and top-notch audio/quality.

Social media platforms provide an opportunity for your company to share information about your organization and its message. You can also get information about your open positions in front of interested job seekers. It's important to consider establishing a presence on multiple social channels so you can ensure your positions are reaching the broadest possible audience. However, you should first determine what your hiring needs are and identify the types of jobs you will need to fill. From there, decide which social media sites to utilize in order to get in front of your target applicants. If you are in retail, you might want to look on a more casual site like Facebook for potential employees. If you're looking to hire a director of sales or marketing specialist, LinkedIn may be the way to go. 

Your employer brand is an important factor for creating a positive candidate experience and attracting the right people to your company. Social media and video interviewing technology are giving companies more opportunities to improve, maintain, or stick to a consistent branding message. Studies have actually found that social media use makes employer brands more attractive to potential candidates.

It is critical that your company have consistency across all of its social media and video interviewing platforms. Whether it's your Twitter account or video interviewing hub, they should all tell the same story and be instantly recognizable so that candidates aren’t confused by multiple messages.

Create an employer brand that's not only informative, but fun and enticing as well. Share pictures from around your office and of company outings. And don't be afraid to show off your best people by highlighting employees. Live Interview allows you to customize your video interviewing portal with company colors and logos, plus videos to promote your brand.

Companies should take advantage of social media platforms by accessing potential hires’ public profiles to judge professionalism and thought leadership skills. This is a great way to separate top-notch candidates from problem hires.

Video interviewing is a convenient, efficient, and affordable way to connect personally with candidates. Combine that with your social media strategies and you'll be well on your way to attracting top candidates to your company. You will no longer judge a candidate solely based on their resume that you may only look at for just a few seconds. With social media recruiting and video interviews, you will have a fuller and more comprehensive portrait of that candidate.

By engaging with candidates on social media by talking about industry topics and replying to questions, you can build up a personal connection before an application or interview. This is why one-third of hiring managers and recruiters say social media recruiting sped up their hiring process.

Utilizing either the Live or Recorded video interview on Live Interview, will enable you to connect with candidates on a more personal level without wasting time talking to the wrong people.

There is a large amount of people who use social media everyday to share and get their information, therefore, it is no wonder that more companies are realizing the benefits of utilizing this technology for sourcing, connecting with, and evaluation promising candidates. Implementing a combination of social media and video interviewing strategies to your recruiting process will result in better candidates, who will contribute greatly to your organization, so you can easily make smarter hiring decisions.

When it comes to finding the perfect candidate for your company's open positions, the interview is essential to discovering who has what it takes and who doesn't. The video interview is no different than an in-person meeting. Just because you're connecting with a candidate in a video interview, doesn’t mean you should go easy on candidates. It's still important to ask tough interview questions in order to find out if your candidate is good in reality.

Asking tough interview questions in the video interview allows you to see how candidates react and think. If you're connecting in a live video interview, you can see how candidates react in real-time and evaluate nonverbal communication cues.

If you're connecting in a recorded video interview, you can and should still ask tough interview questions. Because a candidate has more time to prepare and re-record their answers, tough interview questions are needed to weed out the best candidates from the rest.

Hopefully these interview tips will get you thinking up your own, company-specific questions, so you can find the perfect fitting candidate for your company.

1. Tell me about yourself.

This is one of the most standard interview questions for a reason. A job seeker answering this question can tell you a surprising amount of information about themselves and their goals from the information they self-select to share.

2. Why should we hire you?

Another one of the standard interview questions, this one helps you evaluate a candidate's confidence and skill match with the position. If, while watching the candidate on video, they seem stumped on how to answer why they're the absolute best person for the job, maybe it's because they aren't

3. What's your greatest career performance?

Situational interview questions ask candidates to use real-life examples from their own experiences to demonstrate value. This gives you a better idea of how their skills work in action.

4. Tell me about a big mistake, how you dealt with it, and what you learned from the experience.

Once again, situational interview questions can tell you a lot about how candidates actually act and react in a real work environment. Asking situational interview questions about accomplishments is definitely important to be able to see candidates at their best. But remember, no person is on their best behavior all the time.

Mistakes happen, so it's also important to use situational interview questions to evaluate how candidates react when they've made a mistake. The mistake, the response, and the lesson learned can tell you a great deal about how the candidate approaches setbacks and how they deal with high-stress situations.

5. Why do you want this job?

Another one of the standard interview questions, the answer to this can help you evaluate career aspirations. Is this just another paycheck to the candidate, or are they really interested in your company and industry? While they answer, look for sincere career passion.

6. Where do you see yourself in five years?

This is another one of the standard interview questions meant to evaluate career aspirations. You want a candidate who is willing to stick around in your organization since employee turnover is so expensive. But more than that, you want someone who is actually engaged and motivated by your position or industry. If the candidate sees themselves in a whole new industry or company five years later, they're probably not right for you.

7. What type of work environment do you prefer?

This question is focused on company culture since 46 percent of small business new hires fail within the first 18 months. The reason? In 89 percent of the cases, it was a company culture mismatch. You can always train for skills, but finding someone to fit into your company culture is far more complex. Let the candidate tell you what kind of company culture they would prefer working in, so you can see if their ideal fits your company's reality.

8. What are your biggest weaknesses?

This is truly a tough question to ask in the interview, but like the situational question about biggest mistakes, it can really tell you how the candidate approaches problems. Look for candidates who don't give you a rehearsed answer and instead pick a weakness they are addressing and have learned from.

9. Tell me about a time you went over and above to get a job done.

The answer to this question tells you two important things. First, it's another chance for the candidate to make a great impression by showing you something really impressive. Second, it tells you what a candidate considers "above and beyond." If the example isn't all that impressive, perhaps it's because the candidate is the kind of employee who punches out at 5 p.m. on the dot and does only what's required.

10. How do you evaluate success?

While not one of the standard interview questions, this query probably should be. It gives you a good idea of what the candidate is looking for in both their job and career. Are they looking for challenging work, more responsibilities, or just a bigger paycheck? Pay careful attention to how the candidate answers to see what they consider important.

Using some of these questions and interview tips can help you use the video interview to find the very best talent for your company.

Having a great organizational is a smart way to not only keep employees engaged and motivated, but also a smart way to attract top candidates. The movers and shakers you want to target with your recruitment strategy are the same people looking for companies with great perks.

Not sold yet on how essential a good organizational culture is for top talent recruitment? Here are some reasons why you can't afford to ignore company culture:

The video interview can give you a clearer picture of a candidate's personality, ambition, and career goals. Using the video interview, you should evaluate whether a candidate will fit like a glove into your current culture. Ask questions about how they work with others and what their ideal office environment would be like.

The real benefit of the video interview, however, is its ability to get you a more personal view of candidates faster than in the traditional recruitment process. By watching a job seeker's recorded video interview answers, you can weed ill-fitting candidates out of the pile of applications and focus only on the candidates who will be a good match for your organization. This helps you cut down on candidates who won't fit into your organizational and will flee your company at the first sign of a better offer.

Using video interviews helps to brand your company as an organization embracing new technology. You're showing the company is receptive to new ideas and new ways of approaching common problems. It helps brand your company culture as a place open to new concepts and innovation. In turn, this company brand will be more likely to attract smart candidates with big ideas on how to innovate and grow your organization.