Case Study: Open Listings

How Open Listings Scales Their Recruitment With Spark Hire’s Video Interview Solution

About Open Listings

Open Listings helps customers buy a home and get a 50% commission refund. Homebuyers use their self-service platform to manage the entire process online. They get paired with an experienced local agent who supports them from negotiations to close. It's the easiest and least expensive way to buy a home.

Goals for Video Interviewing

Open Listings wanted to improve their understanding of their candidates. They had used video conference/chat options occasionally, but had technical issues and wanted more consistency from their video interviewing provider.

Q&A with Director of Growth, Kevin Miller

Q:

What inspired you to look into video interviewing?

A:

Our team felt we weren’t truly getting to know the candidate well enough over the phone. Since the position we are hiring for is remote, it did not make sense to have the candidate travel or pay for the candidates’ travel. As a result, we decided video would be a really compelling and cost-effective option to get around the issue.

Q:

Did Spark Hire replace a similar tool or is this the first time your team is using video interviewing?

A:

We had used Google Hangouts and Zoom.us with some regularity, but never had a structured tool that we used team-wide. It wasn’t until we tried Spark Hire that we introduced a consistent video standard.

Q:

What criteria did you have in mind for a video interviewing solution?

A:

Our criteria was simple. We wanted a tool that was:

  1. Easy and intuitive for participants to use
  2. Created a clear picture resolution
  3. Had clear audio, and no microphone issues
  4. Provided a secure connection with no frozen screens or delays in speech
Q:

Describe your selection process and what you found most attractive about Spark Hire when signing up and what was getting started with Spark Hire like?

A:

We did extensive research and found that Spark Hire was the best priced for the feature set our team was looking for. Additionally, our account executive was extremely dedicated and helpful. He made onboarding a breeze and I felt I was able to use the platform to its full potential after one full day of use.

Q:

What are some of the results you’ve seen with Spark Hire?

A:

We used to conduct the interview by phone, but we NEVER got to see these people. Using Spark Hire, we get to see these people, and find we are picking people of higher quality. We can read their body language and understand a bit more about their personality compared to a phone screen.

We have learned people will drop off from application to video interview. These candidates are ones we have learned we didn’t want anyways. If a candidate won’t put in the effort for the video, they won’t do good on the job.

Now, we have 98% hire rate off video interviews.

Q:

What was your team’s hiring process prior to using Spark Hire?

A:

Prior to Spark Hire, we only had an applicant tracking system in place, but for our purposes, we needed an additional layer of screening. As a result, we turned to Spark Hire and we have saved time and chosen higher quality candidates. The most important part is that Spark Hire’s solution scales with us as our company grows. We will be able to roll it out as a recruitment tool for the thousands of partner and showing agents we intend to recruit over the lifetime of our company.

Q:

How do you get your team members to buy in to video interviewing?

A:

Our team members simply tried Spark Hire and I allowed the product to speak for itself. We knew the quality of the standard video tools on the market and Spark Hire blew those competitors out of the water.

It was unanimous that there was incredible ROI on our time as a result of utilizing this tool.

Q:

What is the biggest impact that video interviewing has on your hiring process?

A:

The biggest impact has been that we have a legitimate way to weed out candidates who are not TRULY serious about the job.

It takes effort to take the extra step and get on video and and complete the interview. We see a percentage of candidates drop off at the video interviewing step. That is incredible because it allows us to screen more effectively and saves us time and money resulting for otherwise churned hires. This is CRITICAL for our business at scale.

Q:

What are a few words that describe your experience working with Spark Hire?

A:

Time efficient, cost effective, fun, and interactive

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