Video interview - Interview suite by viasto
Thanks to the Interview Suite connection from viasto to Umantis, recruiters and applicants no longer need to flex their schedules to coordinate an appointment. Not only can the video interview be conducted independently of any specific time and place, it also provides an opportunity to get an authentic impression of an applicant’s concrete skills and competencies. Video interviews are especially useful for evaluating applicants who have already been placed on a short list of applicants.
Overview of the video interview process
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The process for setting up a video interview consists of two steps:
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System requirements
Please take note of the system requirements that must be met on both the recruiter’s side and the applicant’s in order to ensure that the process runs smoothly.
Recruiter / HR
The following requirements must be met on the Umantis side, i.e. by the recruiter or HR expert’s system:
Browser
To meet the Interview Suite’s minimum requirements, one of the following standard web browsers must be used:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 or higher
- Mozilla Firefox 44 or higher
- Opera 12 or higher
- Google Chrome 53 or higher
- Apple Safari 9 or higher
Operating system
The Interview Suite supports the browsers listed above on the following operating systems:
- Windows Vista
- Windows 7
- Windows 8
- Windows 10
- OS X 10.8 and newer versions
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is needed for video playback in certain configurations:
- Mozilla Firefox versions lower than 30
- Opera versions before 23
- Systems with limited video codec support (Microsoft offers an alternative Windows version within the EU, but with limited media functionality)
Candidate / Applicant
On the applicant side, the following requirements must be met:
Browser
To meet the Interview Suite’s minimum requirements, one of the following standard web browsers must be used:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 10 or higher
- Mozilla Firefox 44 or higher
- Google Chrome 53 or higher
- Apple Safari 9 or higher
The Opera browser is not supported.
Operating system
The Interview Suite supports the browsers listed above on the following operating systems:
- Windows Vista
- Windows 7
- Windows 8
- Windows 10
- OS X 10.8 and newer versions
Adobe Flash The candidate or applicant requires Adobe Flash version 11.2 or higher. Adobe Flash is automatically included with the Google Chrome browser. If a different browser is used, Adobe Flash must be installed separately at the system level.
Settings to be configured as part of setup
In both the Umantis solution and the viasto Interview Suite, certain settings must be configured so that a connection can be established between the two systems. This is based on certain login data for the VI Suite which must be entered in the Umantis solution.
Settings in Umantis
We recommend that you follow the procedure below after obtaining the login data for your viasto account:
- Entry in the settings: The following general settings must be configured in Umantis under Settings > Interfaces > Third-party systems > Settings for Interview Suite:
- Viasto company ID: The customer’s ID with viasto.
- Viasto company name: The customer’s name with viasto. This normally corresponds to the subdomain for the customer’s viasto portal (e.g. if the URL were https://fanergy.interview-suite.com, then the subdomain or viasto company name would be fanergy).
- URL: Defines the interface URL for the viasto Interview Suite. Make sure that the URL entered here ends with a “/”. Usually https://interview-suite.com/api/v3/.
- Is active: Next, activate the video interview function by checking this box so that the associated functions will be made available.
- Entry in the user settings: All users for whom video interviews are to be set up must have the appropriate viasto login data entered in their user settings (so the viasto account must already exist). Please make sure that the username is entered here, and not the login name (same as the email address).
Procedure for assigning a video interview to a job
You can use the Umantis solution to add video interview projects to individual published jobs. When you do this, you will be automatically taken to the viasto platform to enter specific details about the video interview. However, candidates are then invited from within Umantis itself. To ensure a successful video interview, please observe the ordering and instructions given below.
Umantis: Adding a video project:
Once you have successfully set up the configuration for viasto, you can publish a job as usual. (
Please note that the job title may not contain more than 70 characters — otherwise, the video project cannot be created.)
After entering the details about the job, you can select the “Add video interview project” option under the “Selection criteria” tab (you must make sure to enable this section for display). A new tab with a login window opens up, which you must use to log in with your viasto Interview Suite login credentials. Through the connection with viasto, an empty project with the specified job title is automatically created, and you can then complete that project in the interview suite.
Umantis: Archive video interview project
From your Umantis solution, you can execute an action to “Archive the video interview project”. Please note that the video project cannot be reactivated after archiving.
interview suite: Setting up the interview
After a new project has been automatically created with the job you are trying to fill, you can specify the following criteria in the Interview Suite:
- Project name, Internal job ID: The project name is copied over directly from Umantis, but the Internal job ID still has to be added manually.
- Project language: The available choices are German and English. This determines the language used in emails to the candidate. The language used by Interview Suite automatically adapts to the user’s browser settings.
- Add administrators/users: You can use drag-and-drop here to assign users of your viasto solution the user rights required for the video interview for this job.
- Contact: Person who should be contacted and/or who is responsible for setting up the video interview (only project administrators can be selected).
- Video upload: Here you can upload a video introducing your advertised job.
- Default interview period: Number of days on which the applicant should be available to record their video application.
- Evaluators and observers: Users can be assigned via drag-and-drop to an evaluator or observer role. An evaluator can evaluate the completed interview, while an observer only has the right to view the interview.
- Criteria: Used to create specific evaluation criteria that should be taken into consideration when evaluating the applicant.
- Questions: This form specifies the questions that the applicant should answer in the interview. You can also indicate how much time the applicant has to answer the question (preparation time and answer time). These two times can be displayed to applicants when recording your video by selecting “public”. All of the previously defined criteria, or individually selected criteria, can also be made visible to applicants in whatever combination you choose.
Next, clicking on “Overview” will take you to the project overview.
By clicking on “Show preview of candidate home page” in the project overview, you can see how the user interface looks from the applicant’s perspective.
If you would like to change your previously configured settings, click on “Edit master data”.
Umantis: Invite candidates to video interview
If applicants need to be invited to the video interview, simply navigate as usual to the job to be filled and click on the “Applicants” tab. One of the options you will see there is the multiple action “Invite to video interview”. When you select this option, the applicant will be invited by email. His or her name is then automatically displayed in the Interview Suite under the heading “Candidates”. At the same time that the email is sent, a viasto user account is generated for the candidate, and a link to the account is then emailed to the applicant. When a candidate visits the link, they can complete their personal information form and specify their login password. The candidate must also confirm the terms of use in order to receive access to the viasto solution.
Because the email is generated and sent from the Interview Suite, the outgoing mail does not appear in the communication history for the applicant. However, the applicant status in the applicant overview will adjust itself accordingly.
After registering, the applicant can then complete the video interview independently. The current status of the interview is then sent directly to Umantis via SOAP and the synchronized applicant status, along with the corresponding icons in the applicant overview (within a job), provides information about the current status of the interview.
The applicant has been invited to the video interview.
The video interview has been completed by the candidate and is now available to be viewed and assessed.
The applicant has declined to participate in the video interview, or the period for completing the interview has expired.
Notes:
- The authentication key for the SOAP interface (enter in Umantis: Settings > Main settings > Organizational profile
> Authentication key for automated import) must be communicated to viasto before the account is set up in the Interview Suite.
Umantis: Evaluating candidates
The designated persons (evaluators and observers) are notified by email as soon as the applicant has completed the interview. The interview can then be viewed in the Interview Suite. Authorized persons can evaluate the candidate’s video interview in the relevant areas of the applicant profile in the Umantis solution.
The evaluation can be done either in Umantis or in the Interview Suite. However, we recommend the first of these options, so that the application process can then resume directly via Umantis.
- Other detailed information: Best practices for viasto Interview Suite
The video interview process from the applicant’s perspective
Once the candidates have been invited via Umantis, they receive an email with a link to the Interview Suite. There, they choose their login password. Applicants must also confirm the terms of use in order to receive access to the viasto solution.
Once they have successfully logged in, candidates can complete their viasto profile (photo, more details about themselves, etc.), read interview tips or watch a video tutorial about preparing for the interview in a professional manner. The candidate can already see certain questions before the interview starts, if you have chosen to make them visible.
After an applicant has recorded their interview, they will receive an email notification informing them that their access has been deactivated.
The applicant interview can only be recorded once, and the recording may not be interrupted.
Important notes
- No branch office-specific VI projects: The settings for the viasto interface refers to the Umantis solution as a whole and is currently not able to be configured in a location-specific manner.
- Languages in the viasto Interview Suite: The language in the viasto solution is based on the user’s browser settings. However, the language of the emails that are sent out is determined by the project language specified in the project settings.
- Deleting candidates and video interviews: Candidates and their video interviews are not automatically deleted or archived by Umantis. Sensitive applicant data should therefore be explicitly deleted in the Interview Suite, in order to ensure compliance with data protection policies.
- “Application Status” selection list: If the video interview has been activated in the settings, additional values are shown in the “Application status” selection list: “Invited to video interview”, “Video interview completed”, “Video interview canceled”, “Video interview expired”
Status mapping between umantis and viasto
| Code | umantis status | Comment / Note / Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|
| German | English | ||
| invited | Invited to video interview | Invited to video interview | Present by default
Used when waiting to hear back from an invited applicant. This status is usually set after sending out the invitation email. |
| interviewed | Video interview done | Video interview done | Present by default.
Used when the candidate has completed the interview. |
| aborted | Video interview canceled | Video interview canceled | Present by default.
Used when the candidate has canceled or aborted (not completed) the interview. |
| expired | Video interview expired | Video interview expired | Present by default.
Used when the candidate never responded, allowing the interview to expire. |
| new | By default, Umantis does not deliver a status for these codes provided by viasto. However, you can specify additional values for the “Application status” selection list (under /Administration/Dropdown/2/Profile) and assign them to the corresponding codes.
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Candidate is already present in the system, but has not yet been invited. | |
| confirmed | The candidate has replied to the invitation. | ||
| interviewing | The candidate has started their interview. | ||
Troubleshooting common errors
Applicants could not be invited to the video interview
- This error can occur when executing the multiple action on a job in the applicant overview, and has the following causes:
- No Interview Suite VI project exists for the given job in Umantis. The video interview project must first be set up.
- No email address and/or first or last name has been entered for an applicant.
- The applicant has already been invited to the video interview.
Error message: The video interview project could not be created.
- This error message is displayed when you click on “Add new video interview project”.
- Possible causes:
- There is a project in viasto that was created independently of the Umantis interface. When this project is now associated to a job, an error message states that “The video project could not be created”.
- Workaround: Copy the job and create the project again through the Umantis interface.
- User wants to create a project, but has either no viasto account settings or the wrong ones.
- Workaround: Modify the viasto account settings as needed.